What is the earliest date a Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System could be perfected?
OTL LAPES was first used during the Siege of Khe Sanh 1966. During that siege, USAF C-130 Hercules delivered a many thousands of rounds of artillery ammo, allowing USMC defenders to succeed when the French Foreign Legion failed a decade earlier at Diem Bien Phu.
Would LAPES have been practical before the invention of tail gates (Budd Conestoga, Fairchild Flying Boxcar, Fairchild Husky, Lockheed C-130 Hercules, etc?
Would LAPES have been practical with all the extra aircraft WALLIES had during the summer of 1944? Would Spitfires, Thunderbolts, Halifaxes, etc. have been able to deliver sufficient tonnage around the bottle-necked Normandy beaches?
Would LAPES have helped the Poles during the Battle of Falaise Gap (August 1944)?
Would LAPES have helped Polish ... British paratroopers at Arnhem (September 1944)?