First Eliptical Canopy

[BrianSGermain 1]

Most people assume that the first eliptical on the market was the Stiletto. This is not the case.

There were two canopies before the Stiletto.

The French Company PDF came out with the "Blue Track" first. This was in truth a "tapered" canopy as there is no curvature, only a linear reduction of the chord.

The Jonathan, from AirTime Designs, was the predecessor to the Jedei airlock elipical. The chord reduction of the three tapering cells of each side of these canopies was non-linear, and therefore "eliptical".

In actuality, the Stiletto is a tapered wing as well. There are only two tapering cells on each side of the canopy, and this chord reduction is also linear.

Just though you'd be interested...

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[johnny1488 1]

Quote

In actuality, the Stiletto is a tapered wing as well. There are only two tapering cells on each side of the canopy, and this chord reduction is also linear.

I thought there were 3. The 3 center cells are replitaces and the 3 outer on either side taper in chord.

Johnny
--"This ain't no book club, we're all gonna die!"
Mike Rome

[BrianSGermain 1]

Incorrect. There are five square cells in the middle of the Stiletto. The Jedei and Samurai have three.

Does this make all the difference in the world? Only if you like what one does more than the other. I like the way the Jedei and Samurai fly.

I also really like the fact that the Samurai and the Jedei lock the air into the wing.

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[YM4 0]

The Jedei, I loved that canopy, I had an old 120 with inboard stabilizers, but it was giving me a bit of a problem on the oppenings.

I send it to you at Air Time a few times but still openning hard.
Then Tony told me he was going to make me a new one.
The Jedei Swept wing. This one was opening really good and flying also great.

The jedei was a great flying canopy.

Blues, Julio

"It's not the size of the dog in the fight,
It's the size of the fight in the dog!"

[riggerrob 558]

If you want to be a historical perfectionist, John Bouchard filed the first patent application for elliptical canopies. The New Hampshire-based para-glider designer sewed his first tapered para-gliding canopies in the late 1980s. I flew one of this slightly tapered para-gliders in 1988, from a cliff over-looking North Conway New Hampshire.

[BrianSGermain 1]

To take the history a step deeper, John Buchard and I graduated from the same college, University of Vermont. We were both active in the outing club and rock climbing scene there. We have had numerous discussions about ram air wings over the years, even before I was a designer. Very wonderful place, I guess that's why they call it: "Groovy UV"

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[pchapman 261]

For Brian G.:

Any comment on Mr Bouchard's attempt to claim or enforce a patent on an elliptical ram air airfoil? I hear he wasn't very welcome in the paragliding industry after trying to extract money from some of the manufacturers. Did he sue or threaten to sue the early elliptical parachute manufacturers too? (e.g., you)

(My personal bias: I figure any 3rd year aerospace engineering student would come up with an elliptical airfoil idea within about 30 seconds, so unless there were specific construction or aerodynamic details I don't know about, I don't think much of his attempt to gouge the industry for something not very original in the sense that any number of people were inevitably going to do it. Maybe someone can blame the situation on the patent system rather than on Mr Bouchard himself. Perhaps if I knew more about the story I wouldn't be as negative about him, but maybe not.)

[BrianSGermain 1]

As an inventor, I can see his side of the story. He worked hard to develop something new and interesting. People have made money on Intellectual Property over the years, it is nothing new. I can't blame a guy for trying to make a buck. Hippee New Englanders rarely do.

I have become somewhat dissolutioned with the whole patent thing myself. I Patented the Airlock, and have barely seen a return to cover the expenses of the Patent Process. It is a game made up by the Lawyers. They find clever ways of making money while pretending to make you money.

I have resolved to design great parachutes and market them. As long as ideas come pouring out of my head, I need no protection. If somebody copies what I am doing, it is my sign that I was into something good. Groovy. Improving the world is why I invent things, not to make millions in a brief insight.

Hard work makes money, not ideas.

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[SkySlut 0]

Quote

Hippee New Englanders rarely do.

Damn straight, brotha!!! Spread the love. You stopping over to SNE...this year???

[BrianSGermain 1]

You betcha! 3 trips on the schedule already! First weekend of the month: May, June & July!!

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[SkySlut 0]

Sweet...see you there...Carp is still in Bali...that hippie bastard!!!!

[The111 0]

Quote

Hard work makes money, not ideas.

I apologize for being off-topic, but that statement is horrendously innaccurate. Both are actually necessary (work and ideas), but the ideas are infinitely more valuable. Anyone can work hard; not anyone can come up with an ingenious idea. Hard work did not bring you the computer screen you're looking at right now.

Btw, I'm not trashing the value of hard work. I'm just pointing toward the virtues of the mind.

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[BrianSGermain 1]

OK, how about:

Ideas do not materialize into reality without hard work. So often, great thoughts come and go without seeing fruition. It is through inspration combined with perspiration that we see our ideas complete.

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[The111 0]

Fair enough.

www.WingsuitPhotos.com

[murrays 0]

Or...

Genius is 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration.

