US3586257A

US3586257A - Bag for extraction line deployment

Info

Publication number: US3586257A
Application number: US4642A
Authority: US
Inventors: George A Zelinskas
Original assignee: US Air Force
Current assignee: US Air Force
Priority date: 1970-01-21
Filing date: 1970-01-21
Publication date: 1971-06-22
Anticipated expiration: 1988-06-22

Abstract

A bag is disclosed for stowing long lengths of woven rope arranged in the form of short interconnected lengths which can be deployed in an orderly manner for dropping equipment by parachute. The bag is of boxlike character having sides which can be opened to permit the bag to lie flat during the rope-stowing operation. The inside bottom face is provided with a fabric covering detachably secured to the bag and having a number of parallelly arranged flutes, sewed in the covering. Each flute holds a double length of rope arranged side-by-side. All the lengths are connected together by end loop portions so as to constitute a single line. Additional rope-containing flutes can also be provided on the inside top cover of the bag while it is lying flat, and so-called ''''leaves'''' or partitions can, in addition, be provided over the first tier with a fluted fabric covering to constitute a second tier or layer. The bag can be modified slightly to accommodate lengths of wide webbing formed of a number of thicknesses held together by permanent straps. The webbing is stowed in a zigzag manner, across and lengthwise of the bag and temporarily held in place by the tie cords which are successively broken as the webbing being payed out of the bag by the pull of the parachute.

Description

United States Patent George A. Zelinskas Dayton, Ohio I [21] Appl. No. 4,642

(22] Filed Jan. 21,1970

[45] Patented June 22. 1971 [73] Assignee The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force [72] Inventor [54] BAG FOR EXTRACTION LINE DEPLOYMENT 7 Claims, 10 Drawing Figs.

Primary ExaminerLeonard D. Christian Attorneys-Harry A. Herbert, Jr. and Herbert H. Brown ABSTRACT: A bag is disclosed for stowing long lengths of woven rope arranged in the form of short interconnected lengths which can be deployed in an orderly manner for dropping equipment by parachute. The bag is of boxlike character having sides which can be opened to permit the bag to lie flat during the rope-stowing operation. The inside bottom face is provided with a fabric covering detachably secured to the bag and having a number of parallelly arranged flutes, sewed in the covering. Each flute holds a double length of rope arranged side-by-side. All the lengths are connected together by end loop portions so as to constitute a single line. Additional rope-containing flutes can also be provided on the inside top cover of the bag while it is lying flat, and so-ealled leaves" or partitions can, in addition, be provided over the first tier with a fluted fabric covering to constitute a second tier or layer. The bag can be modified slightly to accommodate lengths of wide webbing formed of a number of thicknesses held together by permanent straps. The webbing is stowed in a zigzag manner, across and lengthwise of the bag and temporarily held in place by the tie cords which are successively broken as the webbing being payed out of the bag by the pull of the parachute.

PATENTEU JUH22197| sum 3 m4 PATENTEDJuH2219z| 3,586,257

SHEET 0F 4 IN VEN TOR.

JAM-M BAG FOR EXTRACTION LINE DEPLOYMENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to bags for stowing and paying out suspension lines in an aerial delivery system. Suspension lines are of two types: (1) they are used to extract a load from the plane by a force exerted by a pilot or drogue parachute and (2) the lines are also employed in connection with a combined extraction and holding parachute, that is, without the use of a separate drogue. In either case, the lines are of considerable length sometimes several hundred feet or more and since the pulling or holding forces initiated by the chutes are suddenly applied any kink or other interference between the lines may cause breakage and the loss of the equipment being delivered. The lines are stowed and payed out by specially designed containers or bags attached to the equipment to be air dropped and must have the facility of preventing entanglement of the lines during the extraction and dropping operations. The loads to be delivered are often of considerable weight which gives rise to high friction at the pallet surface when being dragged out of the plane, and the tremendous dynamic loads involved. Upon the opening of the extraction and/or the recovery chute very few, if any, bags which pay out the line at terrific speed can withstand the imposed strain.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved form of bag which can accommodate great length of line, rope or cable, without entanglement between the rope portions even when subjected to the tremendous pull of a parachute at one end of the rope and the restraining force of an airdrop load at the other end.

