Show 4 t f. f t ft ii E 11 1 3 fl I w. w mw t L. L h Ii L i i ONd aJ hu 1 r N t till 11 IN n e m p p 5 cJ t y vY f l a if if r rp fN p M. M I t. t I A Al T Wo Just l s ls st Like L Z Y k e Falling R a II f nL t ef l t t t i x t ni nini i i'm g m f v Into Feather FeatherBed i I ni h hr Sn 7 Huge 11 a 7 f l N r l i. i I. I r. i Bed With Little I j 1 J ri r i I Danger of Being Hurt L v in ill Landing Navys Navy's 1 Champion C y yi i Remarkable photograph h of six p sla r t Jumper ei ti d s f aviators a Idt ors demonstrating dem tiff n the reli rel reliability relt Ad t a k rz 4 ability of parachutes at a recent Cent y Y z r I aviation anon meet in m En England tan p Tells Us 1 CHUTE jumping is no longer the suicidal sport it used to be in the days s of oC the theold theold theold old county fairs Other things equal Id I'd rather jump out of an airplane with a parachute lashed to me than leap from the deck of an ocean liner wearing a life liCe preserver Of OC course the first time you do it you ou get an unpleasant thrill but after aftel that its it's easy ea James K Ii Clark of oC the Air Service of ot the United States Slates Navy broadcasting And if any man in this country should know all that there is to be known about parachuting nc it should be James K He Heas has as jumped from Crom balloons monoplanes and bi He has used all the kinds i of parachutes there are He has leaped from varying var ng heights At least once familiarity with parachutes saved his life Medium sized built ruddy r faced Clark the apostle ap of the para parachute chute is attached to the aviation bureau at Washington D D. C. C He has the f enthusiasm and the zeal of the true crusader and he says sas that in all this talk about long distance flying fI ing para parachutes chutes arent aren't coming coining in for the proper consideration They are literally the life preservers of air travelers when anything goes wrong with a plane and far from being fragile things likely to go wrong just at the wrong t time they function with almost per cent efficiency Most people dont don't understand that the parachutes themselves are not the contraptions in use by balloonists fifteen or twenty years ago says sa Clark In those days parachutes y yere w sere ere ere always alwa's failing to open or other otherwise f wise proving inadequate It was a small town that hadn't had at least one parachute casualty at one of its local fairs Now the parachutes are simple easy elsy to adjust well made as dependable d as good life belts Like all army and navy aviators Clark always l takes a parachute p when he flies Not all the commercial companies equip their planes with parachutes and he thinks they should be compelled by bylaw bylaw bylaw law to do so Some fellows who have been flying for Cor years ears laugh at the parachute idea he says They dont don't even like the m thought of taking one up with them They sit on the packed and unopened parachutes as they glide their planes But nut there are times times times-as as when a plane goes dead wrong feet in air air air- airI when nothing else quite fills the bill I Clark admits a mits that the first off jump-off or pull off with a parachute a is a trying tring tr ing moment even to a born orn aviator Flying FI ing ingmen men call it a off jump-off when they leap from the wing of oC a plane letting the parachute open up as they descend Pull ofT is the term used when an avia ia aviator aviator tor climbs out on the wing clinging to toa a stud opens the parachute as the plane flies and then lets it drag him off into space The navy nary flier says that the pull-off pull is ismore Ismore ismore more unpleasant than the off jump-off but neither is essentially es dangerous dang rous When you ou arc are pulled off otT he ex cx explains plains there is a disagreeable jolt par particularly if the plane you are leaving is traveling tra at a high rate of speed spee But nut Butt t you ou arent aren't permanently injured injure When you ou jump off you ou merely do a afew afew afew few somersaults somersault and an then are brought up suddenly sud enly but n not t harshly as as the bag 4 opens and catches the air I have fallen 1000 feet or more before letting the parachute go One man fell 2700 feet before lefore releasing the bag You might fall or feet with the para para- r I Above James K Clark the Navys Navy's f champion jumper malting making a pull off off leap and wd r W r j Y o afar at atthe the right a second before his plunge P S into space P yr 0 per d L S r I 1 f 9 1 I j 21 t it J ILL ILLA A q 4 i. i d i N r 1 t rr C s f s i f t b- b bk v. v t A v k Ili Si s 's SIT V u YN A 4 v vY Y r. 1 4 Y S pL wI Above f 17 t I er making a a tv a R. R off jump off with parachute folded chute folded on your our back provided back provided the start was high enough enough and and not be hurt My experience demonstrates that the theold theold theold old belief that a person falling faIling