US paratrooper T-5 parachute

US paratrooper T-5 parachute

Code: 10637

€6,950.00

US T-5 parachute rig. After some doubts about its oiginality I now beleive this to be an original example. The pen applied "Ellis" markings which made me doubt its provenance are in fact markings of the Ellis film production company who probably obtained a batch of Irvin produced unfinished surplus T-5's at some point (as late war contracts were changed to T-7 spec the already produced T-5 harnesses became surplus). These were probably never supplied or fitted with canopies and were never used operationally. When Ellis sold these on in the 1990's, a batch of these rigs were bought by a Belgian dealer and via another collector it ended up in my collection not long after.

I fitted the rig with a 28ft canopy of the correct wartime material which was probably re-used postwar as a carco chute and has a few repairs. If my memory serves me well it was dated just after the war so probably originally came of a T-7 but I was not able to find the stamping when I recently opened it for inspection. There is no canopy in the reserve pack. The rig has some age related staining and fading which adds to the impression of an original.