Anyone jumped a Paradactyl?
Dan Briggs
anything rougher than a medium sized ram-air canopy. I can probably
borrow a Para-Commander when my urge to try some of "the old ways"
becomes overwhelming. Still, the canopies that I really find
interesting are some of the old triangle exotics. The Thunderbow
looks interesting. The Paradactyl looks more than just interesting.
Perhaps terrifying is a better word? Poynter's handbook claims that
it has a performance approaching that of a ram-air canopy, but it just
doesn't *look* like it has enough fabric! From the photo, and one of
Boenish's films it looks like the whole canopy would fit in a good
sized throw-out pocket. I exaggerate of course, but it really looks
small. Has anyone ever jumped one? Do you flare it? If the
performance is as good as Poynter claims, why aren't they a more
serious competitor to the ram-air canopies simply based on a tiny pack
volume?
--
Daniel Briggs (dbr...@nrao.edu)
New Mexico Tech / National Radio Astronomy Observatory
P.O. Box O / Socorro, NM 87801 (505) 835-7391
Mike Spurgeon
> I'm one of the new generation of student weenies who has never jumped
> anything rougher than a medium sized ram-air canopy. I can probably
> looks interesting. The Paradactyl looks more than just interesting.
> Perhaps terrifying is a better word? Poynter's handbook claims that
> it has a performance approaching that of a ram-air canopy, but it just
> doesn't *look* like it has enough fabric! From the photo, and one of
> Boenish's films it looks like the whole canopy would fit in a good
> sized throw-out pocket. I exaggerate of course, but it really looks
> small. Has anyone ever jumped one? Do you flare it? If the
> performance is as good as Poynter claims, why aren't they a more
> serious competitor to the ram-air canopies simply based on a tiny pack
> volume?
From what I remember, it weighed about 6-6.5 pounds. One of the reasons
it became 'popular' was it's small volume. It was on the leading edge
of 'smaller is better'. Once again, relying on memory, it was built by
Jim Handbury. There was even a 'double-keel dactyl'.
Performance was high. They were flared for landing. The pack volume
wasn't as small as today's squares.
I've seen one jumped from the New River Gorge Bridge.
They weren't that popular because of _reliability_ problems. They were
called 'scare-adactyls' for that reason. I believe too many suspension
lines going to too many attachment points.
Mike Spurgeon
Internet: mspu...@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu
John Luke Mills
jumped, Paradactyl. I beleive it packs up smaller than my Fury. I
will check on this and its weight this weekend.
It is tiny. Almost half of the pack volume is the suspension lines.
My older freinds who were at Orange about the time the experimenting
was going on claim there were two problems. Not opening at all was
one. A bigger problem was opening to much to fast.
I am thinking of jumping mine when my reserve is due for a repack and
opening sub-terminal.
There was a jumper at Pepperell who use to jump one regulary. He
didn't seem to have any problems. The performance was like a very
slow square, but with a higher rate of decent.
My personal theory on why they got a bad reputation is they were one
of the first canopies that could kill you if you srewed up too close
the ground. From what I can tell, if you stall a Paradactyl, it will
colapse or do other vilolent stuff, not unlike the hotter squares.
The Paradactyl was WAY ahead of its time, and it reputation was based
on experience with relatively docile round canopies.
--
Iconoclast at large
ago at Freak Bros. A guy from our DZ was jumping it
because the DZ owner would never let him use it.
The guy who was jumping it was named Mark Brinkman and
affectionately known as Wierd Mark. At the Freak Bros.
on his last jump, he hooked it up backwards (on purpose)
so that he could film people flying behind him. This
was the first year they had the C-130 and there was a
lot of traffic around the landing area. About 300'
above the ground he flew into/backed into a fairly
inexperienced jumper. The Paradactyl collapsed around
the inexperienced guy and kinda made his canopy start
to spin which I guess freaked him out...so he cut away
resulting in a double fatality.
I'm not blaming the Paradactyl, it was just the last
time I ever saw one.
Rand
Philip Yzarn de Louraille
>I'm one of the new generation of student weenies who has never jumped
>anything rougher than a medium sized ram-air canopy. I can probably
>borrow a Para-Commander when my urge to try some of "the old ways"
>becomes overwhelming. Still, the canopies that I really find
>interesting are some of the old triangle exotics. The Thunderbow
>looks interesting. The Paradactyl looks more than just interesting.
>Perhaps terrifying is a better word? Poynter's handbook claims that
>it has a performance approaching that of a ram-air canopy, but it just
>doesn't *look* like it has enough fabric! From the photo, and one of
>Boenish's films it looks like the whole canopy would fit in a good
>sized throw-out pocket. I exaggerate of course, but it really looks
>small. Has anyone ever jumped one? Do you flare it? If the
>performance is as good as Poynter claims, why aren't they a more
>serious competitor to the ram-air canopies simply based on a tiny pack
>volume?
>
because the then-named Vision Team (later known as Coors) used them for
a while back at Perris Valley. They did pack small, they were quite
performant, and you flared them to land them and I saw lots of stand up
landings but not as nice as ram-airs though.
If memory serves well, it took the members of Vision a *while* before
they learned to pack them in such a way that they stopped malfunctionning.
These were non-forgiving parachutes which is probably why they had a
limited succes and then went to the Museums!
--
Philip Yzarn de Louraille Internet: yz...@chevron.com
Research Support Division Unix & Open Systems
Chevron Information & Technology Co. Tel: (213) 694-9232
P.O. Box 446, La Habra, CA 90633-0446 Fax: (213) 694-7709
Philip Yzarn de Louraille
>above the ground he flew into/backed into a fairly
>inexperienced jumper. The Paradactyl collapsed around
>the inexperienced guy and kinda made his canopy start
>to spin which I guess freaked him out...so he cut away
>resulting in a double fatality.
>
>I'm not blaming the Paradactyl, it was just the last
>time I ever saw one.
Maybe I'm weird but this is a rather funny story! Thank you for sharing
it!
(with apologies to the participants of that jump. ;-) )
John Luke Mills
This weight includes a deployment bag and regular size 3 ring risers.
It does not include a bridle or pilot chute.
I put it into my V-5 vector this morning. This fits my Fury very
nicely. The Paradactyl is in a similar length and height bag, but
about 1.5 inches thiner. The line bulk was less also.
In order to get reasonable tension on the curved pin I will have to
shorten the closing loop by about 1.5 inches. The paradactyl is just
barely big enough to fill the V-5 Vector. It is pretty amazing that
these tiny light canopies were build so long ago.
If you made one of these out of modern fabric and used microline, it
just might fit in a tandem drouge pocket :)
)
o /
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The late Jim Handbury built two models of the "DeathDactyl." A single and
double keel version. Their flight performance was midway between the popular
ram airs of the time (Strato Clouds and Strato Stars) and the small RW
rounds like Piglets and Starlites. Some thought they were difficult to pack
and breaking even one suspension line usually meant you had to chop it. Yes,
they were meant to be flared, but landings were hard by today's standards.
For a short time the canopy was available with a container designed for it
called the Razzorback. Right before his death, Jim was selling the canopies
for $190.00 each. Did you say you were thinking of trying one? Well, have a
rigger look it over (they "are" getting old) find someone on the DZ who
remembers how to pack one and pick a day with a steady 10 MPH wind so you
don't hammer in. Have Fun!!
Nick
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