Parachute fly-away deployment aid

A deployment aid for controlling the opening of a parachute having a plurality of suspension lines connected to a skirt comprising:

• means coupled to the skirt for providing at least one hole therethrough, the providing means is at least one flexible fabric panel having a plurality of holes therein;
• means disposed adjacent the hole providing means for extending at least one fabric loop through the hole and provided with a strip of flexible material thereon having at least an opening therein, said extending means is an apron of flexible material provided with a plurality of flexible loops arranged to match and extend through the holes in the panel;
• suspension lines shaped into at least one bight that reaches through the fabric loop thereby securing the providing means to the extending means and at least one more bight reaching through the opening to effect the releaseable securing of the suspension lines to the extending means, the suspension lines are configured to present a like number of bights to correspond to the number of loops to each extend through a loop to secure the panel and apron together, the providing means is a pair of flexible fabric panels each secured on the skirt at diametrically opposed locations from each other and each is provided with a plurality of holes therein and the extending means is an apron of flexible material provided with a plurality of flexible loops arranged to match and extend through the holes of both panels when they are brought together to align their respective holes and the suspension lines are configured to present a like number of bights to correspond to the number of loops to each extend through a separate loop to secure the panels and apron together and to bring the skirt to a closed position.