Username Protected wrote:
More on the Fulton system and other things:
[youtube]https://youtu.be/qkNiOjJvlS4[/youtube]
They were picking up as much as 1500 lbs. The snatch is pretty high G forces.
Mike C.
Point of clarification.
The video referenced above is a Fulton Surface To Air Revovery (STAR) system, but it was a beefed up system, and the test program was named Project 46.
The original Fulton system was installed in a number of different platforms in its history.
The USAF installed the system on some HC-130 and some, but not all MC-130E model aircraft (I flew both versions of the MC-130E, with and without the Fulton system installed).
The original system was designed for 1 or 2 men, or up to 500lbs of cargo. That’s normally what you see in the movies (James Bond, The Green Berets, Batman, etc.)
Project 46 was program to lift a 6 man Special Forces team or 1,500lbs of cargo. I had good friends who flew those test missions. All the equipment was beefed up to handle the extra load. Once the test program was completed and validated the aircraft was deconfigured and the entire STAR system was cancelled in the early 1990s.
BTW, the G forces for the initial capture and pull on the package were always advertised to be about 3 instantaneous Gs. If you look at the geometry of the recovery, the package initial goes almost straight up, but once under tow, the package floats along behind the aircraft. Intercept and recovery speed in the MC-130E procedures was 125 KIAS, until the package was secured on board.
Butch
