What is this canopy? #32765

[howardwhite 6]

Probably not what you think. Probably earlier than you think.

HW

[skyjumpenfool 2]

Strato Flyer?

Birdshit & Fools Productions

"Son, only two things fall from the sky."

[skyjumpenfool 2]

Or maybe The Notre Dame Foil??

Birdshit & Fools Productions

"Son, only two things fall from the sky."

[wmw999 2,560]

Not a Flyer.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Marisan 0]

Parasled?

[howardwhite 6]

  Quote

Parasled?

That's what I had in mind when I said "probably not what you think."

HW

[skyjumpenfool 2]

Silver Cloud?

Birdshit & Fools Productions

"Son, only two things fall from the sky."

[mccurley 1]

Looks a bit like a volplane

Watch my video Fat Women
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRWkEky8GoI

[DavidB 0]

Haven't got the faintest idea, but it certainly looks like a "single skin square parachute."

Then again, I could just need an optometrist...

When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

[ryoder 1,590]

I can only guess it was a prototype from the Notre Dame project headed by Nicolaides.
If so, it was probably called a "Para-Foil", and likely made under contract by Dutron in South Bend, IN.
And if that is all true, then I have a guess about the identity of the jumper.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[JerryBaumchen 1,451]

Hi ryoder,

You beat me to it; Notre Dame Para-Foil is my guess. But it is just a guess.

Notre Dame Para-Foil trivia: About 25 yrs ago a young PhD was here on the northern Oregon coast doing some testing of a Notre Dame Para-Foil as a lifting device. They were setting up ( about 50 people involved in the testing ) and the young PhD was just walking around looking things over prior to the test that they had configured. Suddenly, the canopy caught air ( it can be very windy on the Oregon coast; this is why they chose the location ) and lifted off. There was quite a bit of line just sort of laying on the sand in a random manner, this line went from the canopy lines to whatever they were measuring with, and the PhD got one leg caught in this line and he was lifted, almost instantly, to about 150 ft in the air. And then he fell away from the lines to his death.

Just a goofy incident that ended tragically.

JerryBaumchen

[howardwhite 6]

  Quote

Looks a bit like a volplane

It does, doesn't it?
It's not, but that's the best guess so far. (This was not a production canopy, but it contains design elements which were later used in products.)

HW

[drjump 0]

Is that one of Ted Strong's early test models of what he called a "Matress"?

[JerryBaumchen 1,451]

Hi drjump,

If I remember correctly, Ted built a 'mattress' that had unequal lines. This was done so the the canopy was flat when viewed from the front.

I believe that his first efforts were in flying it from a land-launch at a ski jumping facility.

But I may be completely wrong.

JerryBaumchen

[drjump 0]

I remember watching Ted test jump his 'mattress', once Dave Eisnor's DZ in Taunton, Mass. and the second time at Ripcord Para Center in N J. against Steve Snyder's early Para Plane in April of 1969.
The mattress had very long 550 suspension lines and was "flat".

[howardwhite 6]

  Quote

Is that one of Ted Strong's early test models of what he called a "Matress"?

No. It is in fact a Pioneer "bumble bee." The end cells, with the cathedral arches, look very much like those on a Volplane. The hump in the tail looks very much like the same feature in the Hornet, which came out (after a fashion) several years after the Volplane and had even less market credibility.
The picture (from Parachutist, was taken at CPI in Ellington, CT., near Pioneer's plant; the jumper is the late Bill Womble, who worked for Pioneer at the time.

HW