Who Invented What?

[crimpfiend 0]

From a post that Dwain made on blincmagazine.com, relating to an original post made regarding the Flik canopy review:


Denpar wrote:
> Wasnt it CR who added the fifth upper control line, too?
> The original idea of the vent, invented by CR...

Mike also wrote:
>what has Basic Research introduced to the market that is truly original?

Firstly let me ask Mike:
What has ANY BASE manufacturer introduced to the market that is truly original?

Vented P/C's:
Vented BASE p/c's were used and sold in France and Germany for a number of years before being released for sale by CR. In fact when CR did release their range of vented PC's they were publicly accused of stealing the idea.
However before anyone claims ownership of inventing vented p/c's, one must look to the tandem drogue (arguably invented by Ted Strong and Bill Morrissey) that looks and acts suspiciously like a p/c and has a vent near the apex. But a tandem Drogue is somewhat similar to a round canopy that also has a vented apex. The apex vent on a round was invented by the French astronomer Lelandes in the year 1802 to counter oscillations.

So the question is raised; if Morpheus stole the idea from BR, who stole it from CR, who stole it from the French (or Germans), who stole it from Ted and Bill, who stole it from Lelandes, then from whom did Lelandes steal the idea?
(Or perhaps if Lelandes were alive today would he say; " Vous des bâtards avez volé mon idée!!!")

Bottom skin vents:
BR released them first to the market in 2000...
CR had a prototype in 1996 which they discarded...
I did a BASE jump on a canopy with a large tear in the bottom skin in 1995 and I noticed faster cell inflation - does that count? (ha ha)
Accuracy canopies had bottom skin venting in the 80's and these canopies were BASE jumped a number of times in Australia in the mid to late 80's (and possibly before that elsewhere).
So bottom skin venting has been BASE jumped for at least 15 years - well before CR and BR (or TNT rigging) even existed.

5th Upper Control lines:
Introduced into Australia in the late 80's as a standard BASE mod along with the tailpocket. Was standard on the Pooster BASE canopy (made by Parachutes Australia) that was released in 1993 and sold until 1998.
A number of jumpers were making this modification to American BASE canopies until the American (and Slovenian) manufacturers finally began to make them as standard in 2001 and beyond.
(In this one regard, American BASE canopies were seen as rather behind the times as Australians had worked out the benefit of a 5th upper control line in the 80's - I remember asking Adam for it when I ordered my first Mojo in 1997).

Tuck Flap:
For the record, Gravity Sports came out with the tuck shrivel flap first. But then again that looks suspiciously like the tuck flaps used on skydiving rigs, which looks suspiciously like, well - any other product with a flap that tucks.

Valves:
Has anybody ever seen a Jedei skydiving canopy?

Pin rigs:
First "modern" pin rig on the market was the Sorcerer by Mark Hewitt (late 80's/early 90's?). BR followed in 1996/7? with the Prism and then CR with the first dual pin BASE rig: the Perigee Pro.
But before anyone starts making any claims about who was the first to release a pin-rig on-a-Tuesday-in-the-color-purple, look at the attached photo's (taken from Poynter's Vol 2).
The "Prism" like rig was manufactured by Steve West of Westway Parachuting Enterprises in 1990. The "Perigee Pro" like rig was manufactured by Stephen Stewart of Stewart Systems in 1982. Hmmm...it makes you wonder where Steve and Stephen stole their ideas from.

BASE jumping dogs:
In 1779 the French physicist Sebastian Le Normand, together with Joseph Montgolfier studied about parachutes by throwing animals. Then in 1785 Jean Pierre Blanchard, famous balloonist and the first man who flew over the English channel, began to work on parachutes. After making successful tests with animals and even his own dog...
Whoops, I'm getting off track here (Sorry Rocket the Dog - but it turns out you just weren't that unique).

To be honest just about everything has been thought off to some extent or another.
Any idiot can come up with an idea. The real talent and innovation comes from searching through that massive pile of ideas, selecting the ones that show promise and refining it into a product that works well - and then having the guts to take that product to market and back your reputation on it.
In that regard BR, CR, Morpheus, Atair and Vertigo all deserve standing accolades for their efforts. (The fact that anyone casts stones at any of these manufacturers makes me think that they themselves must have contributed to some pretty strong advancements in BASE technology).
All of these manufacturers are striving to make our sport safer through advancing the technology that saves our lives (and yes they do justifiably try to scratch out a living from it as well).
However without competition, and one manufacturer constantly leap-frogging the other with new releases, the advancement of BASE technology would be moving at an incredibly slow pace (yes, even slower than it is now).

Blind manufacturer loyalty by BASE jumpers seems odd to me (and reminds me of the blind nationality or religious fever that has kept wars raging throughout history).
It's the competition from the manufactures to win our business that keeps the technology advancing forward.
If a new manufacturer comes up with a better product (and you happen to be in the market to buy) then purchase it from them. Reward them for their progression and foresight, and not because they have the best advertising or are currently winning a popularity contest.

(Now back to my rocket-propelled-wingsuit prototype...Oh wait - Wile E Coyote has already beaten me to it!!!)

[skypuppy 1]

Something interesting about bottom skin vents in accuracy canopies in the '80's - or at least my understanding of them at the time... Usually there were two vents, one toward each end of the canopy, probably the next cell from the end (but I'm not sure on this point)...

While on BASE canopies vents are there to let air in, on accuracy canopies they were for the opposite - to let air out! My understanding was that the reasoning was twofold -

a, it reduced toggle pressure on some of those long deep-brake approaches, and
b, it minimized push to the side from turbulence by allowing the canopy to accordian in a bit, spilling some air, instead of being pushed off-line...


Whoever came up with the idea of using them to improve inflation was thinking outside the box!

PS - I'm not sure, but didn't Parafoils have a 5th upper control line back then too? I thought that was why they were so bulky that accuracy jumpers still wore their reserves on their bellies?

Skypuppy

If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead.
Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

[Faber 0]

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didn't Parafoils have a 5th upper control line back then too?

i do belive your rigth ill ask a pressision jumper tomorrow but i think your rigth..

Stay safe
Stefan Faber

[robibird 2]

Valves:

Valves and the half way covered nose of the canpoies were made by grman and austrian paraglider designers during late '80.

this stuff were well known in paragliding back then for years before some of the skydiving canopy desigeners incorporate those ideas

robi

Robert Pecnik
[email protected]
www.phoenix-fly.com

[Faber 0]

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In Reply To
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didn't Parafoils have a 5th upper control line back then too?

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i do belive your rigth ill ask a pressision jumper tomorrow but i think your rigth..

sorryi forgot to ask....there will go some time before i get there againg..

Stay safe
Stefan Faber