---Thomas Alva Edison

Blue skies,

--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

[LAP 0]

I'm still jumping my Jonathan 170...bought it new! Never had anything but great openings and they have 99% been on heading. Never forget the first jump on a demo J-170...."Lap, just but the toggle on either hip, you go into a one man downplane" ...was that ever true!! Lap

[LAP 0]

...and what about the "Pintail" which I believe was out of South Africa?? Did the leading edge on that have an elipse? Lap

[BrianSGermain 1]

That is a question for Norman Girdwood, he works for Sunpath now.

The Pintail was definitely a very early elliptical as well.

BSG

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[gjhdiver 0]

Quote

The French Company PDF came out with the "Blue Track" first. This was in truth a "tapered" canopy as there is no curvature, only a linear reduction of the chord.

I still have my Blue Track BT-50. In fact I have two of them, and early Kevlar lined model, and a later optima lined model with the no brake setting mod. Both are still very sporty canopies and you still see a lot of them in Europe. The reason they didn't sell in the US was that PDF's parent company, the Zodiac group, is a multi billion dollar entity, and wasn't about to expose itself to the US legal system.

Personally, I feel that the more a canopy becomes a truly elliptical planform, the less reliable it becomes on deployment. The pintail wasn't exactly known for regular openings, and when I was at Z Hills, we had a prototype Jedei swept wing that we ended up cutting away so many times, that the last time, we just left it out in the swamp to rot. It was only going to wind up back out there on the next jump anyway
After about 7000 jumps on Stilettos, I'm impressed by the sheer consistency of them over the years. They are a very nice balance between performance and stability.

[BrianSGermain 1]

There are several variables that contribute to consistency in openings. The first is percent of taper, in other words, how elliptical it is. The second is balance of leading edge to trailing edge taper. Also contributing to openings are trim (which changes over time with spectra lines), brake-setting, brake line array configuration, leading edge aperture, and airfoil type, just to mention a few. I have found that there are ways to make an elliptical canopy open like a square, and vice-versa.

It isn't fair to judge a canopy by it's taper.
-bg
+

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[freeflynick 0]

Was the Bat Wing not on the market before the Stiletto? I thought it was one of the first elipticals??

Hobbes: "How come we play 'War' and not 'Peace'?"
Calvin: "Too few role models."

[Taylor610 0]

Was the Bat Wing not on the market before the Stiletto? I thought it was one of the first elipticals??
***

I believe the Bat Wing was a good year behind the Stiletto. However, the Nova came out before the Stiletto. Although if I remember correctly someone once told me the Nova was the worlds first self-packing parachute...the timing was just slightly off...

[winsor 186]

Quote

Was the Bat Wing not on the market before the Stiletto? I thought it was one of the first elipticals??
***

I believe the Bat Wing was a good year behind the Stiletto. However, the Nova came out before the Stiletto. Although if I remember correctly someone once told me the Nova was the worlds first self-packing parachute...the timing was just slightly off...

The NOVA consisted of a pilot chute with a collapsible main.

I am one of the lucky ones who folded one up and survived.

Jumping a 170 below the minimum 1.35 loading, I tried the front risers at about 500 feet to see how much extra performance it gave. The canopy promptly ate its nose and I was swung forward with my heels pointed skyward. The canopy then reinflated and dove past me. After falling past slack lines (thank God I did not snag one), the canopy snapped back into place above me at slightly over 100 feet.

I did not touch the risers again, and landed a bit farther from the peas than I had originally intended.

As I walked back in, one observer said "Wow! That was cool! Could you do that again?" You gotta love it.

I then jumped my Blue Track BT-50, which I had let Butch jump and he had repacked.

I was on my second or third rotation when I concluded that it was not a mal, just a funky opening, and got it straightened out.

I was taught to pack it perfectly symmetrically, so I had never experienced the results of failing to do so. I repacked it my way, and it opened right on heading.

That day was not boring.


Blue skies,

Winsor

[Taylor610 0]

The NOVA consisted of a pilot chute with a collapsible main.

I am one of the lucky ones who folded one up and survived.
***

I too survived my Nova. Exit wt was probably 205 and I was jumping a 120. I had about 60 jumps on it when the nose rolled under on a 120 degree front riser turn to land. It "poped" open again I flared and biffed. There had already been a few incidents in other places and the Stiletto had started shipping. Picked one of the six color patterns (That's right, the Stiletto had 6 patterns to chose from, take 'em or leave 'em.) and ordered my canopy that day.

I cut the canopy off the risers...

One of the other guys on my 4-way team had a 99 and had it roll under twice on him. Not sure how he survived, but he cut the lines off of his and hung it on a wall.

[jpjc2000 0]

My first ZP was a Nova, never had a problem with it. Sold it and bought a Tomcat 170, then on to the Jonathon, then to a Johathon with airlocks sewn in-(not good...it blew up), then to the Jedi. I think I've owned 4 Jedi's, all great canopies IMO. Jumping a Samurai today, I love the airlock concept and the way they fly. Brian might confirm this, but I think I am the only one to ever land a Tornado canopy, a converted airlocked Tomcat.