What is this canopy? #4

[howardwhite 5]

I jumped one a few times and mostly remember "firm" openings.
If you jumped one, what do you remember?
Why did it fail as a product?

HW

[BIGUN 1,069]

I didn't jump one, but without a slider - the openings were prolly more than "firm."
I respond, because you've provided me with a visual aid for the FJC for use during the block of instruction on the slider's role in constraining the opening and want to say, thanks.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[airtwardo 6]

Looks like a Parasled...


and didn't it fail because of patent infringement problems with the attachment points?


(Or was that 'patent thing' the 1st generation Paraplane? )

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

[highspeeddirt 0]

its a Para Sled by Jalbert Aerology Labs.that pic was lifted from poynters manual.as to why it failed, Jalbert did not have a viable reefing system . Snyder had patented his pilot chute controlled reefing(PCR) and at the time he and Jalbert were feuding(lawsuits and what not)over Snyders direct line attach patents(no flares on the bottom surface on snyder canopies).
Ray Kirst,who was one of snyd's test jumpers did a hop n pop on one , had a pilotchute hesitation and tried to cut it away because the opening was gonna be BRUTAL even with that short amount of freefall

[howardwhite 5]

Quote

that pic was lifted from poynters manual.

Actually, it was "lifted" from a McElfish Parachute Service ad in the December, 1973, Parachutist, credited to J. Gruben. There is a similar (but not exactly the same) picture in a Chute Shop ad in the April '73 issue.
At a quick glance I don't see it in the 1977 Poynter manual. I haven't looked in the original (1972) Poynter manual.
(But thanks for your attention.)
HW

[stratostar 5]

McElfish good to the last drop!

you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

[Zing 2]

I got to make a couple jumps on a Para-Sled at Clayton Troutner's dropzone at Charlotte, Mich. in the early 70s.
I remember that it opened "firmly" on hop-n-pops and no one wanted to take it to terminal because there was no reefing system on it.
I think Dave Sauve (sp?) had one and was training for the US Style and Accuracy team with it, but it offered no real improvement, accuracy wise, than the parafoils and paraclouds that were also in use back then.
A few years later, someone had one at Ghoulidge that had been lightened up by removing a bunch of reinforcing tapes, but it was still a big, bulky canopy compared with the stuff that was coming around by the mid to late 70s.
It landed nice, though, even in the hot, no-wind conditions od Arizona.

Zing Lurks

[Beatnik 2]

I own one that has ten jumps on it now. It was modified for use with a slider. I have never seen a slider come so face at me in my life as when I jumped it. It along

My friend owns one of Bill Cole's old Para-Sleds. It has rings and ropes and that thing opens quick as well.

I think this parachute just wants to open fast no matter what you do to it and it packs big. But what a sight above your head. The straight profile and split tail is an interesting sight if you are the one flying it or if you get to fly close to it.

[NickDG 23]

I got a replacement pilot chute from McElfish many years ago. It came with this gawd awful jumbo sized mesh that had ping pong sized openings. Where they got that mesh I don't know, maybe Fredrick's of Hollywood.

The snag potential was such that I was afraid to ever use it . . .

NickD BASE 194

[airtwardo 6]

I jumped one a few times and mostly remember "firm" openings.

Quote

By 'firm' you mean like this~

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

[MasterRigger 0]

In my opinion, this appears to be one of the early 5 cell Jalbert Parafoils. The cross venting ( as shown ) on the canopy as I recall was added after Johnny Higgins took over the manufacture from Jalbert in Florida. It was Higgins, and the Chute Shop that took the canopy into real production mode, and distribution..

The canopy never really failed, but as I recall the 5 cell version was a one time marketing effort to compete with the Starto Star. The 7 cell Parafoil was marketed heavily to the USAPT early on as "the accuracy canopy", and has maintained somewhat of a "Cult following". Today, a likeness is still manufactured by John Eiff. John was one of the very very early disciples of Jalbert.

Unknown to many at the time, Steve Snyder / Paraflite had purchased the patent rights from Jalbert, and I feel he ( Snyder ) stifled development on the foil, and Higgins had to walk a very fine line.

I made about 15-20 early hop n pops on the sled, when Paul Fayard was running the Greene County operation in Atlanta. My back will never be the same! But, thank God for the rope & rings reefing from Paraflite.. PCR. Pilotchute Controlled Reefing was the hot ticket at the time on the early ParaPlane.

[RogerRamjet 0]

I jumped one at Z-Hills. Don't really remember if the opening was "firm" or not, but I only weighed 135lbs then and it was a hop and pop. I remember it flew pretty nicely and landed nicely as well (of course the only other square I'd jumped at the time was a Para Plane). The split tail was interesting.

For a while there, they called me Roger Ramair because I jumped every square I could borrow. Para Plane, Sled, Foil, Cloud were among those I got my hands on. We also had a Canadian (Steve something) down one summer who was doing a bunch of venting mod testing on various square canopies. I have no idea where he got some of them from, but several of us took a tow ride on a 400sq ft canopy he had with a 1000 feet of line. It took some time for me at 135lbs to decend after being towed up. What fun!

-----------------------
Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

[howardwhite 5]

Here's the Sled picture from the Chute Shop ad in the April, '73, Parachutist. It clearly shows the split tail and straight profile.
In the same ad, the Chute Shop also promoted the UT-15, "...the canopy with which the Russians recently won the recent XI World Championships."
HW

[howardwhite 5]

Quote

We also had a Canadian (Steve something) down one summer

Steve Sutton. You should know.
See http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2604649;search_string=Steve%20Sutton;#2604649
HW

[RogerRamjet 0]

Quote

Quote

We also had a Canadian (Steve something) down one summer

Steve Sutton. You should know.
See http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2604649;search_string=Steve%20Sutton;#2604649
HW

Yeah, that's him! Thanks Howard, I knew that thread was out there somewhere, but not how to find it

Sometimers....


No one ever replied to my question about if Steve still lives, do you happen to know?

-----------------------
Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

[howardwhite 5]

Quote

No one ever replied to my question about if Steve still lives, do you happen to know?

From that ever-reliable source, Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Sutton_(skydiver)
As the page was last modified only a week or so ago, I think it is safe to assume he still lives.
HW

[jimp 1]

What I remember about the Para Sled is that the fabric looked, felt, and sounded like wax paper. The few jumps I made on them - 1973 - are lost to memory.

[Beatnik 2]

The material is called stablekote. It was a treated ripstop. It is a very different type of fabric. It almost feels tacky but not quite.

[CharlieMac 0]

That is a jalbert parasled and it hits close to my heart because I believe it is me on #49 which I first jumped rigged with rings and strings at Delray Florida. It really was a hard opener and a wild ride when one side opened before the other. Moving to indiantown, it was short lined and then fitted with the first slider I ever saw by rigger Joe Gilby. The slider made it more dependable with much softer openings at any speeds. The split tail made it very responsive in turns but. The flare was touchy.it was stolen from my trunk in Miami around 1972, never to be seen again. I loved that rig after Gilby turned it into a real hot rod of its day.