old (80's) canopy question

[wingnut 0]

any body have any info on an 80's chute manufacter named "pioneer" and thier canopies the 7 cell "phoenix" and the 5 cell reserve "titan".

"up my noooossseee"- wingnut, at first euro dz.com boogie

[riggerrob 643]

Yes, Pioneer was a big player in the sport canopy market from 1964 to 1984. They stated making emergency parachutes for the military before I was born.
In 1964 they introduced the Para-Commander - a highly modified round canopy - which dominated the skydiving market until squares were perfected in the late 1970s.
Pioneer responded by introducing the Viking, which was basically a copy of the popular Strato-Cloud. Pioneer later introduced the Viking Superlight, Merlin, Osprey, and Titan main canopies. Pionner also built plenty of round reserves and a couple of models of square reserve. Their 5-cell reserve was called Reliant and I think the 7-cell reserve was called Phoenix.
By the mid-1980s, the legal climate had changed radically, and Pioneer pulled out of the sport market rather than risk loosing everything in a law suit. They were building some fine sport canopies when they pulled out of the market.
Pioneer continued building parachutes for the military. The last time I talked with a Pioneer factory rep, he was bragging about how they had out bid Para-Flite to build military freefall rigs.
To the best of my knowledge the only service bulletins issued by Pioneer were related to their round reserves, but I will have to re-read Poynter's Manual to refresh my memory. On the other hand, you can count on one finger the number of manufacturers who have not had problems with their round reserves.
In conclusion, I have jumped Viking and Titan canopies built by Pioneer and they were some of the better sport canopies built in the early 198os. It is a pity the accursed, scum-sucking, bottom-feeding. low-life, white trash (did I say scum sucking?) lawyers drove Pioneer out of the skydiving market.

[wingnut 0]

thank you very much for the indepth reply.

"up my noooossseee"- wingnut, at first euro dz.com boogie

[weid14 0]

My first canopy was a Titan 260 (that's the 7 cell version)!!! Had a split slider. I cut it away 3 times in 200 jumps for various malfunctions - two broken lines (incorrect angle of cut on the cascade line caused a stress riser at the finger trap - one hard opening and no more A/B center lines), once the steerring line broke (actually my first mal -- I had 75 jumps) and wrapped around the C/D lines, and the last was a friction knot a packer packed into it in DeLand (should have seen her face the first time I laid it down - the stabalizers aren't connected on that canopy, plus the split slider, Dacron lines - definately wasn't modern). It was excellent for accuracy, landed it in a small barge in Norwich Harbor Ct on a demo once - I could put it anywhere, of course it flew like a truck though. I much prefer my Crossfire now (although I wouldn't want to try to land IT on a barge.)

[wingnut 0]

oops ..... i mixed up which number of cells they were and which one was the reserve.....and yup it does fly like an 18 wheeller but hell i hit the peas dead center on my frst jump on it...i won't knock these canopies.....

"up my noooossseee"- wingnut, at first euro dz.com boogie