Triangle Parachutes..

[drewboo 0]

How many people have jumped a tri-angle...ex. the Thunderbow. Ive got a few jumps on a Thunderbow, probably a half dozen or so...anyone else?
There is still one that makes an appearence at the ranch every 5 or 6 years..a jumper has one and jumps it for old times sake.

[skypuppy 1]

A guy I know from Russia is still jumping a Russian triangular reserve... From what I heard it has excellent forward speed and opening charcteristics...

If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead.
Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

[usedtajump 1]

I used to own a Paradactyl and got about 15 jumps on it before it just got too scary, besides, the openings were almost unsurvivable.

The older I get the less I care who I piss off.

[jimmytavino 16]

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How many people have jumped a tri-angle...ex. the Thunderbow. Ive got a few jumps on a Thunderbow, probably a half dozen or so...anyone else?
There is still one that makes an appearence at the ranch every 5 or 6 years..a jumper has one and jumps it for old times sake.

.... Years ago I knew 3 different jumpers who jumped a "Delta II Para Wing"
Jimmy Parker and Paul Campbell at Seneca Falls NY
both made many hundreds of jumps on one.....and Bob Peavey in Rochester jumped one for a couple of years....They were symetrical triangles,, and looked like an early version hang glider,, without the ribs, and frame...
There was a long "packing band" and color coded lines,,, and as we packed them,, we would "flake" the canopy, bring in a set of lines, and WRAP this band around them,, then bring in the next set of lines, and do another wrap, as the band became shorter and shorter.... Then bag it, stow the suspension lines and "go jumpin'"..hahaha.. I made about a dozen jumps on my friends' delta II's ,and had great landings each time.... the windier the better, it seemed,, since it was hard to slow down the forward speed,, and they really didn't "flare"....
I jumped one on a cross country once,, while the other 3 members of the dive, jumped strato stars and 7 cell clouds,,,, I was the last out,,but opened lowest,,,,( sub terminal openings did NOT work well for that Packing strap )
We were approx. 8 miles north of the DZ... I out floated all the squares,,, and was the only one to "get back " to the pea gravel...
. Openings were "iffy" though,,,, and the canopy sort of faded out as the "ram airs" came on the scene... Another club member was an early owner of the "Paradactyl"... which was a bit smaller and had a more sensible packing procedure...but I never jumped the "Dactyl"...
I learned early not to "press my luck " in this sport,,,,,,,,,, and that has made ALL the difference....

skydive softly, skydive often, skydive with friends

[chuteless 1]

I used a Delta II Parawing, which is the canopy described in theprevious reply. I made hundreds of jumps on it, and only had 1 malfunction. It was Americans made by Irvin, and I had about 7 or 8 Canadian made Irvin wings (same canopy) but they all were malfunction prone. These came out before squares, and they sure would forgive a bad spot. They flew well, opened well, and would out perform a Para Commander except for the landings in no winds. If there was a wind, you always had standup landings.

The "band" that he mentioned was called an OSI (opening shock inhibitor) and it was wrapped around color coded lines. It was a bulky chute, and required a three pin pack pack.

All in All, a great chute. I gave mine away for 1 jump about 5 years ago, and I still have some photos of it.That was the canopy I used on the Canadian High Akltitude record jump.


The Thunderbow was not really triangular...but much like a Para Commander.

Bill Cole D-41.

[mikkey 0]

The Germans had a triangular student canopy which was popular in the 60's and 70's. Was called "Kone" or something like that. SL deployed AFAIK. Saw pictures in a book from the 70's.

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When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

[drewboo 0]

I agree the Thunderbow might not have been a sharp-edged triangle...a little bit more rounded than that...but not quite a PC either...a crossbreed perhaps...but id call it a triangle.

[nitecap 0]

They really flew.

[chuteless 1]

The photo accompanying this thread is a Delta II Parawing. You can see the OSI hanging down at the rear. It measured about 7 inches by 36 inches, and was 1/4 inch thick.


Bill Cole D-41

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[drewboo 0]

Nice pic! Brings back memories.

[airtwardo 7]

I put about 25 jumps on mine...

I had the "Polish Pattern"

Red with the black arrow pointing forward....to tell me which way to go!

What was it again...RED line first???

I cut the lines and hung it from the ceiling in my apartment in college....
Wish I still had it!

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

[fergs 0]

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How many people have jumped a tri-angle...ex. the Thunderbow. Ive got a few jumps on a Thunderbow, probably a half dozen or so...anyone else?
reply]

Yeah I had a T-bow (it was uncool to call them a thunderbow...) in the mnid 70's while living in New Guinea. It was my canopy between PC / Papillon and first square, a ring-and-rope Strato Star.