Still another object is to provide an improved bag for deploying long lengths of woven rope in airdrop operations and in which the same general construction of bag can be used for retaining long lengths of heavy webbing material which can be payed out under the force of a parachute and without any interference between portions of the cablelike material.

The above objects are obtained, in brief, by providing a bag open on three sides to permit it to lay flat. At the inside bottom face of the bag there are provided flutes sufficient in size to hold double loops of rope, all connected together, and arranged side by side, in order to accommodate the longest length of rope necessary. The improved bag structure can also be employed for containing and deploying a heavy webbing form of line or cable except that the flutes are omitted and instead, tie loops are provided on the bottom face and on the walls of the bag to hold the multilengths of webbing in place.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I shows the first step ofa typical air delivery of military equipment which has been dragged out of the rear end of a moving plane by a parachute (not shown).

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the improved rope stowage bag shown in flat forrn.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view, in fragmentary form of the so-called flap end of the bag, i.e., at the extreme left of the showing in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 represents a plan view of the cloth leaves" or layers carrying the flutes for holding double lengths of rope in place within the bag.

FIG. 5 is a cross section taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 4 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 6 depicts a perspective view of the complete bag with the rope entering the lower right-hand end of the bag and ready to be payed out at the upper left-hand end.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the improved bag in open form and showing the built-up layers or leaves" for containing lengths of rope. The bag is shown as attached to a large drum load.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary plan view of a bag similar to FIG. 7 and depicting the start of the stowing operation of a modified form of cable, specifically a multi ply webbing laid down directly in the bag and held in place by twine.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 showing the completion of one full loop of the multi-ply webbing and the start ofa second loop.

FIG. 10 shows the start of the second tier or layer of webbing placed in position on a leaf or partition which covers the first tier or layer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT There is shown in FIG. I a typical operation in which military equipment has been dragged out of a plane by means of an extraction parachute (not shown) and a long connected towline or cable 3. On the top of the equipment there is a recovery parachute 4 which is released from its covering by a well-known ripcord device (not shown) and is attached to the main towline so as to operate shortly before the latter automatically cuts itself off from the equipment. The parachute 4, upon deploying during the falling operation, takes over, and lowers the equipment to the ground without damage. The line 3 may, in the case of light equipment, be constituted of braided nylon rope which is payed out of an improved bag as will be described hereinafter. The latter is secured to the load in any suitable manner so as to be retrievable with the load.

The foundation or I69 part of the bag apart from the end closure elements is formed of three portions which have been delineated by arrows in dot-dash lines in FIG. 2, these portions being designated A, -B and C. The portion A constitutes the bottom element of the bag, portion B constitutes the rear wall, and portion C represents the top cover when the bag is made up to a boxlike-shaped member as shown in FIG. 6. It will be understood that FIG. 2 illustrates the bag in flat form which is the most advantageous position from the standpoint of loading the bag with rope or cable. The folding lines to form the top 5 and the vertical end wall 6 of the bag are indicated by the dotdash lines mentioned above at the extremities of the portion B. The folding lines for the two vertical sidewalls 7 are indicated by the dot-dash lines D. The bag is preferably made of heavy nylon duck which is almost waterproof, but at least is water resistant. It will be noted that the top cover portion C is of smaller width than the portion A by the width of the sidewalls 7. All the outer edges of the duck material are strengthened by binding tape 8 of woven plastic material. Strips 9 of heavy nylon webbing are also sewed along the length and breadth of the bottom portion A, also along the length of the top portion C in order to prevent distortion of these bag portions due to the heavy strain imposed when the rope is being payed out at a fast rate. However, in order to.form attaching loops which are used in the case of certain types of line, rope or cable, the sewing effect is discontinued at a number of places as indicated at 9. The purpose of these loops will be brought out hereinafter.

