LINKS

The first training course at Ringway was in July 1941 with dummy drops over Ringway and Tatton Park. The first live drops were on 13th July 1941 when RAF instructors made eight test jumps from a Whitley. Two were pull-offs from a small open platform that had been fitted in place of the rear gun turret. The pull-off method required the parachutist to face into the aircraft's slipstream and then release the parachute which immediately tore him from the aircraft. However this method was soon abandoned as the slipstream caused somersaulting, and occasionally the feared `candle', when the parachute failed to open properly. The other six drops were from an aperture in the fuselage floor. The right-hand photo shows trainees boarding a Whitley for their first jump through the hole.

At the age of 49, Squadron Leader Strange was one of the first to jump from the 'Whitley Hole' and did so several times and 'jumping through the hole' became the norm. However, even this method had serious disadvantages for the hole was nearly three feet deep and unless a perfectly upright and rigid position was maintained the parachutist's face would strike the inside of the hole - known as "ringing the bell"- with painful consequences.

The two photos show trainees experiencing their first jump from a Whitley. The X-type Statichute parachute, used throughout the war, had a 28ft canopy with twenty-eight rigging lines each 25ft long. The rectangular inner bag when packed enclosed the folded canopy and a large flap was used to stow the rigging lines. A static line was fastened to the inner fuselage of the aircraft and as this line became taut the cover was ripped off the parachute and ties of varying strength were broken allowing the parachute to open safely in a controlled sequence.