Throughout time many people have tried to fly by jumping off of
something, hoping that something would keep them up and let them glide
like a bird. Most of the time, the feat did not work. Occasionally, a
person would land safely and that was probably enough of a probability to
give people the false idea that flight by man alone would be possible.
Leonardi Da Vinci (he is the famous painter of the Mona Lisa) is
accredited with the earliest conception and documentation of the idea of
air supporting a man's weight. After centuries of myths, Da Vinci was
determined to prove that human flight was possible. He studied flight
for over twenty years and in 1486 he began to study birds. He continued
with this study until his death in 1519. He was convinced that the
secret behind human flight was in the wings of the bird.
A hundred years after Da Vinci's sketch of a parachute was
published, Fausto Veranzo drew a picture of a square canvas parachute
being used from a tower. He claimed to have experimented with his
parachute, but there is little evidence supporting his claim. There are
many other names that pop up in various sources as possibly being the
first to make a parachute jump. Finally in 1797, balloonist Andre
Jacques Garnerin made the first of many undisputed exhibition parachute
jumps from his balloon. His first was over Paris with thousands
watching.
Garnerin's parachute was made of silk with a supporting pole and
looked like a huge reinforced umbrella. Standing in a basket at the end
of the pole, he released his chute and then oscillated violently as the
unvented canopy spilled air from one side and then from the other. He
apparently was sticking to Da Vinci's instructions that the material
should be without an aperture.
Until the balloon, there was little opportunity to use a
parachute. Ironically, the parachute was used almost exclusively for
exhibitions. Because parachuting had always been thought of as a stunt,
the first life saving jump in 1808 was a novelty. Judaki Kuparento
parachuted from his burning balloon over Warsaw. His method of exit and
operation of the parachute is unknown. It wasn't until 1909 when the
Wright brothers developed powered flight, that the parachute found a new
purpose.
Early parachutes were made of canvas, and later of silk. In 1912
Captain Albert Berry of the United States Army made the first successful
descent from an airplane. In World War I parachutes were used by
observers to escape from captive balloons, but were considered
impractical for airplanes. It wasn't until the last stages of the war
that the use of the parachute was available in aircraft.
One may ask where did the word parachute originate, and how do
parachutes work? The word parachute comes from the French words para and
chute. Used together they mean to shield a fall. Objects falling freely
through the atmosphere are pulled toward the Earth by gravity.
Free-falling objects can attain a terminal velocity, or top speed of 118
or more miles per hour. No person could survive a fall at that speed.
By using a parachute, the speed of fall is reduced enough to insure a
safe landing.
A parachute in use resembles an open umbrella. The open end is
directed downward. Strong forces produced by air resistance push upward
against the descending parachute. These forces oppose the downward pull
of gravity. Although gravity's force is reduced, it is not completely
eliminated. The speed of fall, however, is decreased from terminal
velocity to a much safer 14 miles an hour.
