"Pegasus?"

[pfloydd 0]

Does anybody remember a 7-cell lo-po called the, "Pegasus" (Pegasys?). I got a call from a friend who jumped with me in '82 and '83 and said he still had some of my old rig. I'm trying to remember what the hell it was. (Yes, it is age, beer and misjudged approaches, why do you ask?)

[drewboo 0]

I remember it....kinda like the Cruise-lite...don't remember much more about either...fairly common canopies for that era.

[wmw999 2,442]

The Pegasus was made by Django, and I'm pretty sure it was Mike Furry's first foray into canopy-making. It didn't have the problem with collapsing end cells of the Cruiseair; all in all, a very nice canopy to fly. I had a Firefly (Peg's little brother) which I eventually added 2 cells to (to compensate for increasing age & porosity) and still have in my backup rig.

All in all, the Pegasus didn't have any bad habits that I remember. The Cruiseair had end cell problems, the Unit didn't really like to open, the Cloud & Viking (& Superlite) & Foils had a high toggle pressure, and the Pegasus & Firefly were absolutely great.

My memory is that the Cruiselite was a second-generation of the Cruiseair, with the end-cell closure problem fixed. Also a VERY nice canopy, but expensive for its time (over $1000!)

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[skypuppy 1]

The pegasus was a great canopy for CRW in it's time. Eventually Django got sued patent infringement over the line attachment points, the company changed and the canopy was re-born as a Fury... I still have my old Pegasus downstairs in the chest - I use it for water jumps, but it's quite baffed out now, with well over 1000 jumps on it...

If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead.
Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

[fergs 0]

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The Pegasus was made by Django, and I'm pretty sure it was Mike Furry's first foray into canopy-making. It didn't have the problem with collapsing end cells of the Cruiseair; all in all, a very nice canopy to fly. I had a Firefly (Peg's little brother) which I eventually added 2 cells to (to compensate for increasing age & porosity) and still have in my backup rig.

All in all, the Pegasus didn't have any bad habits that I remember. The Cruiseair had end cell problems, the Unit didn't really like to open, the Cloud & Viking (& Superlite) & Foils had a high toggle pressure, and the Pegasus & Firefly were absolutely great.

My memory is that the Cruiselite was a second-generation of the Cruiseair, with the end-cell closure problem fixed. Also a VERY nice canopy, but expensive for its time (over $1000!)

Wendy W.

Wendy,

you are correct in all you say. I had a pegasus for ages - made lots of jumps on it, after selling my cruisair to buy it.

In fact, it's still in a storage bag in my Old-canopy-Den. Blue and white - anyone wanna buy it - would make a nice car cover or water jump canopy!!!

fergs

[murrays 0]

The Pegasus was my second square. Landing it was like going to heaven compared to landing my Cobra 10, a National Parachute knockoff of the Strato-star. I put several hundred jumps on mine and it was really a great canopy for its time.

I sold it to buy a Bandit, Django's first small, 168 Sq. Ft., nine-cell. Totally radical for its' day, the Bandit and I had a lot of fun together. Did lots of crw..I was always the base/pilot...swooped it as best I could. People were always amazed at the landings ... which would be laughably short swoops by today's standards.

I later owned a Cruiselite Beta, a smaller version of the Cruiselite. which was about 185 sq.ft. I had a ton of fun with the Cruiselite as well...lots and lots of crw, never malfunctioned...another great little canopy.

--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

[smooth 0]

I still have my Pegasus - in the closet. It was my primary canopy until 8/4/99 then I bought a Diablo 150. (a radical change ?!?)

BTW: I still have a Strato-Star in my closet too.

[sharpfive 0]

I'm probably the only person still jumping a Pegasus. Here is a picture from about 4 years ago.
I just caved in and bought new gear, so a couple more jumps and the old thing becomes a hangar decoration.

[Dwain 0]

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I'm probably the only person still jumping a Pegasus.

Actually the Pegasus used to be a very sought after canopy for BASE. Before BASE specific canopies many people considered it the best skydiving canopy for fixed object jumping. It probably had the best airfoil of it's time.

I know a number of people who are still BASE jumping the Pegasus today. Most people primarily use them for water landings though due to the F1-11 porosity but there are people regularly landing them on land. A Pegasus in good condition is still considered a nice canopy for those high bust jumps where gear might be confiscated.

I've BASE jumped the Pegasus quiet a bit and it performed great (the lack of re-enforcement was always a concern though). Really nice on-heading rate and opened great slider up or down. I have some fond memories of jumps on that canopy and it's put me down soft in some nasty boulder fields.

[sharpfive 0]

Very interesting. Know anybody who's looking for one?

[Faicon9493 141]

I had a Pegasus "back in the day" and remember it as one of the best 7 cell F-111 canopies made. I loved it.

