Eve of World War I Parachute

picture published in dutch magazine de prins der geïllustreerde bladen (february 18, 1911).



gleb kotelnikov , invention, knapsack parachute

in 1907 charles broadwick demonstrated 2 key advances in parachute used jump hot air balloons @ fairs: folded parachute pack wore on , parachute pulled pack static line attached balloon. when broadwick jumped balloon, static line became taut, pulled parachute pack, , snapped.

in 1911 successful test took place dummy @ eiffel tower in paris. puppet s weight 75 kg; parachute s weight 21 kg. cables between puppet , parachute 9 m long. on february 4, 1912, franz reichelt jumped death tower during initial testing of wearable parachute.

also in 1911, grant morton made first parachute jump airplane, wright model b piloted phil parmalee, @ venice beach, california. morton s device of throw-out type held parachute in arms left aircraft. in same year, russian gleb kotelnikov invented first knapsack parachute, although hermann lattemann , wife käthe paulus had been jumping bagged parachutes in last decade of 19th century.

albert berry collapses parachute on kinloch field @ jefferson barracks, missouri, after jump on march 1, 1912.

in 1912, on road near tsarskoye selo, years before became part of st. petersburg, kotelnikov demonstrated braking effects of parachute accelerating russo-balt automobile top speed , opening parachute attached seat, inventing drogue parachute.

on march 1, 1912, u.s. army captain albert berry made first (attached-type) parachute jump in united states fixed-wing aircraft, benoist pusher, while flying above jefferson barracks, st. louis, missouri. jump utilized knapsack style parachute stored or housed in casing on jumper s body.

Štefan banič slovakia patented umbrella-like design in 1914 , sold (or donated) patent united states military. on june 21, 1913, georgia broadwick became first woman parachute-jump moving aircraft, doing on los angeles, california. in 1914, while doing demonstrations u.s. army, broadwick deployed chute manually, becoming first person jump free-fall.

kite balloon observers preparing descend parachute.

the first military use of parachute artillery observers on tethered observation balloons in world war i. these tempting targets enemy fighter aircraft, though difficult destroy, due heavy anti-aircraft defenses. because difficult escape them, , dangerous when on fire due hydrogen inflation, observers abandon them , descend parachute enemy aircraft seen. ground crew attempt retrieve , deflate balloon possible. main part of parachute in bag suspended balloon pilot wearing simple waist harness attached main parachute. when balloon crew jumped main part of parachute pulled bag crew s waist harness, first shroud lines, followed main canopy. type of parachute first adopted on large scale observation balloon crews germans, , later british , french. while type of unit worked balloons, had mixed results when used on fixed-wing aircraft germans, bag stored in compartment directly behind pilot. in many instances did not work shroud lines became entangled spinning aircraft. although number of famous german fighter pilots saved type of parachute, including hermann göring, no parachutes issued allied heavier-than-air aircrew, since thought @ time if pilot had parachute jump plane when hit rather trying save aircraft.

airplane cockpits @ time not large enough accommodate pilot , parachute, since seat fit pilot wearing parachute large pilot not wearing one. why german type stowed in fuselage, rather being of backpack type. weight – @ beginning – consideration, since planes had limited load capacity. carrying parachute impeded performance , reduced useful offensive , fuel load.

in u.k., everard calthrop, railway engineer , breeder of arab horses, invented , marketed through aerial patents company british parachute , guardian angel parachute. thomas orde-lees, known mad major, demonstrated parachutes used low height (he jumped tower bridge in london) led parachutes being used balloonists of royal flying corps, though not available aircraft.

in 1911, solomon lee van meter, jr. of lexington kentucky, submitted , in july 1916 received patent backpack style parachute – aviatory life buoy. self-contained device featured revolutionary quick-release mechanism – ripcord – allowed falling aviator expand canopy when safely away disabled aircraft.

otto heinecke, german airship ground crewman, designed parachute german air service introduced in 1918, becoming world s first air service introduce standard parachute. although many pilots saved these, efficacy relatively poor. out of first 70 german airmen bail out, around third died, including aces such oberleutnant erich löwenhardt (who fell 3,600 metres (11,800 ft) after being accidentally rammed german aircraft) , fritz rumey tested in 1918, have fail @ little on 900 m (3,000 ft). these fatalities due chute or ripcord becoming entangled in airframe of spinning aircraft or because of harness failure, problem fixed in later versions.

the french, british, american , italian air services later based first parachute designs on heinecke parachute varying extents.

in uk sir frank mears serving major in royal flying corps in france (kite balloon section) registered patent in july 1918 parachute quick release buckle, known mears parachute in common use onwards.