NAVY PILOT QAS PARACHUTE

NAVY PILOT QAS PARACHUTE  

QAS HARNESS WITH BACKPAD

$433 

QAS HARNESS  convertd from AN TYPE

$399

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about NAVY QAS parachute---all infos from the USmilitaira forum

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USN Qas Parachute rig - SURVIVAL GEAR - U.S. Militaria Forum

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In the Spring of 1943, studies were being conducted in the US to develop a practical QAS parachute and a Navy technical order was released in July 1943 with instructions for units in the field on how to convert both Navy standard seat and AN seat parachutes to the QAS configuration. These converted seat parachutes would have preceded any NAF made, or commercially manufactured Navy contract, QAS 'chutes in service use.  Converted packs will retain their original data plate and mention "seat type", or "AN-6510-1" whereas factory made examples will specify "QAS", or "QAS and Seat" on the pack data plate. The conversion instructions in the T.O. even specify how to add a "lobe" to the chest buckle, but in vintage photos, you will see this was most often not done on the early conversions. The lobe and the "wings" on the riser snaphooks would be found on all the factory produced QASs however. When coming from the factory,

As of mid April 1943, the QAS was still in testing at NAS Lakehurst. The first T.O. introducing the QAS, telling fliers how to wear it and parachute riggers how to make it, is from July 1943, so I do not think any factory-made examples would have been produced and shipped to the fleet in that short a time period. The first Essex class carrier to see combat, USS Yorktown (CV-10) launched it's first offensive strike on the last day of August 1943. Vintage photos of CAG-5 fliers on Yorktown during that first cruise show them wearing converted QAS harnesses, both Navy and AN types. I would think this is the earliest example of their use in combat. There were three T.O.s issued on the QAS, two have been previously mentioned (1943 and 1945), but the second one, dated 30 August 1944, shows that "wings" have been added to the riser snaphooks. No instructions are given as to how to make these, so they must have been factory made, and one can assume, complete factory-made  QAS parachutes were being made at that time as well, or shortly thereafter.

When operating on a crowded flight deck, the standard seat parachute was quite awkward, and even hazardous. At the time, each parachute harness had to be adjusted to fit the individual, so the parachutes could not be left in the cockpit as plane assignments varied. The adoption of the QAS allowed the individual to wear just his personally adjusted harness while the parachute pack and raft could stay in the pilot's seat of the aircraft. In land based Navy and Marine squadrons, this was not a problem, so the standard seat parachutes were the norm there. Late in the war a "QF" harness was developed. This "Quick Fit" type had special adjuster buckles at the legs and chest straps that allowed the harness to be tightened, or loosened, easily after it was put on and eliminated the need to adjust, then tack, the harness in place.

One thing to consider is that the cockpits of the Navy single seat planes were large enough that the seat could be adjusted for height. Back parachutes were available in the Navy throughout the war, but seat parachutes for their single seat pilots were preferred until the Bearcat came along. The use of seat parachutes also allowed for a backpad survival kit, which was preferred by the Navy up until the Pk-1 kit was introduced in 1945. It may seem counterintuitive, but the bulky combination of a seat parachute, cushion and and life raft, although heavy, were also quite buoyant due to the air trapped in the folds of the parachute canopy. If a flier didn't have time to slip out of the parachute harness immediately upon ditching, it would keep him afloat long enough to release the parachute harness and inflate his life vest.

There were a two versions of QAS harness - Navy type and AN type. First examples were converted from seat type chute both from NAVY and AN type - no "wings" back hooks, no "O" lobe chest hook, with or without extra "V" rigger tacked rings for parachute pack chest straps. But mostly late war examples with "wings" back hooks and "O" lobe chest hook were factory made still in the same style NAVY and AN type. I guess Naval Air Station or commercial factory used an "old" stock for made new harness. 

QAS HARNESS  convertd from AN TYPE

$419