The left-hand edge of the portion A is provided at the upper and lower positions with a flap 10 of heavy nylon duck integrally joined with the bottom portion A. These flaps are provided with grommets 11 and have a length, measured in the horizontal direction, as seen in FIG. 2, of a little less than one half the distance of the width of the bottom portion A. The width of each flap corresponds to the height of the box-shaped bag when formed. In between the inside edges of the flaps 10 there are two lengths of wall covers 12, I3 of duck material sewed to the left-hand edge of the bottom portion A. Wall cover 13 is narrower than wall cover 12 and is made of the same hard texture duck as the bottom portion A. The wall cover 12 may be made of lighter material and has a width of about the same as the height of the box-shaped bag when formed. There is also a cover member 14 at the right-hand end of the top portion C and sewed to the latter, this member corresponding in size to the wall cover 12 at the left hand edge of the bottom portion A. The purpose of these flaps and wall covers will be explained when describing the formation of the bag.

In order to effect a boxlike shape of the bag, the right-hand upper and lower edges at the corner of the bottom portion A (as seen in FIG. 2) are provided with eyelets or grommets I5 which are secured by lacing to the eyelets 16 formed at the upper and lower edges of the wall portion B. The effect of the lacing can be seen at 17 in FIG. 8 and 9. In order to offer easy access and exit to the rope or cable entering or leaving the improved boxlike bag, I provide a pair of

openings

18, 19 of a general square configuration, as seen in the schematic view of FIG. 6, one opening being located at the lower right-hand comer of the bag and the other at the upper left-hand corner. The chances of entanglement between the lengths of rope, during the paying out operation and in which the higher length of rope may be connected to the parachute and the lower length connected to the load, are greatly reduced. One of these openings 18, specifically the lower right, as seen in FIG. 6, is shown in flat developed form, but enlarged, in FIG. 3, one quarter of the opening representing a corner cutout in the flap 10. Another quarter being cut out from each of the two end wall covers l2, l3 and the remaining half being taken from the bottom portion A. Thus, the opening takes on a generally rectangular shape which would appear to accommodate most shapes of rope or cable. The other opening 19, that is, the upper left as seen in FIG. 6, is obtained by means of left-hand end cutout from the outside edge of the flap 10 (FIG. 3) and positioned where the flaps are turned upwardly and inwardly to form the box. This cutout is shown at 19 in FIG. 3, and it will be noted that one-half of the opening is taken from the lower edge of the bottom portion A. The edges of these openings are bound with plastic tape in order to prevent tear caused by the moving rope.

The boxlike structure or bag is completed, i.e., closed, by folding the top portion C (FIG. 2) at the two creases which define the rear wall portion B and is indicated at the dot-dash lines. The horizontal length of the top portion is such that the outer edge of the open wall cover will fit directly over the inner edges of the wall covers 12, 13. The latter can then be folded to overlay one another and thus loosely close the lefthand end of the bag. The wide wall cover 12 will be folded upwardly first and then the narrow wall cover 13 will be folded over the seen cover. The flaps 10, which now stand vertically, can be folded inwardly and drawn tight by passing a strong lace through the grommets 11. The wall portion B is caused to stand upright by lacing the grommets l5, 16 to constitute the closed wall of the bag. The top and bottom portions of the bag are sealed about their entire contacting edges by means of a zipper 21 attachment as soon more clearly in FIG. 6.

When stowing the rope, the bag is left in its flattened condition with all the sides open as seen in FIG. 2. In order to position the lengths of rope within the bag, I provide a number of flutes or small tunnels 22 of plastic cloth sewn on a flexible sheet or layer of plastic material 23 and is laid over the entire bottom portion A of the bag. The cloth 23 which carries the flutes constitutes leaves or partitions between successive layers of fluted cloth. The flutes are parallelly arranged as shown in FIG. 4, and are formed out of closely woven material by running a heavy duty sewing machine in spaced parallel lines lengthwise of the cloth. Each flute is sufficient in size to hold a double loop of rope, arranged side by side and running in opposite directions to contain the greatest length of rope. An enlarged section of the double length of rope contained in a typical flute is shown in FIG. 5. The fluted cloth preferably is provided with grommets 24 at their respective ends so that the overlying pieces can be attached to the fluted cloth below by tying with a heavy twine about the grommets. In this way, the separate pieces of cloth can be bound together and in turn secured to the bottom portion A of the bag by attachment to the unsewed loops 9'.

