100th Anniversary of first parachute jump from an airplane
We missed it by a day, but COB6 sent us a text message to remind us that yesterday was the 100th Anniversary of the first parachute jump from an airplane at Jefferson Barracks, MO on March 1st 1912. You know the dude was Army;
Army Captain Albert Berry, the son of a balloonist, did what was thought to be impossible or crazy back then. He jumped from a “pusher” biplane designed Thomas Benoist.
The first actual parachute jump, though, happened in 1783, and by a Frenchman;
…the first successful parachute jump was made in France in 1783 when the French physicist Louis Sebastien Lenormand (1757-1839) made the leap from a tower.About this time France’s Montgolfier brothers were experimenting with their first balloon flights. In 1797, another Frenchman, Andre Jacques Garnerin, dropped 6,500 feet from a balloon over Monceau Park in Paris in a 23-foot white canvas parachute with a basket attached.
In 1922, Lt. Harold Harris bailed out of a crippled plane near Dayton, Ohio, and became the first member of the Caterpillar Club, those whose lives have been saved by parachute.
Yeah, my life was saved by a parachute every time I tested gravity’s resolve.
Category: Historical
Hoooah! Had no idea, Jonn. Thanks!
From an old “leg”…why would anybody jump out of a perfectly good airplane?
Only two things fall from the sky.
@3 – THREE things…
http://gothamist.com/2012/02/27/plane_poops_on_long_island_couple.php
And they say Marines are dumb!?!
Let’s review. Perfectly good airplane flying along like it should. The plane is not having ant problems. No engine trouble, it’s not on fire, no hi-jackers on board, things are like they should be. A guy with a huge tent tied to his butt with a bunch of strings decides to throw himself out of said airplane. That’s sane or normal? NOT!!!
Jumping out of a plane is statistically safer than landing in one.
Even as painful as static line unit ops were, I miss the hell out of it….
This part gets me: “In 1922, Lt. Harold Harris bailed out of a crippled plane near Dayton, Ohio, and became the first member of the Caterpillar Club, those whose lives have been saved by parachute.”
It’s a reminder that WWI aerial combat was fought without parachutes.
CI Roller Dude: if you have a ‘chute, you have a choice if the plane breaks. And it ain’t exactly something you want to try “for record” w/o training.
@2 the reason is so we can get to the ground quicker so we can keep the enemy occupied while other forces maneuver on the ground to our location. It’s not an easy job, but that first step out makes it all worth while. Now you want to talk crazy, amphibious assaults in an Armored Personnel Carrier…. THAT’S crazy!!
“H-Minus, All The Way!!”
P.S. Riding in an Air Force C-130 with a pilot who thinks he’s Maverick from ‘Top Gun’ for 2 hours after taking 6 hours or more to get ready will inspire ANYONE to jump!!