Facts and History of Parachutes
- supplied by Paul Els
If a man has a tent of linen without any apertures, he can throw himself down from any great height without injury…
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
The Will to Jump
The act of parachuting, which involves throwing oneself into space, is not a natural act. At the same time, since the adoption of the parachute by the Army as a means of transport, hundreds of people are parachuting every day. It is the task of the Parachute Training Centre to make pupils look upon this new means of conveyance as a simple and normal performance and NOT as a daring stunt of which only exceptional men are capable. With the present generation, this is not always an easy task, since the parachute is still comparatively new and has an aura of black magic, in the same way as the motorcar and the telephone had for out ancestors. The problem will however become much easier in this country when the present generation grows up. Since it is more likely to look upon parachuting in the same light as the present younger generation looks upon flying. Until the time arrives when a descent by parachute will be looked upon as no more unusual or hazardous than a descent in a lift, the following rules must be adhered to: * The pupils must be made exceptionally physically fit. This will increase mental determination and confidence and will create a high standard of morale. * Pupils must have complete confidence in the parachute and ancillary equipment. * Equally important is an attitude of respect. As in flying, over-confidence is as dangerous as over-anxiety. Thus a middle path of care and respect for the parachute and parachuting technique must be cultivated. To ascertain that pupils are physically fit, is the responsibility of parachute jumping instructors who are full qualified and capable of doing so. However, to cultivate confidence and respect for the parachute and equipment, it is necessary to know something more about the origin of the parachute and the technical details of the parachute you are going to use.
Origin of the Parachute
The parachute can be described as a device somewhat resembling an umbrella 24 ft - 35 ft in diameter, intended to break a fall from a height. The origin of the parachute is credited to Leonardo Da Vinci who made sketches of a parachute shaped like a pyramid, 36 ft wide and 36 ft high, (1452-1519). P.Blanchard the first professional aeronaut began by using a dog in his experiments. In 1785 the dog descended safely by parachute from a considerable height which is more than can be said for his master who broke his leg in 1793 owing to a defect in the construction of the parachute. To Andre Jaques Garnerin falls the distinction of being the first man to descent safely in a parachute from a balloon. Making the first descent in public over the park of Monceau, Paris during 1797 from a height of 2,236 ft. Garnerin’s parachute, dome shaped looked like a large umbrella. The canopy of white canvas or sailcloth was 23 ft in diameter and approximately the same shape as todays. At the top a truck or round piece of wood with a diameter of ten inches was fastened to the canvas by 32 short pieces of tape. It was calculated the descent would be at a rate of 10 ft per second - roughly equivalent to a fall from a height of 12 ft. One September evening in 1802 Garnerin ascended from the Volunteers Ground North Audly Street. He separated the parachute from a balloon at a height of about 8,000 ft, described here in his own word: “I felt myself precipitated with a velocity which was checked with the sudden unfolding of my parachute. I saw that all my calculations were just, and my mind remained calm and serene. I endeavoured to modulate my gravitation and the oscillation (swinging), which I experienced, increased in proportion as I approached the breeze that billows in the middle region. Nearly ten minutes elapsed and I felt that the more time I took in descending the safer I should reach the ground. At length I perceived thousands of people, some on horseback, other on foot following me, all of whom encouraged me by their wishes while they opened their arms to receive me. I came near the earth and after one bound, I landed and quitted the parachute without any shock or accident. A crowd soon surrounded me, laid hold of me, and carried me in triumph, till and indisposition, the consequence and effect of the oscillation I had experienced obliged the procession to stop. I was the seized with a violent vomiting which I usually experienced for several hours after a descent in a parachute.” Although Garnerin made his parachute descent in 1802 over London, it was not until more than 30 years later when the English became interested in parachuting. This however might be blamed on a article in the “Gentleman’s Magazine” published in 1802 with read as follows: “In 1802 Garnerin a Frenchman of aeronautic celebrity, visited London and made two fine ascents in his balloon, in the second of which he came down from an amazing elevation in a parachute. He descended for some seconds with an accelerating velocity, and oscillated so widely that the basket or car appeared at times to be thrown almost into a horizontal position. It passed over Mary-le-Bone and Somers town, and almost grazed the houses of St Pancras. He descended in a field near the Jew’s Harp Tavern; out so suddenly was the shock that it threw Garnering violently on the ground and cut his face. He also bled considerably from his ears and nose. He seemed to be much agitated, and trembled exceedingly when released from the car. One of the stays of the parachute had chanced to give way which partly deranged the apparatus and disturbing the proper balance, threatened the adventurer, during the whole of his descent with immediate destruction.” There is little doubt that the violence of the oscillation during Garnerin’s descent instilled fear and horror into the hearts of the onlookers. This is most probably why Robert Cocking - a watercolour painter - dedicated his life to parachuting and invented a parachute that would not oscillate. But due to lack of money, Cocking did not make a descent until his 61st year, which proved to be his first and last jump. Cocking had decided that oscillation could be avoided if the