While I prefer to use the braided form of nylon rope, about five-sixteenths inch in diameter in which case the flutes would be about three-fourths of an inch wide, and about threeeighths of an inch high, any other type of rope may be used with corresponding changes in the size of the flutes.

While normally the successive layers or leaves" of fluted cloth carrying the interconnected lengths of rope are containcd in the bottom portion A of the bag, it may be desirable to add to the available rope by providing additional fluted 10 are folded inwardly and attached to one another by means of threading through grommets 11. The' zipper attachment 7 provided by the cover portion C (FIG. 2). This arrangement is shown in FIG. 7 in which the additional layers are designated 25. In case the fluted layers occupy only the bottom portion A (FIG. 2), the incoming rope at the beginning of the lowermost layer is connected in any suitable manner to the load which may be military equipment such as that designated 1 in FIG. 1 or a tank filled with gas shown at 26 in FIG. 7. The rope at the uppermost layer which leaves the opening 19 (FIG. 6) is con-- nected to the parachute, and length after length can be paid out without the slightest interference. is usiig.

In case additional lengths are furnished by .the fluted layers attached to the cover portion C (FIG. 2), the last length of rope of the uppermost layer on the bottom portion A is integrally connected to the first rope length of lowermost layer on the cover portion and the rope is payed out through the opening 19 from the uppermost layer of that portion.

Assuming all the fluted layers have been placed in position and tied down, including those which are attached to the cover portion (FIG. 7) is necessary, and the boxlike bag is then folded by having completed the lacing operation at the grommets 15, 16. Finally, the flaps 10 are folded inwardly and attached to one another by means of threading twined through grommets 1 l. The zipper attachment 7 is then closed to secure the top of the bag to the lower portion and thus all walls of the bag are closed except for the partial closure offered by the wall covers 12, 13 and the inner ends of the flaps which are connected together by tying as stated hereinbefore. The final shape of the bag is similar to that shown in FIG. 6 and it will be noted that the rope is coming out of and is being received at the partially closed end of the bag. The latter can be attached to the load in any suitable and well-known manner with the partially opened end directed toward the position of the parachute. Assuming that the plane is using the so-called pendulum system of parachute release and the rear door or doors of the plane are open wide, the pilot will, by remote control employing a solenoid, cause the pilot parachute to be dropped and unhooked from the plane whereupon the draft of the open doorway will cause the parachute to move out and thus carry length after length of the rope in the bag, beginning with the loops that have been stowed last. Eventually, all of the rope will have been taken from the bag and a severe pull will now be exerted on the equipment. The latter then is dragged over the floor of the plane out through the door and, at the proper time, the pilot chute will cut itself loose and the actual control of the dropping operation will be taken over by a holding parachute 4 (FIG. 1) which is normally stowed on top of the equipment and is opened automatically at the time that the pilot parachute is cut away. Due to the manner of stowing the rope and keeping the lengths, or rather every other length, separate from the companion length by means of these tunnels or flutes, there can be no interference between the various lengths as the rope lengths are unfolded in succession during the paying out operation.

FIGS. 8l0 show the application of the improved bag to the stowing and releasing large cable used in connection with the dropping of extra-heavyequipment. The cable is formed of a number of thicknesses, actually 12-ply, as illustrated, of a wide-woven nylon fabric held together by unbreakable clasps. Cable of this type is extremely hard to manage and particularly to stow in a container in such a way as to pay out the needed lengths upon the pull of a large recovery parachute. It will be understood that a smaller number of thicknesses of the webbing may be used, in the case of lighter equipment to be dropped and possibly with the use of a pilot or drogue chute instead of a single larger recovery parachute.

