The most comprehensive history of Skydiving - tricky's Blog | MayContainNuts.com Blog

Skydiving - History

People's dream of flying is perhaps as old as humanity itself. Detailing the history of Skydiving isn't easy but here is a basic timeline and the names of people who made it happen.

In The Beginning

A few medieval documents record the use of parachute-like devices to allow a person to fall (somewhat) safely from a height. In 852, an Andalusian-Arab daredevil named Armen Firman jumped off a tower in Cordoba, Spain wearing a huge cloak stiffened with wooden struts. He thought the cloak would billow out and allow him to float gently to earth, the cloak did nothing to slow him down, he survived the fall sustaining only minor injuries. In the 9th century, another Muslim Abbas Ibn Firnas attempted a similar feat.

The Ancient Chinese and Leonardo da Vinci are both credited with conceiving the idea of a parachute. The Chinese constructed umbrella like devices, which they used to jump from special towers.

In the 15th century Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) studied birds and flight for several years and got basic conclusions in aeronautics. The parachute he designed was pyramidal shaped. His original idea was to build a device to rescue people from burning buildings. Although we don't know if he tried this parachute or not, many people consider Leonardo da Vinci to be the "Father of the Parachute".

In 1616 Croatian born Faust Vrancic (1551-1617) (ita Fausto Veranzio) published a book called "Machinae Novae" in which appeared a diagram titled "Homo Volans" (flying man). It showed an idea of a parachute, which resembled Da Vinci earlier sketches; it was of a man jumping from a tower with a rectangular canvas parachute attached to the jumper's harness with four lines. It is said that he tested his design by jumping from Venice tower in 1617, but there is little evidence supporting this claim. Usually in those times a designer would gather a huge crowd to watch his initial attempt.

In 1779 French physicist Sebastian Le Normand studied parachutes carrying animals. Due to his many studies we can consider him the first systematic parachute constructor.

It wasn’t until the 18th century in France when the first parachutes were made and used. In 1785 French balloonist Jean Pierre Blanchard (1753-1809) began making parachutes from folded silk, taking advantage of silk's strength and light weight, this type of canopy could also be packed (early parachutes were made of linen or canvas stretched over a wooden frame making this impossible). He gave the first successful demonstration of the use of a parachute when he placed a small dog in a basket and attached it to the parachute; this was then dropped from a balloon high in the air, it safely parachuted back to earth. While Blanchard's first parachute demonstrations were conducted with a dog as the passenger, in 1793 he had the opportunity to try it for himself when his hot air balloon ruptured, he did an emergency jump with a parachute from his balloon, he broke both legs. In February 1808, Blanchard suffered a heart attack on a balloon flight over The Hague in the Netherlands and fell more than 50 feet. He never recovered from the fall and died on March 7, 1809.

Another name that crops up in history is Frenchman and balloonist Joseph Montgolfier who in the early 1900’s is said to have developed and experimented with early parachutes, though there’s not much evidence of this, he is better know for experimenting and developing hot air balloons with his brother Jacques Montgolfier.

In 1797 another Frenchman, Andre Jacques Garnerin made the first ever parachute drop from an aircraft (a gas filled balloon), this is recorded in history as the first ever exhibition jump, it was in Paris on October 27th 1797. He was also the first person to jump with a parachute without a rigid frame; he used a basket under an open parachute made of silk and stiffened with a supporting pole in the centre, much like a tent pole. He went on to perform display jumps from balloons flying over Europe, including one of about 8,000 feet in England in 1802. French astronomer Joseph de Lalandes observed one such display, he witnessed severe oscillations as the canopy descended, he concluded that this was because of the air under the canopy spilling out from one side then the other; Lalandes suggested cutting a small hole near the apex of the canopy to inhibit the oscillations. This modification is now known as the “Apex vent” and does indeed dramatically reduce canopy oscillations.

Andre Jacques Garnerin’s wife, Genevieve Labrosse was the first woman to do a parachute jump on October 12th 1799. His niece Elisa jumped 40 times between 1815 and 1836.

The first man to use a parachute as a lifesaver was Judaki Kuparento on the 14th July 1808 when he jumped from his burning balloon over Warsaw.

In 1837 the first fatal accident in skydiving was recorded. Roberto Cocking jumped from 5,000 feet with a parachute he had designed as an inverted cone.

In 1887 another balloonist, Captain Thomas Baldwin invented a major contribution to the parachute system, the first parachute harness.

In 1890 Paul Letteman and Kathchen Paulus invented the method of folding or packing the parachute in a knapsack to be worn on the back before its release. Kathchen Paulus was also behind the invention of the intentional breakaway, which is when one small parachute opens first and pulls open the main parachute.

In 1912 the first man to ever jump out of an airplane with a parachute was U.S. Army Captain Albert Berry, who jumped over Missouri March 1st of that year, though some have held that Grant Morton performed the same feat in 1911 off the coast of California, the skydiving community commonly gives credit to Berry.

