Skydiving History and Today Essay -- essays research papers fc

The first ideas of freefall did not consider the evolution of human body flight that skydiving has become today. In fact, Leonardo Da Vinci, who we now consider the â€Å"Father of the Parachute,† designed the first conceivable sketch of a parachute. His original idea was to build a device to rescue people from burning buildings, not knowing what his impact may be on the sport six centuries later. Andre Jacques Garnerin is recorded to make the first exhibition jump in Paris from a balloon on October 27,1797. However, sport parachuting began with the first recorded freefall in 1914 by a woman named Georgia (Tiny) Broadwick. Until this time, a static line was used to deploy parachutes. Broadwick was giving the first demonstration of a parachute jump to the US government. After her initial three static line jumps, her fourth resulted in a static line/aircraft entanglement. Therefore, on her fifth jump, she decided not to use the static line. After cutting the static line, she left enough to pull the parachute pack open on her own after exiting the airplane. After this feat of freefall, the US Army Signal Corps initiated a new era in aviation safety procedures. In Tiny’s career, she accumulated over 1,100 skydives, set numerous records, and set the standard for those following in her footsteps. In 1973, Broadwick celebrated her eightieth birthday at Perris Valley Skydi ving in California. After watching everyone else land she commented, â€Å"Boy, I always landed in trees, swamps, rivers and mud holes. Sure is something else seeing all these kids land right where they want to!† (www.parachutehistory.com/women/broadwickt.html) Real controlled freefall began with the French and is brought to the United States by Jacque Istel in the late 1950’s. Istel and Lew Sanborn (USPA License D-1) were the first to introduce the idea that military airborne training was not the only way to make a parachute jump, civilians can have structure too. Originally coined the â€Å"French Frog† position, it has now morphed into what skydivers now know as the â€Å"Box Man† position. During freefall, the jumper is oriented stomach to earth, making ninety-degree angles with his elbows, shoulders, and knees. Although Sanborn and Istel introduced the first three-hour jump course in 1957, until the mid 1960’s many people still obtained parachutes and... ... of â€Å"boogies† where skydivers gather funds to benefit a worthy cause. From MS to breast cancer (Jump for the Cause boogie) jumpers are willing to give back to the sport and community in any way possible. Demo skydives are often performed during football games in stadiums, or air shows. Children are inspired and intrigued by parachutists, and the Golden Knights Demonstration Team knows just that. Performing 200 demo’s a year, the Knights will jump and speak at baseball games, high schools, and air shows. Skydiving is an endeavor that gives freedom, unrestricted flight, and most importantly all jumpers are fully aware that there is no such thing as a perfectly good airplane. "And once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been, and there you long to return" (Leonardo Da Vinci). Works Cited The Parachute Manual Volume II; Poynter, Dan. Pp. 564-566. Parachutist, April 2004. pp. 54-59. http://www.skydivecairns.com/au/history.htm http://www.parachutehistory.com/skydive/comp/worldmeet/wpc.html http://www.parachutehistory.com/skydive/comp/worldmeet/1958rules.html http://www.parachutehistory.com/women/broadwickt.html