patworks 5 #1 September 11, 2016 Hey Manley, I stuck to rounds for 1,500 + jumps.... Now, working on a history book. When did the Strato Star come out? Wasn't it the 1st "practical" Square? - - I remember dead Billy Revis et al making no-slider jumps with attendant pain and unconsciousness... Billy said that after 8-seconds the openings REALLY HURT and might knock him out. (Srtato Cloud, pre-slider) - - When did the slider happen? I remember a nerd-type jumper... Elif?? Manley - MB - I never owned a PC (made 1 jump on a borrowed) - went to straight from a rag to a StratoStar - borrowed $600 from NFCU & MB- The Strato Star was "rings and strings" - I later changed to a slider in the summer of 76 (I had to visit Strong Ent. in Quincy, Mass. to set the #8 grommets) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jbrasher 1 #2 September 12, 2016 Pat - I bought a Strato Star (first square) and made my first jump 1976-03-21 with rings and ropes. Did 2 jumps and had a slider put on; rings and ropes where too complicated for my poor simple brain :-) Red, White and Blue Skies, John T. Brasher D-5166 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gene03 0 #3 September 12, 2016 Howdy Pat. I guess it depends on how you define "practical". The Paraplane was the first square openly sold. It flew way fast and had no flare to speak of. Para-Flite had a 2-3 foot "curtain" attached to the tail and tensioned by the shortened steering lines. Meh. Jim Ballantine, a non jumping Chrysler engineer suggested to Steve Snyder to add 2 feet or so to the chord to get the performance they were lacking. Thus the Paraplane Cloud was born. As for as a more acurate timeline I suggest you get in touch with Accumack or Nitrochute here. Their recall is a lot better than mine these days.“The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him. Stanislaw Jerzy Lec quotes (Polish writer, poet and satirist 1906-1966) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