In 1913 Georgia "Tiny" Broadwick was the first woman to parachute from an airplane on June 21st 1913, she jumped from a plane piloted by Glenn L. Martin at 2,000 feet over Griffith Park in Los Angeles . She was also the first woman to parachute into water. In 1914 she demonstrated parachutes to the U.S. Army. On one of her demonstration jumps she got tangled in her static line and had to cut herself free, unofficialy becoming the first person to freefall.

On the 29th April 1919 the first ever premeditated freefall parachute jump was made by another American, Leslie Irvin at McCook Airfield near Dayton, Ohio using his own hand operated chute, it was designed by Floyd Smith and made by Major EC Hoffman, he broke his ankle on landing. The design revolutionized parachuting and gave birth to a new sport.

In the 1950's the sport became popular when a group of French jumpers began to practice it just for fun. They used ex-military parachute equipment, experimenting with the aerodynamics of the parachutes by cutting holes in them to improve the steering and flight. They experimented with freefalls and designed new parachutes. Gradually, as competition became fiercer parachutes were developed for sport use.

In 1951 the first sport parachuting championships were held in Yugoslavia.

On August 16th 1960 US Air Force Captain Joseph W. Kittinger stepped from an open balloon at a height of 102.800 feet (nearly 20 miles high) over New Mexico. At 90,000 feet he reached a terminal speed of 614 mph in freefall, almost supersonic speed! His freefall lasted about four and a half minutes and during this time he used a 6-foot stabilizer. He also used a standard 28-foot canopy and the total jump took 13 minutes and 45 seconds. With this jump he achieved the most dazzling challenge in high jumps. This record is registered in the Guinness Book of World Records and no person has jumped from such heights since!

In the 70’s tandem jumping was introduced by Ted Strong and Bill Morrissey in the USA and became popular in the 1980’s. It was made possible by the introduction of a ram-air parachute capable of supporting a double load during opening and descent, it also had and to this day still does have the assistance of a small drogue chute to stabilize jumpers during free fall and to slightly reduce terminal velocity. Tandem is now accepted all over the world as a safe and exciting introduction to skydiving.

The History of Skydiving Championships

The first World Parachuting Championships were held in Yugoslavia in 1951 where 5 European nations were represented. Since that championship, events have been conducted every two years in different countries around the world. The number of participating countries in recent times has increased to up to 42. Australia hosted the 1977 championships and also the second “Relative Work” Championships, which were held in Gatton, Queensland. In 1991 the term "Relative Work" was officially changed to "Formation Skydiving".

The World Cup is the second most prestigious skydiving event and this is held in alternate years to the world championships. In 1998 the World Cup was held in Portugal and involved multiple teams from approximately 38 countries. Skydiving competitions have come a long way and now include a variety of skydiving and parachuting events facilitated for both individuals and teams.

These new events have been introduced to expand the adrenalin junkie’s athletic abilities and prowess. In 1975 freestyle (freefall), skysurfing/boarding and formation skydiving competitions were introduced.

Freestyle (freefall) is an individual event which today includes various acrobatic and dance moves whilst in the air and is judged on style and accuracy. Skysurfing/boarding refers to the use of a small snowboard type board attached to the feet, which allows radical manoeuvres in freefall. Formation skydiving is the pinnacle of team sports for those seeking to flock together. For a spectator, formation skydiving is the most exciting to watch.

The History of Birdmen

Franz Reichelt, attempted a flight off the Eiffel Tower in Paris in 1912. His parachute-like suit failed and he plumeted some 190 feet to his death in five seconds.

Birdmen of the 1930's

In the history of skydiving, there have always been those brave men and women pushing the envelope and experimenting, with goals the majority doomed unachievable.

In the beginning of freefall skydiving, nobody knew how to control one's body in freefall. The original idea of wings was to control and stabilize the skydiver during his plunge towards earth. The pioneers of wingflying built their wings of wood, metal and canvas, they were the first Birdmen. To give the show to their audience they usually opened very low, which in many cases ended in a fatality.

The most famous of the first generation of birdmen were Clem Sohn, Rudolph Bölen and Harry Ward. Clem Sohn was the most famous of the many American show jumpers. He built his bat-wings of canvas and used metal rods to help support them. He also built a canvas wing between his legs.

Clem Sohn died on a show jump in Villacoubly, France on 25th April 1937; his canopy malfunctioned to form a "roman candle". He deployed his reserve but it entangled with the malfunctioning main. Many other American show jumpers also used wingsuits to boost their shows, amongst them Manos Morgan and Tommy Boyd.

Harry Ward, "The Yorkshire Birdman", was the leading British parachutist of the 30's. When he first tried his wingsuit, he already was an experienced show jumper and RAF rigger. He did his first wing jump in 1936 and after practicing was able to freefall stable and to perform turns and horizontal movement with his semi-rigid wings made of wood and linen. His wings were designed in a manner that enabled him to release them before pulling the ripcord. He did nine jumps with his wings. As an exception, Harry Ward was one of only a few men to survive the birdman game, Harry died in July 2000 at a respectable 97 years of age.