The T-bow was great fun - fun to fly - easy to pack - i always side packed it, not wanting to waste time splitting the two sides and dressing the panels.

Plus it was always an impressive looking canopy for displays. Sometimes the locals would ask what the arrow was for, to which my reply was always "so I know which way i'm going...".

The T-bow was a little unusual in that full drive was achieved with the toggles down about ear height. That would allow the nose to pop out and fuly inflate.

Backward flight was also easily accomplished.

I guess I made a hundred or so jumps on it.

Pic attached - Bill, it sure looks like a triangle to me ....hahaha

Blue Skies,

fergs

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[darkvapor 0]

A ram air triangular chute. Anyone jump anything like this?

[cpoxon 0]

Is he a CRW jumper?

Skydiving Fatalities - Cease not to learn 'til thou cease to live

[chuteless 1]

Okay...its a triangle with rounded corners hows that? Comnpare it with the Delta II Parawing photo on original thread entry. no rounded corners.

I jumped the Delta II for years...and at one air show, I had such a strong wind blowing up the rear of the chute, I had a very difficult time turning into the wind.

However, that is what make jumping so much fun....almost buying it....and then beating the odds.


.....

Bill Cole D-41



....

[steve1 5]

A girl in our club, back in the 70's had a Thunderbow. I never jumped it, but it had the reputation of opening very reliably. I think the smokejumpers in Missoula were experimenting with a similiar design at one time........Steve1

[fergs 0]

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Okay...its a triangle with rounded corners hows that? Comnpare it with the Delta II Parawing photo on original thread entry. no rounded corners.
Bill Cole D-41

....

OK Bill, I agree - rounded corners is the definition we'll all agree on, then!

I never made any Delta II jumps - saw them cutaway from many times, tho - and guessd you must have had at least a few DeltaII malfunctions...

Blue Skies,

fergs
F-383

[skydiverek 63]

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A guy I know from Russia is still jumping a Russian triangular reserve... From what I heard it has excellent forward speed and opening charcteristics...

I used to jump this equipement too. The container was called "Talka", main canopy was also called "Talka" and a reserve was called "Delta". The whole kit was called "TALKA". Got it, right?

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[chuteless 1]

I only had one malfunction on the Delta II. Mine was USA made, but I owned 7 or 8 Canadian mades, and they were mal prone bigtime. I gave them away. A friend of mine had many mals on Canadian made Irvins.

I also jumped the Irvin Lazer (round) main chute. They were supplied to the Special Forces in Ecuador, and they had some lines sewn through the modifications, really messy work. When they were made as should be, they were a good round...much like the Para Commander.

[gjhdiver 0]

Heh.

I used to own a Delta II parawing. It was the most scary thing to see, pack and jump. It had two sprung glider pilot chutes and four pins and cones. it had a long webbing wrap that wound around the colored lines in a very exacting sequence. If you wrapped the wrong lines up, it wouldn't open at all. Once open, it was a trip though. It flew forward like a PC but spun like a square.

I also have a Paradactyl that I still jump from time to time, because I can fit it normal sport gear. I never take it to terminal though, as the openings are brutal. If anyone wants to jump it, just drop me a line, and I'll bring it out to Byron Boogie, if it hasn't rotted away in my cupboard by now...

[mikkey 0]

Attached is pic of the German Kohnke triangle student canopy. AFAIK it was only available for static line deployment. Picture is from the 70's (AFAIK).

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When people look like ants - pull. When ants look like people - pray.

[darkwing 5]

Interesting that when jumping this triangle the pointy end goes to the rear. I think all other triangles wen't ponty-end first. Note all the patches on the canopy above the drive slot in the rear also.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[tbrown 26]

Years ago I knew 3 different jumpers who jumped a "Delta II Para Wing"
Jimmy Parker and Paul Campbell at Seneca Falls NY
both made many hundreds of jumps on one.....and Bob Peavey in Rochester jumped one for a couple of years

[riggerrob 643]

I have a Thunderbow and a Delta II collecting dust in my loft.
The Delta II still has the OSI. I made four jumps with the OSI and three of those openings hurt, even though they were all hop and pops.
The gear bag containing the Delta II also contains a slider and a funny strap for the nose. So maybe next summer I will try jumping the Delta II again.

I also did one jump on a Paradactyl and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Paradactyl flew almost as well as some of the 1980-vintage squares.

[dterrick 0]

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"Delta II Para Wing"

did it look anything like the attached photo?

This came from the Sept 1966 Popular Mechanics (p.90). I love my old magazines... the next best thing to having been there (I wasn't genetic material on ANY level in September 1966 )

Dave

Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)