Anyone remember para-planes?

[indigoSkye 0]

My reefed Strato-Star never malfunctioned over 300+ jumps. I loved it, it was so colorful, a rainbow among a bunch of solid colors or boring stripes. It was real advanced, "short-lined," meaning that the canopy lines were shorter than the original incredible length. It didn't require the strongest binoculars to see the chute, and they didn't swing out so terribly far on the turns.
Over Okmulgee (kind-of an outlaw alternative to Tahlequah... no USPA requirement needed) we had several. This was CRW in 1978:
Fly over top of somebody's Star (oooh avoid that burble), then neatly stick your toe down into the guy's pilot chute... release your blakes and take off. An alternative was to snag the reefing line at the center front and run off with it... but that was unsporting.

Since the reefing line went from the pilot chute, all the way around the canopy, and then down, the above procedures resulted in a fast and almost total collapse of the lower canopy... just like pulling a drawstring bag closed. But neatly organized...

When you released the guy's pilot chute from your toe, the downward pressure rammed air right into the front of those big cells, and the collapsee got another sloppy subterminal opening.

It was like playing tag. Nobody ever got me, I was the lightest & could float my StratoStar over anybody in Oklahoma. The landings were real screamers tho... I lost a hand-sized patch of skin off my left butt cheek once by landing in a slide in rough grass wearing teeny cutoffs. It was a very hot day.

If you pulled a low hook turn to pick up some speed, then flared for landing as soon as the Star was level, it improved the stopping factor and resulted in some superfast approaches, scattering spectators running for cover, and at the last second, and only with perfect timing...a dramatic standup tiptoe landing. Excellent for demos into rickety rodeo rings.

Perfect speed is being there in time for the goat roast.

Perfect speed is being there at the goat roast.

[chuteless 1]

Yeah, I remember Para-Planes. My buddy had oneand he asked me if I wanted to try it. He said something about "opening" but I wasnt paying too much attention. I got the rig on and was soon at altitude. Terminal velocity and I pop the ripcord ( thats a thing that activates the canopy for all you new fangled riggers) and the opening shock was so hard it ripped the helmet right off my head. After the stars cleared and the sun came out again. I thought the "shock" was what my buddy was referring to. I landed and had a 1/2 mile walk to get my helmet back. I told him to keep his damn Para-Plane. regerds indigosky

[airtwardo 6]

Hey there indigoSkye...great post!

I wish I'd have known you wayyyy back then!
( especially in short-shorts! )

You fit right in with the goofy bunch of Illinois Boys I was jumping with in those days!

I had a Paraplane back then...Red & Black.
The pinhead I bought it from shortened the FRONT LINES ONLY by close to a foot...
"Better for accuracy" he said....
It sure was...just as long as the spot was straight over the peas!
No forward speed....and no flare....my 240 lbs. coming outta the sky like a
'safe full of gold dust'.

We'd all open at 2500'...I'd be down and 1/2 packed by the time the other guys were landing! Good thing I was in 'Football' condition at the time...if I missed the peas, I chewed up 30 yards doing various renditions of a 'sonic PLF' ...had a standing order for thick leather gloves, knee pads and white Bell motorcycle helmets!!!

Sold that deathtrap to a broke college student and part-time rodeo clown...( tell's ya HE was all about)
He " fixed " the trim problem by 'chaining' together a dozen speed links on each of the front risers...then stiffening the extension by wrapping the mess in duct tape.

AHHH..those were the days!

This was at a little ' private ' dropzone in the middle of a cornfield in central Illinois.
I learned there in the 70's...and for some reason fit right in.
( kinda invitation only, except if they needed gas money...toss a couple of static-liners out, gas for a month!)

The plane had no radios...which was cool, 'cause the pilot didn't had a license anyway! Last guy to the aircraft handed the 'driver' a Bud...Two if yer goin' high!

I still remember the "waiver " I signed the day I made my first static line jump...
( 1 ) " If you die...tough shit."
( 2 ) " If you get hurt, and sue us, we'll hunt you down and kill you,..tough shit."
( 3 ) " If you fuck-up, you will be asked to leave...ONCE! "
( 4 ) " Cash only, no refunds, ...if you have any
questions, you just fucked-up...see line # 3."

God I miss the " OLD DAYS"

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[indigoSkye 0]

Me too, Twardo,

Shorts & all, Huh.

Yeah, I remember some of those goofy boyz. One of them inhaled an oyster right off of a cracker, down in Z-hills (yes, I mean with his nose... and with horseradish on it too).

If you ever went to 240, I would like to know where the extra 40 pounds is... cause I don't see it in your profile...
you must have it tucked safely away near the leg straps??

I love the old outlaw DZs.

Perfect speed is being there at the goat roast.

[airtwardo 6]

He's me at 240 lbs...

In MY short shorts!!

"Back in the day" as they say!

