Parachuting Bears? Surely not!

Parafauna, para teddies, skydiving bear...
...dropping your kids favourite teddy or toy from a kite by parachute can get to be a serious business.

The hours behind the sewing machine make it all worthwhile when you hear the cries of mirth from the kids as their favourite Mr Fluffy's parachute does a text book opening and drifts him lazily to earth. Of course, you can also drop sweets from your kites, another big hit with the kids.

The following pages are the start of my guide to kite parafauna and other parachuting things - be they furry or edible. (If they are both then you've probably held on to those sweets a little too long.)

Live in the UK? Check out Kite Calendar to find out where the fun is at.

Interested in making your own parafauna? Check this out >>

Parasail parachute kite

Left: A scale version of a 16 gore, 4 panel parasail. The second one is always a lot easier than the first.
Get the parachute plan here Mini Parasail Plan MkIII >>

Below: Completed: a project to build a parasail parachute. I used John Barker's gore which I failed to spot was for a 14-gore chute. I cut 16 and spent about 15 hours modifying the various panels for the vents, making templates, hot cutting and stitching before testing. Then I realised that I had two too many gores. Doh!

Fortunately, I'd left two panels blank in between the side and rear vents and could take them out quite easily and restitch.

Here is the beast in a heavy wind. Pulls like a train! If flew well despite having two lines snagged as you can see in the pic.

RC Paraglider

If you want something a little more sophisticated then have a look at RC Paramodels, made by Nace in Slovenia.
He does a skydiver, paraglider and paramotor. I bought the paraglider model a year ago and getting it shipped to the UK was no problem at all. Well made and flies beautifully.
See also Opale Paramodels >>