Looking for a Paradactyl

[manchuso 3]

Hi Lisa,

I could reply with something frivolous...but fact is I´ve always considered myself more as a parachutist that a skydiver and have always loved to jump gear which at some time was considered state of the art...maybe having being taught to jump by a skydiver who manufactured most of the gear we used to jump has something to do with it!

Happy landings, Rafael

[freakbrother173 0]

I have a Paradactyl single keel. Kevlar lines Used it for my reserve. I love them. Jim Handbery R.I.P. made it custom.

10 Man Speed- No Show Exits

[Unstable 8]

Ok ok ok ok Let me throw a wrench in your plans here man ~ forgive me, I missed Freaks this year, but didn't like two people break backs/legs landing those things? I to have heard horror stories of unreliability. As a matter of fact, I know one in Wichita owned by a rigger friend of mine. A jumper bought it brand new, and after 3 jumps and 3 sequential malfunctions, threw it in the dumpster behind the DZ and drove off. It hasn't been jumped since.

I understand the kick with the vintage crowd ~ hell, I love my Paracommander jumps, but I don't get the deal with the 'dactyls.

=========Shaun ==========

[Beatnik 2]

Dactyls are a very unique chute. I owe a lot to my Dactyl, even if it can be one scary chute. If it wasn't for it I doubt I would be walking the way I am.

My fourth knew injury, only one was somewhat skydiving related, left me with only 30 degrees of movement in my left leg. I couldn't bend it back or make it go straight. I was pretty much left me walking with a cane or with a severe limp. After numerous MRIs and months of physio, I just said screw it. Might as well just live life and if my leg is screwed like this I am not going to stop.

I got my hands on a single keel Dactyl that needed a reline pretty bad and a little slider work. I save this parachute from the scrap pile and restored it. It was finished and ready for it's first jump back in the air in January. I jump year round regardless of the cold or the amount of snow on the ground.

We went out to our dropzone and I gave her a go. That parachute did things I didn't know were possible with a parachute, scary things. About 1000' I said screw it and I wasn't going to touch a thing unless I was going to land on the runaway. About 15 - 20 feet from the ground the dactyl collapsed and I slammed into the only spot in the field where there was no snow, a nice ice pond.

I never experienced a landing like that before or since. I was on my back and my legs were kicking and I couldn't stop them. I tried standing up and just ended up falling over. Eventually, I was able to make it back. At that point I thought I really screwed things up cause my knee swelled up to the point my pants felt tight around it.

A few days after when the swelling went down, I regained all the movement back in my leg and for the first time in well over half a year, I could walk without a limp or the cane. The doctors couldn't quite figure it out or explain it but all they knew was that I feel down the stairs.

My dactyl fixed my knee, allowed me to continue in my career and because of it am not using a cane or limping. It might not have been reliable on only one of the 60 or so jumps I have done on it but it is a prize parachute in my world.

[pchapman 261]

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My forth knew injury,

He means "fourth knee injury", in case anyone is wondering!

Beatniks post about a collapsing dactyl fixing his old leg injury is certainly a "your mileage might vary" story...

[oldwomanc6 38]

Wow, if even 50% of that story is accurate, good on you! However, it defies all other information available. Now I'm thinking I should jump one and fix the damage done when I broke my calcaneus.

lisa

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

[Beatnik 2]

It is all true. I lived through it and get the med docs off my file at work to prove it. The jump was witnessed by others as well. It is probably the only time a hard landing will fix anything. No one really knew what caused the knee to lock up the way it did but I am sure glad it is fixed.

[freakbrother173 0]

Using a dactyl is like riding an old Harley.It rides rough opens hard lands hard but it has style.I bought mine new in about 1980

10 Man Speed- No Show Exits

[Unstable 8]

See Beatnik, I think you are probably one of the most interesting people on this forum. Seriously. I'd love to meet you in person and buy you a drink. You and I have gone back and fouth and discussed countless things. I would love a PC jump with you.

Again, however, your post has inspired no desire in my what-so-ever to jump, pack, inspect, repair, or pretty much come within 100 feet of a 'dactyl.

=========Shaun ==========

[Beatnik 2]

Thanks. I will have to see when I can make some trips this year. Never know might be able get a couple of PC jumps in. Wait till some of the other stuff this year gets out there. Got some really cool things I have been keeping quiet about.

[manchuso 3]

to each his own...i tried one at couchfreaks and loved it; the double keel gives much nicer landings but the single keel is great!

By the way...I´m still looking for one!

Blue skies, Manchuso

[keithbar 1]

(kids in the hall reference) he never used to have any difficulty getting the salt.

i have on occasion been accused of pulling low . My response. Naw I wasn't low I'm just such a big guy I look closer than I really am .

[manchuso 3]

Just for the record...

I´m still looking for a Dactyl


Happy landings, Manchuso

[RogerRamjet 0]

Quote

Using a dactyl is like riding an old Harley.It rides rough opens hard lands hard but it has style.I bought mine new in about 1980

But used properly, seemed to land very nicely (at least with you at the controls). My landing on my yellow and black Strato-Star is at about the 5:00 mark and your Dactyl landing starts about 5:06 in the following:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei-tdClLaEE

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

[freakbrother173 0]

Pretty cool didn't know it was you.Those were some amazing times.

10 Man Speed- No Show Exits

[Marisan 0]

Ahh back in the days when combat rel ruled, men were men and there were no swoopers

[RogerRamjet 0]

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Pretty cool didn't know it was you.Those were some amazing times.

Yeah, it's me doing a 1 foot standup. I did tons of them and find it really funny when current jumpers talk about how bad those canopies were. 650 Strato-Star jumps, no mals, no bad landings and I could land in a 2 foot box every time. Modern canopies may be faster, but when I visited Z-Hills and Deland recently, I saw no 1 foot landings, almost no simple standup landings. Most were running or at least several steps to stop. And the openings... my Strato-Star with slider opened in the same time as the old Paracommander or cheapo would open, some of the openings I watched took several hundreds of feet and speaking with some of the jumpers, the "snivel" time was not consistent on each jump. If I were to get back in now, I would look for a canopy that opened and landed more like what I had back then if there is such a thing.

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

[Plover 0]

Once again the moderators here have chosen to delete a bunch of perfectly innocent messages. So now it's time for some payback once again. Tsk tsk. It's too bad they continue this program of self-induced punishment. It would be so easy if they just left those innocent messages alone, and public. But, when they fucka wit me, I fucka wit them. So here we go again.

[Plover 0]

You're gonna have to travel back through time a few million years.