On a whim, I picked up a cheap flare parachute on Ebay. It was 34" in diameter, but would stretch to 36". Made of thin fabric with sewn parachute cords. Figured I'd make a parachute harness or stuff it into a vintage parachute pack. But since it was a new toy, I had to go play with it first. I loosely wrapped it and tossed Joe into the air... and he came down with a billowing white canopy. Nice. Joe was a Walmart Man of Action repro with a Hasbro paratrooper uniform, ME boots, and a Cotswold helmet.
In the above pic, you can see the relative size. I think it's a tad small for Joe. I'd have preferred it to be a little bigger (maybe 40 or 42") for a slower descent. This one comes down faster than I'd like... then again, less time in the air means less time floating around as a target for enemy fire!
Here's Joe on his way down. His right arm and right leg are in an awkward position, but I was throwing with one hand and trying to catch a photo on my phone with the other. I was lucky to get a pic AT ALL!
You may notice the parachute cord in the MIDDLE of the canopy. On the way down, it looks kinda like a white donut instead of a spherical chute. Not sure why a flare parachute has that center cord, but it didn't seem to affect the operation of the parachute. Maybe it keeps the rest of the chute deployed wider. I dunno. I thought it was a pretty cool parachute, though.
I just used rubber bands to hold the parachute on for testing.
I'll rig up a better harness later.
Joe successfully completed TEN jumps without a mishap or issue.
Thus, he earned his Jump Wings yesterday afternoon.
"GiJoe, GiJoe, fighing man from head to toe..."
- ATC
In the above pic, you can see the relative size. I think it's a tad small for Joe. I'd have preferred it to be a little bigger (maybe 40 or 42") for a slower descent. This one comes down faster than I'd like... then again, less time in the air means less time floating around as a target for enemy fire!
Here's Joe on his way down. His right arm and right leg are in an awkward position, but I was throwing with one hand and trying to catch a photo on my phone with the other. I was lucky to get a pic AT ALL!
You may notice the parachute cord in the MIDDLE of the canopy. On the way down, it looks kinda like a white donut instead of a spherical chute. Not sure why a flare parachute has that center cord, but it didn't seem to affect the operation of the parachute. Maybe it keeps the rest of the chute deployed wider. I dunno. I thought it was a pretty cool parachute, though.
I just used rubber bands to hold the parachute on for testing.
I'll rig up a better harness later.
Joe successfully completed TEN jumps without a mishap or issue.
Thus, he earned his Jump Wings yesterday afternoon.
"GiJoe, GiJoe, fighing man from head to toe..."
- ATC
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