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His student Jeanne Geneviève Labrosse, who later became his wife, was both a balloonist and the first female parachutist. Labrosse first flew on 10 November 1798, one of the earliest women to fly in a balloon, and on 12 October 1799, Labrosse was the first woman to parachute, from an altitude of 900 meters. [11]
Irvin became the first American to jump from an airplane and manually open a parachute in midair. Floyd Smith filed the Type A patent No. 1,462,456 on the same day. The Parachute Board determined the backpack chute was crowding the cockpit, a redesign moved the parachute down the pilots back becoming the "seat style" chute. [15]
In June 1942, Adeline Grey was the first person to successfully test the human-rated parachute. This led to Pioneer becoming the world's leading manufacturer of parachutes, producing 300 per day at the height of WWII. A Canadian subsidiary The Pioneer Parachute Company of Canada Ltd operated in Smiths Falls, Ontario. Canada from 1954 until 1962.
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who can exit from an aircraft at height and descend safely to earth. A parachute is usually made of a light, strong fabric.
Franz Reichelt (16 October 1878 – 4 February 1912), also known as Frantz Reichelt [1] or François Reichelt, was an Austro-Hungarian-born [2] French tailor, inventor and parachuting pioneer, now sometimes referred to as the Flying Tailor, who is remembered for jumping to his death from the Eiffel Tower while testing a wearable parachute of his own design.
Charles Broadwick (born John Murray, 1870s–1943) was an American pioneering parachutist and inventor. An executive director of the U.S. Parachute Association, Ed Scott, said "just about all modern parachute systems" use ideas Broadwick developed: "an integrated, form-fitting harness and container system nestled on the back."
Mission Albany was a parachute combat assault at night by the U.S. 101st Airborne Division on June 6, 1944, part of the American airborne landings in Normandy during World War II. It was the opening step of Operation Neptune , the assault portion of the Allied invasion of Normandy , Operation Overlord .
The 36 feet (11 m) diameter parachute was contained in a metal canister attached to the underside of the plane, and to a harness worn by Berry. The plane took off from Kinloch Field—today's St. Louis Lambert International Airport. At 1,500 feet (460 m), Berry dropped from the plane, his weight pulling the parachute from the canister.