Loading the drag shoot was always a difficult job. We could reach it off one of the large maintenance stands, but it was always a fight. Weighing a few hundred pounds and packed very tightly, it had to fit into its own compartment. It had to be lifted from the maintenance stand to the compartment, and the fit was so tight that it took three or four of us to literally push, shove and stomp it in. It was literally like trying to put 10 pounds of you-know-what into a 5-pound bucket. A new shoot had to be loaded after every landing. Very rarely would a shoot fail to deploy. Imagine trying to load a shoot on the coldest wintery day and you'll get the idea. Being young and strong came in handy.
