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1942 U.S. military 24-foot natural-silk parachute canopy, complete with suspension lines, original manufacturer/identification label, and March 1945 rejection-inspection tag. No tears or missing lines; sold as a historical display item, not for flight or deployment.
Early in the war, many parachutes used silk, especially because it was lightweight, strong, and compact. But Japan had been a major source of silk, and wartime supply disruptions led the United States and Britain to adopt nylon.Nylon parachutes entered service in the early 1940s; by the latter half of the war, most American and British parachutes were nylon. The U.S. Air Force’s last silk parachutes were completed in spring 1943.