The cable, as is illustrated at 27 in FIG. 8 has its individual plies permanently held together by metal clamps or straps 28. In order to stow a cable of this heavy thickness, the corners of the bag are first laced together at 17, the cover portion C (HO. 2) being left open, also the wall covers l2, l3, and the flaps 10. A U-shaped length of the cable is then pressed against the sidewalls of the bag and the tie knots 29 are applied to the loops 9' A turn of the cable is made at the lefthand upper end (FIG. 9) of the cable to run the latter back to the other side of the bag where a second bend is made. With these various turns of the cable. the latter takes on a zigzag pattern as shown in FIGI9. Tie knots 29 not only fasten the cable to the bottom portion A of the bag, but also to the various turns of the cable as indicated. It will be understood that these tie knots are broken successively when a pull is made on the cable by the parachute during the airdrop operation.

ln case a single layer does not provide the required length of pay out cable, a partition sheet 30 of fairly stiff nylon material is employed as shown in FIG. 10 and tied down at various places to the side of the bag. A second layer of cable is then placed in position beginning with a single turn shown in FIG. 10 and then in a zigzag formation across the partition member. Additional sheets and formations of the webbing can be accommodated with suitable tie knots, each layer representing a continuation of the layer below. After the top cover portion C has been folded over the bottom portion'A and zippered, also the covers l2, l3 and the flaps l0 folded and loosely secured, the'cable will be found to be entering the lower right-hand opening as seen in FIG. 6 and exiting from the upper left-hand opening. When the exiting end is secured to a parachute in any suitable and well-known manner, it will be found that when the parachute is deployed the pull exerted on that end will cause the various zigzag turns of the l2- ply webbing to be payed out after which the lengths of the next lower layer are pulled successively, breaking the tie knots, and so forth, until the combined lengths of the l2-ply cable are positioned between the parachute and the equipment within the plane. Further pull by the parachute will cause the equipment to be dragged toward and through the open rear door of the airplane. The parachute will then serve as a recovery chute in dropping the heavy equipment to the ground without damage.

It is, therefore, evident that a bag having the construction described is equally applicable to a heavy webbing cable as well asa braided rope of relatively small diameter, except as to the size of bag. In all cases, the cable or rope will be dispensed out of the bag without kinking or interference between the various lengths and regardless of the number of layers of the webbing or rope that is temporarily housed by the bag.

I claim:

l. A combination of a bag and rope contents connecting a parachute to an equipment to be airdropped, said bag having a boxlike shape with comers which can be disconnected so that three sides can lie flat when rope is being stowed, said rope being constituted of short lengths in parallelly arranged zigzag fashion and with interconnecting loops at the opposite ends of the respective rope lengths whereby the continuity of the rope is maintained, the latter extending longitudinally of the bag, and means for detachably securing the lengths of rope to the inside bottom face of the bag whereby when the bag is closed, a pull by a parachute on the free end of the rope will cause the lengths of rope to be successively disengaged from the bag and be payed out in a continuous manner.

2. The combination of a bag and rope content according to claim 1 and in which said means comprises a series of flutes extending longitudinally of the bag and dctachably secured to the bottom face of the bag each flute being adapted to receive a pair of lengths of rope passing in opposite directions, said lengths being connected together, one end of the combined end of rope being secured to the bag, and the other end extending outside the bag and adapted to be attached to a parachute which, when deployed, will cause the rope lengths to become disengaged successively from said flutes in order to pay out the rope.

3. The combination of a bag and rope content according to claim 1, and in which said means comprise a fabric covering member extending over the inside bottom face of the bag and is detachably secured to said face, and a plurality of flutes formed on said coveringand extending longitudinally of the bag, said flutes being in parallel relation and each flute having a cross-sectional area as to receive a plurality of lengths of rope running in opposite directions and connected together by loops at the end of the respective loops, the free ends of the combined lengths being brought out of the bag for connection to a parachute and a load.