parachute was made in a conical from vertex downwards. He constructed a parachute on this plan, the radius of which at it’s widest part, was about 17 feet and weighted about 375 lbs. Poor Cocking’s journey was brief and tragic. When the balloon reached 5000 ft, he let slip the catch. According to one description, the parachute for a few seconds descended very rapidly but still evenly, until the upper rim seemed suddenly to give way, and the whole apparatus, looking like an umbrella, turned inside out and nearly closed, collapsed. Cocking crashed in a field at Lee. He was still alive when help came but died a short while later. After Cocking’s tragic descent, more and more people became interested in the art of parachuting. All of these early ascents and descents were made inside the balloon’s basket. The parachutists did not actually jump out of the basket, but simply cut the balloon loose and descended standing in the gondola. Not until the late 19th century did the parachutist begin fastening himself into some type of harness and jumping out of the basket. Before World War 1, most exhibition jumps were made from balloons and the parachute was almost exclusively used as a stunt device although pilots were in need of some hind of aerial lifesaver. To add some extra “Kick” to these jumps, the performer often resorted to hanging by one hand, by his teeth, by his heels or in some other equally dangerous position. Leslie Irvin told the author of “Skydiving” how he developed one particularly good stunt. The parachutist used to hang from a trapeze bar, then sitting on this bar, he would “lose his balance”, topple over backwards and seemingly fall of the trapeze. As he did this, he would spread his legs and catch himself by the heels between the rope and the end of the bar. People on the ground would gasp or faint as Irvin dangled upside down. Even this became old stuff to the spectators and something new had to be found. Charles Broadwick, early in the 1900’s came up with the answer. Instead of ascending with the parachute in full view of the crowd, Broadwick designed a pack, disguised as a bulky vest, which contained the parachute inside. A long static line was anchored to the balloon on one side and the back of his pack on the other. As he fell away from the balloon the static line would pull the canopy from the pack and allow the safe descent. Europe now began to search for a life-saving device for balloonists and pilots. The Aero Club of France offered 10,000 francs for a practical parachute. In 1911, a Russian inventor had his parachute designs rejected because the Soviet Air Force thought the pilot would be tempted to jump when he might be able to save the plane. On 1 March 1912 Capt Berry made his first jump from an aircraft to illustrate the use of a parachute to save liver. More inventions were devised, some rigs were hopelessly impractical and some inventors paid with their lives. Many pilots refused to accept parachutes and openly scoffed at them as impractical. Like the captain of a ship they went down with their planes. During WWl, seven or eight descents daily were made from balloons while pilots continued to crash with their planes. Finally in 1917 a parachute was used to make an emergency bailout from an aircraft. A German plane was riddled with bullets from an allied craft. As the disabled plane spiralled towards the ground, the German pilot jumped over the side and a parachute opened. For the first time a parachute had saved a plots life in a jump from an aircraft. After that, other German pilots began to equip themselves until, by the end of the war, all of them had parachutes. In 1918, the British, French and Americans installed parachutes in their planes but pilots were reluctant to leave even a disabled plane in favour of the parachute, which was of the static line type and did not always prove successful. Because this method was not practical in the event of an uncontrolled spin the need was for a manually operated chute. The man who was to find the answer was Leslie Irvin. The idea of the jumper manually opening his chute was inconceivable to most people. They thought that a person falling through space lost consciousness immediately. Those who thought the jumper could maintain temporary consciousness said he would be helpless during the free fall and would be unable to pull the ripcord. Billed “Sky-Hi” Irvin in a circus act, he had made several high dives into a net. He had always maintained perfect control over his body during the eighty-foot drop and had never lost consciousness. In April 1919 Irvin buckled on the model “A” (made of silk - the model “B” was cotton) parachute and climbed aboard a DR.4 aeroplane. Floyd Smith was the pilot. At 1500 ft Irvin climbed out of the cockpit and dived into space. He did not mess around and immediately he was clear of the aircraft, pulled the ripcord. The parachute worked perfectly although it did oscillate badly and caused Irvin to break his ankle on landing.
Paratroopers
The Russians held a sport festival in 1930, which, for the first time made a game out of parachuting. Amateur jumpers - factory workers - tried to land on a target. This can be called the beginning of sport parachuting. By 1935 the Soviets had perfected the use of the parachute to such an extent that 1800 paratroopers and several light tanks and artillery pieces were dropped. Later 5700 military parachutists were dropped. The Russians did not use a static line, but instead employed an automatic timer, all jumpers making free fall jumps. They wore no reserves. The Germans became quite interested in Stalin’s paratroopers and sent an official to observe Russian methods. In 1935 he returned and reported to Hitler. A jump school was ordered to be built at Staacken. Hitler ordered Herman Goering to train his regiment of personal guards to be paratroopers. Failing to get a single volunteer, Goering ordered the men to a field to watch a demonstration. The demonstrators ‘chute malfunctioned and he fell to the ground only a few yards from the onlookers. Although his collarbone, thigh and leg were broken, he lived and Goering recruited a few volunteers. By 1939 Germany had an impressive force of military jumpers who used the static line method and lived according to their own Ten Commandments.