[rehmwa 2]

My first canopy was a Pegasus. I think it eventually became the Fury.

Best 5 or 6 out of 7 cell canopy at the time........ (I did have end cell issues.)

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[jbrasher 1]

Raider (Mike Fury designed it) I had 3.

Red, White and Blue Skies,

John T. Brasher D-5166

[tbrown 26]

Eventually Django got sued patent infringement over the line attachment points, the company changed and the canopy was re-born as a Fury.

[lfhower 0]

Django became Flite Concepts with Mike Fury still with the company only as tech advisor. I don't know is he would be willing to tell the story or not, but you can reach him at Altico (Dolphin rigs) in Florida. He is a very personable guy, best customer service I have ever experienced from any company. His whole family skydives except his wife. Great people! Knew his son Chris while he was in Manhattan Ks and bowhunted with him.

Always remember, when you get where you're going, there you are!

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Nice thread. My first square was a brand spanking new Pegasus 223 in the black rainbow color pattern. It was a fantastic canopy.

[courage 0]

Great canopy. Made my first 400-500 jumps on it, broke my back with it when learning to hook-turn. Forgiving canopy. After that I went on to Excalibur 150, Sabre 120, Stiletto 135, and Velocity 96. Bought a relatively unused Pegasus (120 jumps) in '91 and had Martha E reinforce it. She put a tail pocket on it, too. For some reason, it was stored and remained unused :)

[AlanEllis 0]

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I had a Firefly (Peg's little brother)........

I also had a Pegasus, then a Firelite, which was the Flight Concepts verson of the Firefly. Both were great overall canopies and were especially good for CRW. I thought I was way-cool, because at the time (1984), the Firelite was the fastest turning canopy on the market at 172 ft2. I jumped it until my first Sabre in 1991. After one Sabre jump, I never went back to the Firelite, because the Sabre performance was light years ahead of the Firelite.

After the Sabre was introduced in 1989, it set the performance standard which pretty much doomed canopies like the Fury, Firelite, Cruiselite, and Cloud. These canopies ended up being primarily used for CRW and Base jumping.

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[deerwatson 0]

Ah, the Pegasus...I was one of the two cutters for the Pegasus. I was all of about 18 years old...skydiving in Georgia..Bill Wallace was my jumpmaster and my honey.
I worked for Mike Furry...and my friend Pam and I were the cutters for the Pegasus...we cut it wearing roller skates...we would skate around the table with a hot knife...
Sheesh..memories!!!!

Anyone out there remember me and want to touch base with me?

deerwatson@aol.com is my email address...

Miss you guys!

Karen

[hagalo 0]

Is this a photo of Mike Furry in the attachment?

[msmithd8769 0]

Ahhh yes, brings back memories. My best friend jumped a Pegasus and swore by it. Then we both jumped a demo Bandit at the '83 or '84 Nationals in Muskogee and he then had to have one! Scared the crap out of me when I jumped it but I think he eventually sold one of his children to get one .....

_____________________________
"And when the prophet shall arise who appeareth as a bird then the time of the Lord draweth nigh and the flock shall rule the earth."

[GroundZero 0]

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Django became Flite Concepts with Mike Fury still with the company only as tech advisor.

Actually became GlidePath... then more legal and financial... became Flight concepts... other principals thru transition were Chris Gay, then later (and still curently) Red Payne.

I still have my Pegasus... less than 300 jumps on it, still looks like new. Loaned it to a friend one weekend and he returned it with a mesh slider and big ass pilot chute... wonder why?

Great old canopy... I never had endcell problems til one day, shooting accuracy on a very windy/bumpy day, that 7 cell became a one cell at about 60-80'. I pumped hard once and impacted. Thank God, the corn field had just been plowed. I stuck in it to my thighs. The hardest part was retrieving my tennis shoe after I got plucked from the earth.

Wow, what memories.

Chris

[GroundZero 0]

You might remember a guy named Galloway, used to sew 'em together for Mike.

you can pm him on this forum, he goes by "Precision"

[jonstark 8]

Galloway used to go as "Tire Biter" too but don't call him that now.

Another of his sewers was "Rags" Raghanti.

My girlfriend, Tinsley, bought the 13th Pegasus built and jumped the heck out of it.

Mike Furry used to jump every production canopy at least once to make sure it flew straight. If you took delivery and yours didn't act right he'd take it back and make it right usually in a couple of weeks.

[lfhower 0]

Was that Tinsley Smith? If so she is married to Mike's son Chris the last I knew. They lived in Manhattan Ks while Chris went to Ks State University.
Great couple. I bow hunted with Chris for awhile and got my skydiving gear from Chris. They moved back to Georgia after Chris graduated.

Always remember, when you get where you're going, there you are!