For the jump log

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This excerpt is from SBS by John Parker ( 2005 Bounty Books ISBN 0 7537 1297 0)
It describes the water insertion of the SBS and others in the QE2 extortion attempt in May 1972. The QE2 was east of Newfoundland on route to Cherbourg.
" The cloud base was down to a variable 300 to 400 ft. when the Hercules reached the QE2. The ship wasn't even visible from the safety of 1,000 ft. It was raining and the QE2 reported a 20 knot wind and a long 5 foot swell. Every one of these statistics were outside the safety limits for jumps over water. Their situation was not even half the safety margin; a jump from that height without clear sight below was not only unsafe but an impossibility; 1,000 ft was the minimum height allowed to ensure the operation of the reserve...
A brief confab as the aircraft circled, flying blind through cloud, and Flight Sargent Terry Allen suggested a possible solution: if they first got underneath the cloud, the pilot could then climb rapidly, disgorging the team at the point of extra gravitational pull. Flight Sargent Bald agreed that it could work; difficult perhaps and dangerous, but the only way to get them down into the water. The others agreed.
The huge plane was buffeted and banging in the turbulence...as the aircraft dipped below the cloud at around 350 ft...The pilot made several dummy runs to test the plan before the first drop. The two NCOs would go first carrying the bulk of the bomb disposal gear, parachuting blind into the cloud...the aircraft came around again to the drop zone, eased up to around 500 ft and then...nose up and throttle hard to climb to 800 ft. As he did so ' on Sgt. Allens command we forced ourselves through the port door against an exceptionally high gravitational force which I am positive lifted all four of us off the flight deck. During the descent we carried out the necessary drills and quickly hit the water, too damned near the bows of the ship for my liking. Although the sea was running a heavy swell, it was refreshing after so long in the plane.'
 
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