4. The combination of a bag and rope content in accordance with claim 3 and in which a leaf member is provided over the fluted surface and secured at the edges of said bag, a

covering over said member and secured thereto, and flutes provided in said covering of the same character as in the firstmentioned covering, and rope, additional to that in the first tier of flutes being contained in the flutes of the second-mentioned covering and arranged in pairs of lengths in which each flute with interconnecting loops at each end of the respective lengths whereby when a pull is exerted on the free end of the rope of the upper tier, the lengths of rope will pay out successively beginning with the upper tier and on pulling out the last length of rope from the lowermost tier the pull of the parachute is exerted directly on the load.

5. A bag for stowing rope for connecting a parachute to an equipment to be airdropped, said bag being of boxlike shape and capable of leaving free sides temporarily open so as to lay flat when rope is being stowed, said bag being formed of two interconnected parts, one part constituting the bottom portion of the bag, also one side, and the other part constituting the top of the boxlike bag, a covering over the bottom of the boxshaped bag and elongated flutes formed on the covering, said flutes extending lengthwise of the bag and adjacent one another, the flutes being parallelly arranged and of a width as snugly to receive two straight lengths of rope side by side, one length of each rope pair at each end of the flute being looped over so as to connect with the nearer length of the next adjacent rope pair whereby when a pull is exerted by a parachute on the free end of the rope which extends from one end of,the bag the lengths of rope within the flutes will pay out successively until the bag is completely emptied of the rope lengths.

6. The combination of the bag and a multilayer webbing content, said layers being held in unified form for connecting a parachute to an equipment to be airdropped, saidbag being of boxlike shape and having corners which can be disconnected so that the three sides can lie flat when the webbing is being stowed, the inside bottom face of said bag having parallel strips of heavy cloth sewed thereon but leaving short portions thereof unsewed to provide attachment loops, the first length of webbing being laid along the corner edge between the bottom face and one of the sides of the bag, then across the bag, then formed as a series of loops back and forth across the bag until the bottom face is covered with the edge surfaces of the webbing, and tie cords passing around the multilayer webbing at predetermined positions, said cords being secured to the bag at the unsewed portions of said strips, one end of said webbing being secured to the bag and the other end of the webbing being left free so as to connect to a parachute.

7. A bagfor stowing a multilayer webbing held together in unified form according to claim 6 and in which a fabric leaf member is positioned over the series of loops and .the multilayer webbing, and is secured at the edges to said bag, said leaf member having parallel strips of heavy cloth sewed thereon but leaving short portions thereof unsewed to form positions of attachment, strips of fabric material passing vertically up the sidewalls of the bag and in parallel relation, said strips being sewed thereon but leaving short portions thereof unsewed to form positions of attachment, the first length of the second tier of said webbing being laid along one side of the bag which is opposite the side against which the first tier of webbing was started and then across the bag and then formed as a series of loops back and forth across the bag until the leaf member is covered with the edge surfaces of the webbing, and tie cords passing around the multilayer webbing at predetermined positions, said cords being securedto the walls of the bag at the unsewed portions of said wall strips, the end of said webbing from the lower tier being secured to said bag, and the other end of the webbing from the upper tier being left free so as to be connected to a parachute.

Claims

1. A combination of a bag and rope contents connecting a parachute to an equipment to be airdropped, said bag having a boxlike shape with corners which can be disconnected so that three sides can lie flat when rope is being stowed, said rope being constituted of short lengths in parallelly arranged zigzag fashion and with interconnecting loops at the opposite ends of the respective rope lengths whereby the continuity of the rope is maintained, the latter extending longitudinally of the bag, and means for detachably securing the lengths of rope to the inside bottom face of the bag whereby when the bag is closed, a pull by a parachute on the free end of the rope will cause the lengths of rope to be successively disengaged from the bag and be payed out in a continuous manner.

