What is this canopy? #10

[howardwhite 5]

And what's it for?

HW

[gearless_chris 1]

It was invented by hippies in the military. It was to produce a peace sign shadow on the ground so the enemy would feel good and quit fighting.
Actually I don't have the slightest idea, don't mind me, I'm just passing through.

"If it wasn't easy stupid people couldn't do it", Duane.

My momma said I could be anything I wanted when I grew up, so I became an a$$hole.

[JSBIRD 1]

Looks to be set up for an in-air pick up.

BASE359

"Now I've settled down,
in a quiet little town,
and forgot about everything"

[darkwing 4]

Easter Bunny, mk-1. For dropping eggs to troops.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[TreeRat 0]

Looks to me to be an early attempt to stop the oscillation problem of the typical military round

EarthBoundMisfit

[mark 102]

Quote

Looks to be set up for an in-air pick up.

BASE359

Ding, ding, ding!

Mark

[lodestar 0]

couldn't tell you what kind of canopy other than knowing it's a heavy drop cargo type.
The white tubes were likely an attempt to bleed off high pressure air from inside the canopy to keep it from oscillating too violently.
There appears to be some kind of packing crate underneath but no idea what's in that.
Where on earth do you find these oddities Howard? You seem to have an inexaustable supply of them.

[ripcord4 0]

Quote

couldn't tell you what kind of canopy other than knowing it's a heavy drop cargo type.
The white tubes were likely an attempt to bleed off high pressure air from inside the canopy to keep it from oscillating too violently.
There appears to be some kind of packing crate underneath but no idea what's in that.
Where on earth do you find these oddities Howard? You seem to have an inexaustable supply of them.

I'm not certain that canopy is a heavy-drop cargo chute. The load underneath could be just a weight to keep the canopy opening reliably. It looks like a T10 due to the parabolic construction but it is difficult to say from the photo as there is nothing to judge to diameter by. Strange system whatever it is!

[howardwhite 5]

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Looks to be set up for an in-air pick up.

Yup. This picture is in the USPA's Parachutist files, labelled only "rabbit ears." I think this canopy has three ears. Earlier ones had only two, but the canopy rotated, making it harder for the pickup aircraft to snag the catch lines strung between them. They were intended for recovery of drones and other flying objects.
They were developed by the Air Force Parachute Branch at Wright-Patterson starting in 1953 and tested at El Centro. I have no information on the size of this canopy.
There is more on these in a recently-published book, "The Art of Drag: A History of U.S.Air Force Parachute Technology Development," by Andrew S. Kididis, an civilian employee at Wright-Patterson. It covers the Air Force role in development of all kinds of parachutes, including personnel, cargo, recovery, and aircraft deceleration. It's good reading, and has lots of neat old pictures.
The book was published by PIA. (Full disclosure: I had a part in its publication.)

HW

[councilman24 36]

It looks like 30 gores. Width of fabric limitations would make it near a 35' T-10 wouldn't it?

No references handy.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE