[Teddybear with parachute]Para-fauna Resources[Teddybear with parachute]

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The links and text on this page which is not in English, are marked with the flag of the corresponding country:
[German text] (German),  [French text] (French), [Dutch text] (Dutch) and [Danish text] (Danish).

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Introduction

Para-fauna, what kind of creature is that?
Basically, one takes an innocent teddy bear (or other kind of stuffed toy entity), equip it with a parachute of some kind, force it up a kite line, and make it jump from a suitable height. The teddy bears and kids tend to find it quite amusing after they have overcome the fear of the first jump.

How do I try it out without spending much time and money?
The equipment needed to get started with dropping para-fauna can be as simple as:

And before one launches the kite, the teddy bear is attached to the flying line like on this drawing (5 KB). When the kite has reached a suitable height, a sharp tug in the flying line should release the teddy bear, and voila! Down it goes!

If your teddy bear has been bitten by the bug after trying it once, it will probably prefer some equipment a bit more reliable than a pipe cleaner and a handkerchief. I hope this page will provide you and your para-fauna with ideas and resources to make your para-fauna's dreams come true.

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Line-ferries and other dropper plans

To release the para-fauna from a suitable height one needs some kind of dropping device. This device can be as simple as a pipe cleaner, or it can as advanced as line-ferry with sails which carries the payload up the flying line, releases payload, and returns to be loaded again.

This is a list of all plans for various dropping devices I know of:

Online plans


Magazine/book plans

If you know of any other source of para-fauna related plans, please e-mail me.

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Parachute plans

Although mass para-fauna jumping without chutes have been know to take place, I am pretty sure most para-faunas prefer to do the jumping with a chute of some kind. So to get the brave critter down safely again, take your pick among these chute plans:

Online plans


Magazine plans



Parachute materials

Chutes which are going to put in chute packs, needs to be made of a soft fabric otherwise it may not deploy properly: loomstate/uncoated ripstop nylon works well, but can be a bit difficult to get hold of. Beware that uncoated ripstop nylon frays like crazy and needs to be hotcut and hemmed.
The Jo-Anns fabric stores in the USA should be a source of cloth grade ripstop nylon, which works well as chute material too.

For chutes that are not going to be packed, Carrington ripstop nylon is soft enough and usually doesn't need to be hemmed if it is hotcut.

For the shroud lines be sure to used braided line, because the thin line needed for chutes will tangle very easily if it is twisted line: 30 lb braided Dacron line works very well.

If you know of any other source of para-fauna related plans, please e-mail me.

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What kite to use for dropping

To get all the stuff aloft one of course needs a kite of some sort. By far the most para-fauna drops are done from single line kites, but stunt kites has been known to work to. Basically anything large and stable enough will work, of course the problem is to find out what enough is...
Let us first see what Captain Dick has to say on the subject:

Some Thoughts on Kites Appropriate for Parafauna
by Captain Dick

One does not want to risk one's bear friends on an inadequate support system. First consideration is the bear... how heavy is it? Tiny bears, 2 to 3 ounces (60-100 gram), can be launched off of nearly anything, and I like to have a couple of these for light air situations. Bears of 4 to 8 ounces (120-250 gram) are nice and handy, too. Bears of a pound or a bit more are getting to be serious, and if you get into bears going up to 5 pounds (2.5 kg) total airborne weight, you are going to need a real lifter of a kite

My favorite kite for lifting is the fluted sled. Originally developed by Helen Bushell, modified by Margaret Greger, and then further modified and re-scaled by myself, I find it far superior to anything else in lifting ability and stability. However, you have to make it. I keep a sackful, starting with a 7 ft2 (0.7 m2) storm flute for winds of 20 to 35 mph, then going on to a 15 ft2 (1.4 m2), 21 ft2 (2 m2), two 30 ft2 (2.8 m2) (one in 1/2 oz with graphite spars for virtual no wind performance, and one in 3/4 oz for most conditions), plus a 60 footer (5.6 m2), which is really radical overkill and can be dangerous. Best plans for these kites are to be found in Greger's book, More Kites for Everyone (the 15 footer) or in the Rainbear Skydive Corps Training Manual and Fluted Sled Journals. Or attend one of the classes in it that I teach at retreats.

Getting to kites you can buy, as well as make, the larger delta conynes (9 to 18 feet/2.7 - 5.5 meter) are very good. Some folks have had excellent results with large flares. There are also those who recommend parafoils, but most of these people drive Yugos, so that shows what they know. Parafoils are, in my not so humble opinion, a poor excuse for a kite in the first place, and incredibly unstable in the second. There are, of course, those who disagree. Parafoil variations, like the flow form and strato scoop can do the job, but, again, I do not find them as satisfactory as the flute, and I have flown many of them together, size for size, in tests.

In light to moderate air, the plain old delta's do well with small to medium bears. I have an 11 foot (3.3 meter) delta that was my lighter air lifter for years.

Remember that it is the total package weight that controls everything. Start with small bears and enjoy them with standard kites you probably already have, before you worry about several pound bears. Develop technique and equipment design knowledge, then decide whether you really want to get involved with a kite that takes four people to get down if the wind kicks up, as my 30 ft2 flute did at Long Beach last year.

Re wind speed, I live in an area of notoriously light winds, 15 mph (7 m/s, moderate breeze) on a summer afternoon is really good, 5 - 10 mph (2 - 4 m/s, light breeze) is more normal. If you live in an area where the wind is normally 10 - 20 mph (4 - 9 m/s), most kites will work for you. I don't use a ferry system because my usual winds will not make it work well. The pulley system gives much better control of the drop, because you can release when the kite is at maximum height. Unless you have really strong winds, the ferry pulls the kite down and results in low level drops.

Key advise is, experiment! Try stuff. That's where the fun is.

Hope all this helps.

Up with kites! Down with bears!
Captain Dick

Rokkakus are also quite popular as lifter kites, and a 180 cm/6 ft Rok can lift about 500 gram/1 lb in a light breeze (4-5 m/s, 8-10 MPH). A 240 cm/8 ft Rok has the power to lift 2 kg/4 lb+, also in a light breeze.
A 2 meter/6 ft 8" DC or Delta should be able to lift a medium size fauna of about 250 gram/8 ounce, also in a light breeze.

Here is some suitable on-line plans for lifter kites:

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Books and Magazines with Para-fauna stuff

The Big Book of Parachuting Teddy Bears

by Hugh Andrew and John Barker
Price: GBP 3.50

To say it short: this book contains all the information, plans and other kinds of bits and pieces for venturing into the world of para-fauna. Here are plans for different parachutes, including a parafoil chute, a chute pack, various droppers and a double sailed ferry, and a kite plan (delta) to lift the all the stuff.
For the parachute making, there is some tables of data needed for making various sizes of chutes, but these data can also be calculated by the online BASIC and JAVA chute programs.
The book is self-published (meaning A3 photocopies) and all the text is handwritten, which gives the book its own unique charm. I'm sure you and your para-fauna will find it well worth the price, highly recommended!
Because of the self-publishing it is unlikely to be available through bookstores, but you should be able to get it here:

Hugh Andrew
Glendower Mews
Clifton Park Road
Clifton
BRISTOL BS8 3BP




Kites, A Practical Handbook

by Ron Moulton and Pat Lloyd
ISBN 1-85486-050-X
Published by Argus House, 1992
Price: GBP 12.95

Chapter six of this book is entitled: Paradrops, skydivers and bearly made-it squads and is written by John Barker (co-author of The Big Book of Parachuting Teddy Bears). So this chapter contains pretty much the same information and plans as The Big Book... though presented in a more polished way. Plans for various chutes, including a parafoil chute of a 600 gram fauna, various droppers, a double sailed ferry, plus how to make helmets and goggles para-fauna size. 
There is also a bit of para-fauna history and photos of fully equipped faunas. The book as such also contains plans for several kites, which should work well as lifters for para-fauna.
Again a highly recommended book for the para-fauna stuff, and also for all the other kite stuff covered in the book.



Roman Candle

Roman Candle (RC) is the newsletter of BMISS (Bearly Made It Skydive Squad) and the U.K Ted Devils, and is edited by Fred Bear and co-editor John Barker (co-author of The Big Book of Parachuting Teddy Bears).
RC is published quarterly, and is usually about 4-6 A4 pages. It contains news from the para-fauna world, and Teddy bear/para-fauna related articles which have appeared in the newspapers around the world. Once in a while there is also a plan for para-fauna equipment. A soap-like story about Dave Bear, Suzy Bear and Biggles, which equaled tv-series like Dynasty and Dallas in complexity and storyline was also sneaked in a couple of years ago.
All together a very entertaining mix, and a must for anyone with para-fauna in their household!
Word of warning: for people with English as a secondary language RC can be a bit of a challenge to read, as it is written with a lot of Teddy bear/para-fauna slang, but it is well worth the effort.

Where to get Roman Candle
USA and Canada E-mail: Mike Dallmer

Mike is distributing RC for free, so he can't honour
requests for RC from outside USA and Canada due
to the higher postage. 

Rest of the world Snail-mail:
B.M.I.S.S.
c/o John Barker and Fred Bear
48 Laurel Lane
West Drayton
Middlesex UB7 7TY
England

Phone: +44 895 448341

or subscribe to The Kiteflier




Training Manual - Mk I. Rainbear Skydive Corps

Written/published by Captain Dick Wightman, Officer in Charge, and John Quincy Bear, Adjutant
copyright 1994

Review kindly provided by Sharon Musto

Captain Dick's self-published guide offers a wide range of information and personal reflections on dropping teddy bears from kite lines. The first 40 pages discuss topics such as how to choose and care for teddy bears, types of parachutes and packs, as well as appropriate lifting kites, dropping devices and techniques. The remaining 50 pages are appendices which provide patterns, diagrams and instructions for sewing or constructing the necessary equipment. The book includes two issues of The Rainbear Gazette which chronicle the activities of the intrepid Rainbear Skydive Corps.

The Captain does not claim to be an authority on bear dropping, rather, he offers up this light hearted collection of his own experiences and tips from an "it works for me" perspective. He urges readers to consult fellow 'dropniks' and other books (he suggests titles). He readily admits that he is not an artist, and readers will agree. The diagrams, crude as they are, manage to convey the basic ideas.

Bear in mind that this is self-published and as such, it lacks some of the polish of a professionally published book. It does not have a Table of Contents, an index, or page numbers. In my copy, one photograph is noticeably missing in the introduction and one diagram printed too faintly to make sense of. The appendices are not in numerical sequence, but this may not be case in all editions. The use of "all caps" in the instructions (appendices) makes it a little harder to read .... nothing critical.

In spite of these few minor shortcomings, this book is a welcome addition to my collection. I appreciate all the construction tips, forewarnings of pitfalls and unplanned falls (and suggestions on how to avoid them)! Clearly, the Captain reveals his soft spot for teddies in this whimsical guide for skydiving teddies (and wannabes) and their human caregivers.

Price

USD 17 (USD 15 + USD 2 P&P)

USA

USD 19 (USD 15 + USD 4 P&P)

Canada

USD 15 + postage

Rest of the world

The Training Manual is sold directly by Captain Dick Wightman

If you know of any other paper links about para-fauna, please e-mail me.

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Commercial Para-fauna equipment

This is a list of the commercial para-fauna equipment I know of.

If you know of any other commercially available para-fauna/candy-bombing equipment, please drop me a line or two by e-mail.

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Candy Bombing

An obvious extention of the para-fauna activities when one has some sort of dropping mechanism is of course to use it for dropping candy. Not surprisingly candy dropping/bombing is at least as popular as para-fauna jumping among the kids.
Beside dropping capability (ferry or static release) it just takes a bag of candy and some kind of bag attached to the dropping device to do candy dropping.

A few words of warning:

  1. Consider the type of candy you drop! Hard candy dropped from a sufficient height can hit rather hard. Also avoid lollypops because of the sticks, the sticks are not eye friendly!
  2. Anything smaller than a smal mountain will be flattened  compleately by even a small crowd of kids when they run for the candy! Take a look here
    Meaning: be sure the drop-zone is clear of any objects. We have seen kids climb over cars to get the candy...

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Other para-fauna pages and people



If you drop para-fauna or have any para-fauna related stuff on your homepage, please e-mail me so you can be added to this list.

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Miscellaneous

Here I have collected all the stuff which isn't strictly para-fauna related, but still might proved useful.

Plans


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Glossary

Well, if you have come this far you will know by now that English is not my primary language. Since the para-fauna related terms are not the ones which takes up the most space in dictionaries, I have compiled this list of para-fauna terms. If I have got the meaning of any of the words wrong, or you have a word which should be on the list, please e-mail me.

Word Description
BOF Boring Old Fart, nickname for John Barker. Not strictly a para-fauna term but used a lot in Roman Candle
Chute pack The backpack the parachute is packed in, and released from when the para-fauna jumps.
Dropnik A human who helps the para-fauna doing the jumping, and all the hard work like sewing the chutes, putting up the kite, etc.
Dynamic dropper A dropping mechanism which can be loaded with a para-fauna or candy after the kite has been launched, then works its way up to the kite, releases the payload, and then returns to be reloaded.
Line ferry A dynamic dropper which uses one or more sails to carry the payload up the line. After the release the sails are collapsed or turn away from the wind, so the ferry slides down again.
Para-fauna Any kind or species of stuffed toys which do parachute jumping.
Roman candle A parachute which didn't deploy properly, so it is hanging like a long streamer after the poor para-fauna.
Static dropper A dropping mechanism which is attached to the flying and loaded before the kite is launched. When the kite and payload have reached the desired height, the payload can be released in various ways (pulling a separate trip line, yanking the flying line, by timer, by fuse, etc.)

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Esben Collstrup, February 22. 2004

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