Nice gear HUH?!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[steve1 5]

Cool picture Airtwardo. I was wondering where your capewells are in this picture. Were you jumping an early three ring version? I quit jumping in about 76 and started up again in about 2000, so I missed many of the changes in gear. I wish I could figure out how to run my scanner. I have a bunch of old pictures.....Steve1

[airtwardo 6]

I had just moved off student status when I got that rig...

23' Pap and a 23' flat....

I had to take the capewells off and have "R3's" installed.

Same idea as the shot and a half's...execpt nylon and velcro held the metal hardward closed...
and it was a ' one shot' system, pull down on two little plastic tabs...and C-YA!
Thank god I didn't have to use them....that reserve would have hammered me!

Here I am getting a dead center at a regional competition...
I often won these events...240 pounds screaming in downwind!
The judges would take off running when I got close!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[airtwardo 6]

Steve;

Check out my 'modern' piggy back system!

This one even had the old "Jesus Cord"

An extra piece of red 550 attached to the main lift web...and to the top flap of the reserve....

These rigs used to stick shut now and then...




If memory serves, I had 4 rides on a 23' Tri-Con-
and had to use the "Red Line" every time...

Graduated college, got my first Wonderhog as a gift from the folks (Thank you Mr. Booth!)

Can't belive I use to jump that trash!


Hummm....

Looking at these old pics reminds me of yet another post for the- "Scary Stories" thread!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[steve1 5]

Quote

I often won these events...240 pounds screaming in downwind!
The judges would take off running when I got close!

I remember attempting accuracy with my old Para-commander. Someone told us the pros did it downwind, so of course we had to try it. I usually ended up missing the peas and then digging up dirt for about 20 ft. After the dust settled and all the oohs and ahs stopped I'd jump right up and try to act like it didn't hurt. My specialty was a big hook turn in a last ditch effort to hit the peas and then slamming into the dirt about 40 feet away. After that I decided to stick strictly with Relative Work......I wasn't meant to be an accuracy champ. I still have trouble landing in the right place.....Steve1

[wmw999 2,122]

Quote

Someone told us the pros did it downwind, so of course we had to try it.

Well, once they said the words "downwind" and "accuracy" in the same sentence, I decided it wasn't for me

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[indigoSkye 0]

I think he has R2s or something. I don't remember 3 ring releases on any front & back rig... I thought the first 3 ring was on dual backpack... where is Bill, he would know.

But Twardo's got something, all right. Cute uh, shorts, T.

Perfect speed is being there at the goat roast.

[wmw999 2,122]

They're R3s (well, for one thing he says so, for another, I'm afraid I remember them firsthand too). Here's a nice post describing a lot of the hardware of the time:

Gear & Rigging post

There's a follow-on on the next page that goes into more detail on R2s in particular. And yes, the 3-ring was part of the original Wonderhog.

I agree about the shorts

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[airtwardo 6]

What's wrong with my shorts??????

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[wmw999 2,122]

Quote

What's wrong with my shorts??????

There is absolutely nothing wrong with your shorts. We're commenting more on the filler . Nothing wrong with that either.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[tbrown 26]

I remember the Para Plane Cloud when I started in '74. It had ropes and rings around the top of the canopy and opened from one side to the other. The opening sounded painful to me standing on the ground. Never jumped one myself, in those days they pretty much insisted on 200+ jumps with plenty of Paracommander experience before trying a square. My first square jump was on a later model Strato Cloud with a slider.

The other thing I remember with the PP Cloud, was how many people bought the things and then just a few months later would be trying to sell them and jumping their old PC's again. Too many cutaways and/or couldn't take the gut slammer openings...

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !

[indigoSkye 0]

Your shorts ARE marvelous, dear.

We just like to talk about Equipment, every once in a while... kind-of like a review, get it?

And yes, the filler is fine too. Thank you for the FLASHback, T.

HugZ

Perfect speed is being there at the goat roast.

[airtwardo 6]

Quote

The first square canopy that I remember seeing was a para-plane back in the mid 70's. We were all in awe watching a club member swooping in and doing a standup with it. I even jumped it a couple times, but it was kind of scary, because it would malfunction about every ten jumps or so. Maybe we weren't packing it right. I also didn't have a clue how to land it properly. But at any rate, I was just wondering if anyone remembers this canopy? I'm sure it was really primitive by today's standards. Steve1

Had to hunt around a bit...
Here's mine!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[Swanee 0]

And yes, the 3-ring was part of the original Wonderhog.

I had a very early Wonderhog (serial no 14 if I remember correctly). It had Capewells (and a throw away pilot chute) The reserve ripcord was a blast handle on the left hip! (not sure if this was original)

Swanee

[markbaur 0]

Quote

The reserve ripcord was a blast handle on the left hip!

Mounted for an upward pull?

Mark

[Swanee 0]

No--downward

Swanee

[markbaur 0]

A blast handle mounted on the hip, especially with a downward pull, would be very unusual, almost certainly retro-fitted custom, not standard. Routed over the shoulder to the left main lift web near the chest strap was quite common.