You are the chosen ones of the German Army. You will seek combat and train yourself to endure any manner of test. To you the battle shall be fulfilment. Cultivate true comradeship, for by the aid of your comrades you will conquer or die. Beware of talking. Be NOT corruptible. Men act while women chatter. Chatter may bring you to the grave. Be calm and prudent, strong and resolute. Valour and the enthusiasm of an offensive spirit will cause you to prevail in the attack. The most precious thing in the presence of the foe is ammunition. He, who shoots uselessly, merely to comfort himself, is a man of straw who merits NOT the title of paratrooper. Never surrender. To you death or victory must be a point of honour. You can triumph only if your weapons are good. See to it that you submit yourself to this law, FIRST MY WEAPONS AND THEN MYSELF. You must grasp the full purport of every enterprise, so that if your leader were killed you yourself can fulfil it. Against an open foe fight with chivalry, but to a guerrilla extend no quarter. Keep you eyes wide open. Tune yourself to the topmost pitch. Be as nimble as a greyhound, as tough as leather, as hard as Krupp steel, and so you shall be the German warrior incarnate.
In June 1940, Winston Churchill ordered the establishing of a Corps of at least five thousand paratroopers. The British moved into a crash programme and frantically tried to catch up with the Germans and Russians. Training went on night and day, rain or sunshine. The jumpers finished their training with two jumps from a balloon and five from an aeroplane. These seven jumps qualified the British paratrooper for his wings. The Germans required six jumps. During this stage in 1940, the USA got their first 48 volunteers and was the only country to jump with reserve parachutes. The training of the military jumper leans toward conditioning him physically and emotionally, to the degree that he is not only capable of carrying out an assigned mission but is also confident of his ability to accomplish that assignment. He is drilled so thoroughly in various phases of training and actual jumping that motions are more the result of mechanical reflexes than determined effort. This is necessary for the proper performance of his duties. After all, the military parachutist is a fighter first and secondly a parachutist. Jumping is only the means to an end. He can’t become so absorbed in his parachute and its functions that he fails to perform his duties as a fighter. His every movement and thought must be in regard to his mission and not to his mode of transportation. That is why paratroopers all over the world have acquitted themselves exceptionally well of all the tasks laid upon them during the last Great War and that is why people have such a great esteem for the wearer of the Red Beret. Since the day of Garnerins first jump, a simple device like the parachute has come a long and struggling path but it triumphed in the end. After the idea of the parachute was accepted, progress was phenomenal. Today parachutes are divided into two main groups namely the steerable parachute and the non-steerable parachute. Although there are many varieties of each type the basic principles remain the same. The steerable parachute is mostly used by pilots as emergency equipment and by sportsmen as sport parachutes. Whereas the non-steerable type is mostly used by paratroopers of various countries. The main differences between the two types are firstly the heights of operation. In the case of the steerable parachute, the minimum height is 2000 ft and the maximum depending on the availability of a pressure suit and oxygen equipment. Whereas paratrooping is only a means of transport, it is essential for the troops to land as soon as possible thus the maximum height being 1250 ft and the minimum 600 ft. Most of the steerable parachutes are manually operated, whereas the non-steerable is mostly the static line type. In 1960 The South African Army sent fifteen volunteers to Britain to be trained as paratroopers and parachute jumping instructors so that on their return they could train their comrades in arms this modern means of transport. All these people qualified and on 1 April 1961, 1 Parachute Battalion was established, where all South African troops with the desire to become paratroopers must attend the basic parachute-jumping course. Although these people were conversant with the Irvin ‘chute used by the British this type of parachute did not prove to be ideal for South African conditions. The first SA Paratroopers tested various types of parachutes and they eventually decided upon the West German manufacture PT10. The PT10 parachute is an American patent but manufactured in West Germany. The ‘chute weight 26lbs and takes from 3 - 5 seconds to deploy. The canopy is divided into 30 panels and each panel is sub-divided into 5 sections. The canopy is attached to the harness by means of 30 suspension lines, having a tensile strength of 375 pounds. The harness assembly is made of heavy nylon webbing with a breaking strain of 4000 pounds. All metal parts of the harness have a tensile strength of 6000 pounds. Other than was the case during the last war, jumping with a main parachute and a reserve parachute is compulsory. The reserve parachute weighs 14 lbs and is made of rip stop nylon weighing 1.6 ounces per square yard and is 24 feet in diameter. There are 24 suspension lines measuring 16 feet from the shirt of the canopy to the snap hooks. The reserve parachute is manually operated and functions when the ripcord handle is pulled. In the light of the abovementioned facts one must draw the conclusion that the PT10 is a safe parachute which has been indubitably proved by the more then 75,000 jumps executed by 1 Parachute Battalion.