Leaving Aircraft. — Grasp the door edges
about waist high, and place your feet together
over the edge of the hatch, as shown in figure
5-10. Pull your body forward and exit the aircraft.
The NB-8 parachute used in the P-3 aircraft
does not have automatic opening features.
Therefore, the aircrewman must manually pull the
rip cord. Grip the rip cord handle as shown in
figure 5-11 and pull it to the maximum length of
travel. This allows for complete release of pins
from the parachute pack.
Parachute Descent. — Immediately following
the opening shock of the parachute, check the
condition of the parachute canopy. Assuming you
have a fully deployed canopy, locate the two
beaded handles on the LPA; pull them down and
straight out to inflate the life preserver (fig. 5-12).
You may need to squeeze the waist lobes to release
the hook-and-pile tapes on the collar lobes.
Sometimes it is necessary to manually release the
hook-and-pile tapes to allow full inflation of the
collar lobes (fig. 5-13). At this point you should
raise the visor on your helmet if you are over
water and lower it if you are over land.
Four-Line Release. — Actuation of the four-
line release system reduces oscillation and provides
a method of maneuvering the parachute to an
optimal landing site.
Figure 5-13.—Aircrewman releasing the hook-and-pile tapes on collar.
5-9