2. The combination of a bag and rope content according to claim 1 and in which said means comprises a series of flutes extending longitudinally of the bag and detachably secured to the bottom face of the bag each flute being adapted to receive a pair of lengths of rope passing in opposite directions, said lengths being connected together, one end of the combined end of rope being secured to the bag, and the other end extending outside the bag and adapted to be attached to a parachute which, when deployed, will cause the rope lengths to become disengaged successively from said flutes in order to pay out the rope.

3. The combination of a bag and rope content according to claim 1, and in which said means comprise a fabric covering member extending over the inside bottom face of the bag and is detachably secured to said face, and a plurality of flutes formed on said covering and extending longitudinally of the bag, said flutes being in parallel relation and each flute having a cross-sectional area as to receive a plurality of lengths of rope running in opposite directions and connected together by loops at the end of the respective loops, the free ends of the combined lengths being brought out of the bag for connection to a parachute and a load.

4. The combination of a bag and rope content in accordance with claim 3 and in which a leaf member is provided over the fluted surface and secured at the edges of said bag, a covering over said member and secured thereto, and flutes provided in said covering of the same character as in The first-mentioned covering, and rope, additional to that in the first tier of flutes being contained in the flutes of the second-mentioned covering and arranged in pairs of lengths in which each flute with interconnecting loops at each end of the respective lengths whereby when a pull is exerted on the free end of the rope of the upper tier, the lengths of rope will pay out successively beginning with the upper tier and on pulling out the last length of rope from the lowermost tier the pull of the parachute is exerted directly on the load.

5. A bag for stowing rope for connecting a parachute to an equipment to be airdropped, said bag being of boxlike shape and capable of leaving free sides temporarily open so as to lay flat when rope is being stowed, said bag being formed of two interconnected parts, one part constituting the bottom portion of the bag, also one side, and the other part constituting the top of the boxlike bag, a covering over the bottom of the box-shaped bag and elongated flutes formed on the covering, said flutes extending lengthwise of the bag and adjacent one another, the flutes being parallelly arranged and of a width as snugly to receive two straight lengths of rope side by side, one length of each rope pair at each end of the flute being looped over so as to connect with the nearer length of the next adjacent rope pair whereby when a pull is exerted by a parachute on the free end of the rope which extends from one end of the bag the lengths of rope within the flutes will pay out successively until the bag is completely emptied of the rope lengths.

6. The combination of the bag and a multilayer webbing content, said layers being held in unified form for connecting a parachute to an equipment to be airdropped, said bag being of boxlike shape and having corners which can be disconnected so that the three sides can lie flat when the webbing is being stowed, the inside bottom face of said bag having parallel strips of heavy cloth sewed thereon but leaving short portions thereof unsewed to provide attachment loops, the first length of webbing being laid along the corner edge between the bottom face and one of the sides of the bag, then across the bag, then formed as a series of loops back and forth across the bag until the bottom face is covered with the edge surfaces of the webbing, and tie cords passing around the multilayer webbing at predetermined positions, said cords being secured to the bag at the unsewed portions of said strips, one end of said webbing being secured to the bag and the other end of the webbing being left free so as to connect to a parachute.

7. A bag for stowing a multilayer webbing held together in unified form according to claim 6 and in which a fabric leaf member is positioned over the series of loops and the multilayer webbing, and is secured at the edges to said bag, said leaf member having parallel strips of heavy cloth sewed thereon but leaving short portions thereof unsewed to form positions of attachment, strips of fabric material passing vertically up the sidewalls of the bag and in parallel relation, said strips being sewed thereon but leaving short portions thereof unsewed to form positions of attachment, the first length of the second tier of said webbing being laid along one side of the bag which is opposite the side against which the first tier of webbing was started and then across the bag and then formed as a series of loops back and forth across the bag until the leaf member is covered with the edge surfaces of the webbing, and tie cords passing around the multilayer webbing at predetermined positions, said cords being secured to the walls of the bag at the unsewed portions of said wall strips, the end of said webbing from the lower tier being secured to said bag, and the other end of the webbing from the upper tier being left free so as to be connected to a parachute.