Birdmen of the 1950's & 1960's

In the early 1950's jumpers partly abandoned metallic and wooden wings in favour of canvas or silk. This made jumping with wings safer.

Famous birdmen of the era were Leo Valentin, Pierre Mas, Santo Rinaldi, Jean Durand and the Masselin brothers. Léo Valentin was possibly the most famous birdman of all. As well as a birdman he can also be considered as the developer of skydiving as a sport.

He made his first jump in 1938 in Baraki, Algeria and made hundreds of jumps after that. He was the first man to resolve and learn the basics of free-fall aerodynamics. That made him able to fall in a stable position (Valentins position is an arched delta position) both on his belly and also on his back, complete turns and barrel rolls.

Valentin made his first wing jump at Villacoublay airfield with wings that were made of canvas but he was not satisfied with them, as he could not achieve any forward speed. He then built a series of rigid wings and tested them in a wind tunnel. It's claimed that with these wings he managed to cover some distance in the air.

Léo Valentin died in 1956 when he hit part of his wings on the plane on exit; this resulted in a spin he could not stop which resulted in a malfunction of his parachute.

Finnish born Viktor Androsov (Andro) of the Lentosirkus Pilvien Huimapäät (the Flying Air Sircus Daredevils of the Clouds) was another birdmen. He died on his first wingsuit jump in Jämi, Finland. The reason for his death was he couldn’t locate the ripcord because of the large canvas wings. Before the jump his friends suggested he cut a hole and assemble the ripcord through the wing but he refused to do so.

Between 1930 and 1961, 72 of the original 75 Birdmen died while trying to break the barriers of human flight.

In the 1960's A Frenchman Gilles Delamarre experimented with various types of ailerons in arms and legs.

Birdmen of the 1980's & 1990's

In the 1980's Christoph Aarns from Germany experimented with wingsuits and other designs to improve tracking performance. His wingsuit resembled a flying squirrel and although using it gave him more freefall time it didn’t lead to increased forward speed. He also experimented with a board attached in front of his legs to improve tracking speed. He now works with rigid wing design with the Freesky Team.

In 1988 Finnish skydiver Jari Kuosma joined forces with Croatian Robert Pecnik with a dream of building a safe, well performing and commercially available wingsuit that any considerably experienced skydiver could fly and enjoy.

In the 1990's skydiver Patrick de GayardonIn of France experimented with his self-made wingsuit and was able to fly like no one had flown before. Patrick's innovation was to attach wings between his arms and his body and also between his legs. The wings that carried him were filled with air and formed a simple wing profile. Sadly Patrick died on April 13th 1998 while practicing with his wing suit. The reason for the accident was a rigging error that caused a malfunction in his main canopy. However, the dream of the human flight did not die.

Birdmen of the 21st Century

The first product was the BirdMan-suit, named after those original birdmen. Since then they have been refining and experimenting with new ideas to increase the performance of their suits. The Birdman Classic II is aimed at first timers and relatively inexperienced skyflyers. The GTi is for advanced skyflyers, providing more lift and forward speed. And the state-of-the-art Skyflyer was introduced in 2001, this gives a very big horizontal and vertical speed range.

In France there is a tradition in skyflying, following de Gayardon's footsteps. Loïc Jean Albert has developed wingsuits with Pierre Desmet and Stéphane Zunino. Loïc's suit was marketed and manufactured by Parasport Italia and called the CrossBow. The CrossBow looks quite close to the original BirdMan Classic suit but has only one emergency release handle for the wings.

Skyray wingsuits of Germany have been doing intense development with the Freesky Team. They have concentrated mainly on rigid wing design. Their main objective now is to develop the Skyray rigid wing as a commercial product.

As skyflying is still in its infancy, new things are being learned every day. Today the average falling rate can be as low as 70 km/h and the forward speed about 150 km/h, giving a glide ratio of over 2:1. Minimum vertical speeds as low as 8 m/s have been measured. This makes it possible to soar between the clouds with your friends up to three minutes before opening your chutes. A new level in human flight has now been achieved.

Birdman flies across the English Channel

On July 31st 2003 a spectacular and audacious stunt performed high in the skies when Austrian stuntman and skydiver, Felix Baumgartner, flew across the English Channel with nothing but a small carbon fibre wing strapped to his back and Atair parachutes to stop his hurtling 20 mile long freefall descent that reached top speeds of 220 mph!

Designed and manufactured by Atair Aerodynamics, these high-performance parachutes have won numerous awards and set world records in the parachute industry. The rigid "wing suit" was designed by inventor/engineer Alban Geissler, and the main and reserve parachutes were designed by inventors/engineers Daniel Preston and Stane Krajnc. The Skyray skyflying system was featured in Time Magazine under its Coolest Inventions 2003.

The Future…???

Well, Watch this space!!

Comments (1)

1. richard1910 (35 months ago)

   WOW!