Posted by David Brawley [162.158.113.18] on Saturday, April 23, 2016 at 07:12:51 :
In Reply to: air mail delivery posted by Jerry in Idaho [162.158.68.47] on Friday, April 22, 2016 at 17:35:20 :
Years ago, I was at a small airport (in Maryland, I think) where they had done some early developmental work on the practice that eventually became known as LAPES which stands for Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System. Just like this mess it was a way of delivering materiel and supplies to forward troops without the benefit of a landing strip. The subject involved in these early tests was an early production Willys CJ2A complete with column shift and axe and shovel indentations on its body. There were a series of photographs showing this little jeep sliding along the ground on its pallet, all seeming to portray a successful delivery. I always wondered what happened to that Jeep, as it would be very collectible today! I will try to find some pictures of all of this...