Precious parachutes.

[SharpeXB]

My brother is in an Airborne unit in the US Army. He's done 42 jumps and pulled his reserve chute once. Now that I think about it... That doesn't sound so reliable

[SharpeXB]

In The Wild Blue by Stephen Ambrose he mentions that WWII pilots received no parachute training. They just told em, if the time comes you'll figure it out.

[TomcatViP]

The best way to get back on earth safely with a chute is to land it gently with it under your butt.. seated in your cockpit.

Once you start to rely on it, unpredictable things can be. just remind that war stories are narrated by the livings... not by the dead.

SO 100% of story about pilot hitting the silk are are the ones were the chute did open successfully (low G, speed relevant, safe alt, good opening etc...).