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conwayte

Gargano Spirit

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Hi,
Back in the 80's I put several hundred jumps on a Spirit canopy. If I recall correctly, it was made in 1981 by Gargano. I don't believe Gargano produced these canopies for too long a period before selling to Strong. Can anyone tell me if my memory is correct and possibly provide any more specific info on this little slice of parachute history?
Thanks,
Tim

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I jumped a Spirit from 1981 to 1982 having met Bill at Perris in Nov 1980 and been really impressed by him. I believe the first 20 or so Spirits were actually just re-badged Comets until the Spirit came into its own in early 1981. This shot was at Netheravon UK on July 10th 1982 and was just a few hours after I got my BASE number on it with an 'E' on the UK south coast. Handy that the Spirit came with a 42" pilot chute! ;)

Al

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Quote

Whoa! Looks like a 14-man sleeping bag!



Yeah, they had a very thick leading edge!

Mine was a bounce and blend pattern of browns/tans.

The Spirit was about 220, I think the Wizard was the bigger version, was the Merlin the smaller size, or was that a different mfg?
People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

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Pioneer made the Merlin and I think it was 200 sq. ft. It was jumped for years by my old friend Mike McCarthy who put thousands of CRW jumps on it and most famously used it for his Eiffel Tower jump in 1984. He never replaced the lines, hence the shape of the canopy :o and was still jumping it in 1985!

Al

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My first square was a Spirit... bought it from a fellow jumper in bounce and blend colors in 83-84.
My buddy Glen-Bob had a blue Comet. We both did the Comet "roll the nose to the bridal" pack job for hundreds of jumps. When we went to other dropzones and people saw us pack... they would walk by "Your all going to die!" Lol

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