Raider Canopies

[AggieDave 6]

Who made those old canopies and are they a knock off of another canopy or their own design?
"Are they short-shorts?" T.B.

[skybytch 273]

Raider's were made by Glide Path (now Flight Concepts). Nine cell all F111, I believe around 220 sq ft. As far as I know they were not a knock off of any other canopy...
pull & flare,
lisa

[Spy38W 0]

Hrm, I don't really know anything about the canopy other than I jumped it when I was on student status (looking at logbook), I believe it was a 220 flavor. It flew well and landed easily.
--
~Captain Cutaway
I can disassemble a rig in less than 5 seconds...

[AggieDave 6]

229, if I remember correctly is the 220ish canopy they had. The Aggie club has one and I dropped it off at our rigger to take a look at it since I don't think it has any life in it. It flat out made me worry the 2 jumps I put on it this past weekend, enough that I didn't jump it anymore (and got put in a worst position with a different rig, see "Don't Assume" in the talkback forum).
My rigger hadn't really dealt with them before and wanted to know if I knew who made it, etc.
"Are they short-shorts?" T.B.

[skybytch 273]

Quote

My rigger hadn't really dealt with them before and wanted to know if I knew who made it, etc.

Hmm. I just opened my copy of the Parachute Manual, Vol. 2 to the Product/Manufacturer Index. Page 386, says Raider, Glide Path International. I then went to Chapter 5 and looked under the listing for Glide Path where I found all kinds of info on the Raider main canopy... square footage (220), span, chord, aspect ratio, weight, pack volume, maximum suspended weight (235 pounds btw), date first introduced.... page 142 if anyone is interested...
pull & flare,
lisa

[AggieDave 6]

I'm sure he's done that, he's a hell of a rigger, he just didn't know off the top of his head when I dropped it off yesterday, and I hadn't really talked to him since. I'll mention that to him, though, just in case.
"Are they short-shorts?" T.B.

[riggerrob 643]

I patched a couple of Raiders - for Vernon - over the winter and have one or two more Raiders waiting for patches in my loft.

[ChromeBoy 0]

Dave,
I jumped a Raider 220 in a Wings Container a lot when I jumped student gear. It is a F-111 canopy with moderate performance. I would compare it to a Falcon 220 that I jumped during that time as well.

[AggieDave 6]

Yeah, I've put about 8 jumps or so on one. I was just looking for info about who made it and if it was a knock off of any other canopy. "Are they short-shorts?" T.B.

[cobaltdan 0]

i could be wrong, but i think greg yarbonet may have designed that canopy...?
-dan

[alan 1]

The GK's used them to jump into the Seoul Olympics. The one used by Willy Lee is still in use at my DZ, as a matter of fact, the complete rig is being jumped as it was then. It has a BUNCH of jumps on it. Opens very slow, so it is the rig of choice for Mr. Bill jumps. Still flies and lands good, but the guy has a wing loading of about .8 or .9.
alan

[jbrasher 1]

I've had 3 over the years.
Mike Fury (who originally built the Javelin and sold it to Derek) built the Raider. It was 220 sq ft. originally called Pegasus but because of a lawsuit the canopy was built w/ flairs (to get around the patent) and called Raider. Glide Path
bought the company from Mike because of another lawusit, I think. It was a while ago. :-)
I'd go with ZP now.
Red, White and Blue Skies,
John T. Brasher D-5166

[AggieDave 6]

Yeah, I'm in the process of saving the money for a nice semi-new ZP 9-cell, but the Raider is the club's (Texas A&M Skydiving Club) canopy and I'm having our rigger check it since it was acting very strange (kinda scary) this past weekend.
"Are they short-shorts?" T.B.

[Cessnadog 0]

Mike Fury did indeed start GlidePath. Prior to that he make canopies under the name Django. Django made the Pegasus which was a 7 cell and had an amazing ability to fly backwards. (really). The Raider, as a nine cell was/is a different canopy. I made a few jumps on one back when that was about as high as canopy performance got. Nice, fun to fly and easy to land. Not much different than a PD-210

[slotperfect 7]

I had one many moons ago, and loved it! The only weird thing about it was that it would open in a stall about once every 20 jumps. Clearing the brakes took care of the issue, so I never bothered to send it back to get the cat eyes checked.
Respectfully,
SP