Pioneer parachute for sale

[Bird]

Log book says 1960 date of manf but tag on rigging says 1962.
logs on repacking from apr 1972 to oct 1978.
28 foot backpack, was used by a glider pilot and put in storage by his wife
in his house after he passed away. Has been stored inside all the time, shows some fraying on ripcord holder otherwise in good condition.
Parachute has not been opened since last inspection, still has safety on pin at bottom pin on backpack.
Askin $200 plus shipping, would probably pass inspection and repack but no guanantee.
Only resaon I'm selling is because of recient health problems and money is getting real tight, I will post on EBay in a coupla days

[Larry Lyons]

Re: Pioneer parachute for sale

One thing that will help on eBay, if you post it there, is poke around the corners enough to see if it is what we called "candy stripe" or all white. Alternating panels may be white and orange. They make better back drops in hangers and bar rooms. I started my sky diving career with a candy stripe before graduating to one of the first square chutes in the mid-west back in 69 or 70. These are generally too bulky for flying with unless you have seat set up especially for it.
L

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Pioneer parachute for sale

Let a rigger check it out , IT is worth either what you are asking or much more if it can be legaaly packed and used . i will ask our rigger this Sunday.
My first jump was a 28 ft double L cut in 1966....

[Bird]

Re: Pioneer parachute for sale

My 1st jump was in a 7tu 28 foot military surplus on 8/8/74 distance to tgt was 25', my 2nd missed dead center to tgt by 3 feet, not bad for a old 7tu.
Yeah I guess I could pop it open and see what it is give me a min.
Well opened it up and it is the blaze orange and white, appears to be in excellent condition even the rubber bands look new, yeah it could use a good airing out, the colors look pristeen, like it was made yesterday.
Closest rigger to me is 2 hours away and right now 2 hours driving is 2 hours I can't afford.
I'm trying to hang on to everything that concerns the plane at this point.
Also considering selling a Zenith Trans-Oceanic radio 11 bands am fm, in prime condition, one of the last to be handmade in USA, not 1 of those digital radios this is antilog and it's condition is a+, maybe someone in AK would be interested in this one, runs on D batteries also has ac plugin, I have $450 in it, I'll post a picture in a few minutes

[Bird]

Re: Pioneer parachute for sale

Pictures of Zenith radio

[Larry Lyons]

Re: Pioneer parachute for sale

Let a rigger check it out , IT is worth either what you are asking or much more if it can be legaaly packed and used . i will ask our rigger this Sunday.
My first jump was a 28 ft double L cut in 1966....

Yup I forgot, mine was a double L too!
Graduated to a Para Comander but only for a short time when I had a chance to buy a Para Sled, the origonal square parachute. Always liked it as the control forces were so much lower then the Para Planes out there at that time. However it would severly rock you around at terminal volicty. Like 9 G's or some such. One of the guys jumping in Pekin Il. in those days was a test jumper at Notra Dame. They were trying to find a way to slow down the opening and use it for a reserve. He jumped with a G meter among other instruments to monitor timing and forces involved.
The Navy had figured out if a pilot ejected with oxygen at 30 to 50,000' he could glide to the Tonkin Gulf in a lot of cases. However we did not get the opening slowed down for several years, at least with the Sled. A reserve will open in under a second sometimes and my Sled opens in about 1 1/2 seconds. So 120 mph to 18 mph was a rush, to put it mildly. Three jumps a day was OK but 5 I would feel for a few days. Of course now days it is like falling in to bed. The Para Plane opened softer (slower) but as Jalbert, the inventer, had the patent on the internal openings that allowed the air to flow outward and inflate all the cells, Poynter's "Plane" had to do with out so his was slower but also not as dependable. If you had a cell that did not open properly you had go in to a deep stall, maybe more then once to get full inflation and the Navy wanted a chute that would work all the time every time with out input from the pilot. Also becasue of the forward speed if you stalled on landing, it is just like our craft, it will drop you in and break something or if you do not slow down it is like jumping out of a moving car at 25 mph. Not fun either. So the Navy scrapped that idea as the pilots had enough to do just learning to fly their plane with out worring about being able to fly the dam chute too.
I still have my Sled, guess I won't jump it though. Rather put my energy in to flying.
L

[Bird]

Re: Pioneer parachute for sale

LOL I had 1 total malfunction, pulled that 24' circ, and that is 1 thing I DO NOT WANT TO EVER DO AGAIN.
Opening a reserve at terminal velocity can best be described like flinging a load of snot off your fingers, it left me with 2 4inch wide completly black bruses on the underside of both legs that made it real uncomftable to sit on the john for the next month, and if my brother hadn't talked me into riding that mechanical bull the next Friday I would probably still be seeing a chiropractor,(best 1 dollar doctors readjustment I ever spent)

[Larry Lyons]

Re: Pioneer parachute for sale

Ah the joys of reminiscing. I have had 7 reserve rides, one only about 4 seconds long but everyone was a real welcome relief. One ended in a tree, one in the middle of a Polo game, one a half mile off the Haleiwa coast on Oahu, one put me last to jump in a money meet in MI. No wind late in the day and I won $350. I have enough stories to kill several cases of barley pop.
L