Mark

[lfhower 0]

I saw Steve Snyder jump one of his Para Planes at Lakewood NJ in 1969. It was a hop and pop with another guy under a ParaCommander with an 8mm movie camera. That Paraplane literally flew circles around the PC. Steve flew that thing a complete 360 around the peas from a very low altitude and then tippy toed the landing in the peas. I tried to ask him about it and he wouldn't even acknowledge that I was there. Never bought anything built by him. Hmmmm, wonder why? This was when they were trying all kind of ways to slow the openings so they could go to terminal with them. Sliders weren't invented yet.

Always remember, when you get where you're going, there you are!

[scroadload 1]

I can only add after making about 200 jumps on a para-plane was how extremely hard the opening were. I could only make 5 or 6 terminal openings before switching back to my PC so my legs could heal where the leg snaps had scraped the skin off even though they were well padded. Upon pulling I would bring my arms and chin to my chest and then BLAM!!!! many time's my helmet would be twisted on my head. I knew that in order to continue jumping the Para-Plane I would have to make the openings softer, so I attached a small piece (1"X2") of Velcro to the nose lines hoping it would slow the opening. My next jump I went from 5500' got to terminal then pulled, waiting for what I thought would be just another hard opening when to my surprise it was as soft as my PC. Then I looked up and I saw that small piece of Velcro still holding my nose lines together, O Shit. After riding it down to 2000' trying everything to clear it to no avail, I cut it away and went to my 24' unstearable reserve. So ended my attempt to make that POS to open nice.

D-2626, SCR1999, SCS641, NSCR2350, GW6909

Blue Skies!!!!!!

[lekstrom10k 0]

I had one of the Baby-Planes, We were supposed to exit from 7500. After as short free fall and pull. we were supposed to try some turns and a flare high . Well my first wasnt quite that way. We had 2800 windy demo on to a frozen lake It all went well in spite of it self. Later I had three Clouds with the same ropes and rings. John Sherman was one of our local riggers with connections to the Golden Knights. We would get the latest Monday packing tips Fold the nose then the OSI . Then the Friday tips "dont use Mondays any more" roll the tail then the OSI. My first cloud had the 1000# white line with clove hitches and half hitches knot with heat shrink covers. The others had 1000 micro line that also had to be replaced for the God-Sent Slider. I made a line machine to reline the canopys easily.The pack volume wasnt so bad if you took about 8 hours and a dozen razor blades to de tape them, actually got them to fit a Para-commander container. Some of you guys must have been terrible packers ,I remember getting almost to 20 without a cutaway. I never had a strato cloud with those high faluting stabalizers. My Unit was the first with those#26. Oh by the way I had a steering flap sewn onto my baby plane ,Didnt help all that much.As far as the two MA-1s I got one of those Grabber pilot chutes with Snyders Swivel to stop bridle line twists. Hope this brought memories.

[Zing 2]

I got to jump Clayton Troutners Paraplane Silver Cloud at his dropzone in Charlotte, Mich around 1972 ... maybe 73. It was a great place where geeks like me got to do our static line jumps on a Paracommander ... one of the US teams red/white and blue versions. Rumour had it that it had belonged to Clayton ????(last name escapes right now) who used it for a first place accuracy championship.
I went home to Fargo, No. Dak., and found this defunct jump club. Student rigs with reserves and Sentinel auto-openers, a hangar with a decent Cessna-182, a pilot or two waiting for someone to fly, and no jumping activity.
A few of us got the jumping going again and there were stories around about Bob Odegaard's Baby Plane ... so I asked about it. Sure enough, in the corner of the hangar, under a bunch of old airplane parts, tires, cans of paint, etc, was a blue and white Baby Plane with about 10 jumps on it. It had malfunctioned 4 or 5 times, and scared the bejeezus out of the guys when it did open. Bob O broke a leg real bad on the last jump he did and the canopy was abandoned as "dangerous." I bought it for $75 with a matching blue stylemaster harness and container.
I packed it up the same as we had done with Clayton Troutner's cloud and it opened just fine ... and it went REALLY fast!
This one also had the 1000# lines with clove hitches and heat-shrink. I jumped that parachute about 250 times. Had two cutaways that were exciting because of the spinning induced by only a third of the canopy coming out of the bag. When packing, you pulled a loop of the suspension lines up through a "keyhole" in the d-bag that was closed with velcro and pull-the-dot snaps, then you fed the reefing rope through a steel ring, and looped that around the suspension lines protruding out the top of the keyhole. If you think that sounds scary and confusing, imagine what it was like for the person preparing to jump it.
During the couple years I jumped that thing, it underwent several mods. Bruce Bickford shortlined it about 8 feet, I cut tons of reinforcing tape off it, eventually it got a slider.
It sometimes opened like a ton of bricks and I found the outline of the harness in black and blue on my body more than once. A lot of times it opened in a "firm, but not bonecrushing" manner.
I actually made money on the parachute. I talked a local motorcycle dealer into having his logo sewn on the bottom of the canopy and jumped it at demos. I got a brand-new Suzuki 400 dirt bike and $50 every time I jumped it on a demo. Not bad for a $75 investment.

Zing Lurks