CALLING ALL CHUTE EXPERTS!!! -- Need Some Help With An Old Mystery Parachute!

[ljwilley]

About a year ago I got a very old nylon 30" parachute from a rocketeer that built rockets in his younger days but is no longer in the hobby. I have no idea how old it is, I'm guessing it is very old. It seems to have been used once or twice, but it is still in very good flying condition. It is made of 2 pieces of ripstop nylon, sewn together in the middle, and is very robust and well made. It has a small tag sewed on to it that says "PACEIFIC WIND" in bigger letters at the top, and an address I cant seem to make out other than it ends with "Beaverton Oregon". I cant find ANYTHING on google about the parachute or the company, that is why I posted here. Anyone know anything about it? (what it's worth, what time is it from, details about the company, etc.) I am pretty sure that the cloth is made from nylon, but it seems almost plastic-like. Maybe some sort of coating? Maybe some other cloth I don't know about?

Here are some pictures:




Thanks in advance!

-Levi

 

[Pinetree]

Probably Pacific Wind Sailing Company (long gone).

http://www.pacificwindsailing.com/

Just a guess.

 

[ljwilley]

bump

 

[Handeman]

Probably Pacific Wind Sailing Company (long gone).

http://www.pacificwindsailing.com/

Just a guess.

not sure that's it. They are long gone, but per the wayback machine and their website, they only made seats for mounting on Hobicat catamarans.

Guess the search goes on.

 

[rharshberger]

the material is probably zero porosity nylon so it is coated.

 

[ljwilley]

the material is probably zero porosity nylon so it is coated.

I was thinking it was probably something along the lines of that. Some sort of nylon the blocks air out better than normal nylon.

 

[jhornsby3]

Back, some years ago, Vista Balloons had a bunch of envelopes made in Beaverton. Vista had offices around the country and all of their envelopes came up for renewal within a couple of years apart. There was a bunch of material from the old ones and scrap from the new ones around. That looks like the same material they were using. I'm not sure who was building them. I just know about it from my brother and a friend of his that were pilots for Vista.

 

[ljwilley]

The guy I got it from hardly remembers anything from rocketry, he has long since been out of the hobby. He doesn't remember where he got it he just knows he used it on some of his rockets he built back in the day.

 

[troj]

the material is probably zero porosity nylon so it is coated.

There are two ways of making what gets referred to as zero-porosity nylon - one has a coating applied, which often ends up sticky over time. The other is calendered (run through hot rollers) which results in a very slick fabric that, as a rigger friend describes it, sounds like a trash bag when you shake it.

-Kevin

 

[ljwilley]

Well, it isn't sticky...

 

[troj]

Well, it isn't sticky...

It's also shiny, which is often an indication of calendered fabric. When you crumple the fabric, does it crinkle or rustle?

If it crinkles and it's a bit slick, it's calendered ZP. If it rustles (I bet it doesn't) it's just ripstop.

....I spend too much time with riggers....

-Kevin

 

[ljwilley]

It isn't sticky but......................

I just looked at it and it definitely crinkles/rustles and is also shiny!