from a great height must be suffocated or killed by fright is not true if he is healthy About the only sensation you get gel when falling faIling as fast as Js gravity will pull you ou ouis is of oC the air rushing rushing-by b you like a tor tor- nado It doesn't take your our breath away strange as that may sound and it doesn't irritate te exposed expose parts of the body bo Clark says saS that when he jumps off the wing of a plane he always tumbles over and over but those who think they wouldn't like that may clas clasp p their arms around their knees and an escape it He lie tumbles because he finds it not ant Nor does docs he mind the jerk and jolt one gets when the parachute opens and takes hold of the air The further youve you've fallen the greater the shock of course he says My own sensation though is that of falling Calling into a huge feather bed be After the parachute opens the sky sky- jumper has nothing to do but take things easy Clark says sars one may read a chap chap- chapter chapter chapter ter of some good book or observe the scenery if one desires des res Descent is slow on at the right an extraordinary close close- f up of a off jump I and not exciting The only thing to worry about tt is landing It is necessary i. i sary eary to avoid entanglement in the branches of trees or bumpy pull along a cement highway That might mean a broken bone or two Clark has made ma e hundreds s of land landings landings ings without getting gett ng so much as ns a souvenir scratch and amI says that hat if a aa aa aa a a person will Ivill keep cool there is little e danger 1 I Avoid trying to direct the parachute by hy swinging and swaying your our body as you ou descend he directs If you ou once get going like a pendulum you ou may not be able to stop as you ou near the ground and you ou may hit the earth with a wallop that will break a leg You should come conic comedown comedown down straight st ight feet forward and land with the body bo y relaxed and inclining back backward back ward so as to avoid falling Calling and being dragged on your face Theres There's a trick in landing comfortably he admits but it is no harder to master than the trick of getting off a moving trolley car without an injury Parachute jumpers of the novice class Copyright hj h Ceni Celli k p sometimes get into trouble by jerking the ring cord that opens the parachute before they are aie cleat clear of the plane or orbal balloon bal they are leaving Usually I wait about two 1 seconds seconds seconds-or or until 1 have fallen about eighty feet feet feet- before beCore I pull the cord cor Clark says sas In that way wa the parachute runs no risk of getting all tangled tangle up in the wings of the plane which might mean serious trouble You can direct your descent de cent in some degree of course by b throwing your jour our weight in a certain direction but dont don't start swinging I Once upon a time it look took a nervy man or woman to handle a parachute properly but not any more The mech- mech rigs reu Association Inc is of the simplest One puts on the harness before leaving the balloon or plane The ring cord that opens the parachute is on the breastplate of the harness A single touch does the trick Even Evena a child can do it to quote the advertisements Clark says sas am am- amateurs amateurs have told him they f. f reached for the release ring ringby ringby ringby by instinct after they had fallen a few feet Prophet of the parachute as he is Clark admits there 4 are things it wont won't do i iu dangers it cannot over over- u come For instance par par- parachute t jumping is advis advis- advisable advisable ki able only when one is far farenough farenough Yo r enough e ough above the ground to give gi the parachute o. o A plenty of time to open before it reaches the earth The navy flier has sta sta- statistics statistics to prove the com om comparative eom safety of the modern parachute parachute par par particularly the army type carried by all aU army h planes It is simply and beautifully constructed and costs only GOO COO The army type parachute is is controlled by a miniature bag which emerges on the pulling of a rip-cord rip to which a ring is attached This little pilot para para- parachute parachute chute opens automatically ly Iv through the force of ot rubber springs It drags the main bag into position position tion and an causes it to in in in- flate This type e of para para- parachute parachute chute was evolved and a d perfected by wartime fliers on duty at McCook Field Ohio and its in inventors in in- inventors boast that one has never failed to open through any a n y inherent shortcoming of its own saw V the parachutes at the old time fairs cant can't get over ver the idea that about every ery other parachute jump ends fatally Clark Clark- says It is amusing but whenever 1 I come down safely in a parachute I I 1 see seea n a look of disappointment mingled mingle with relief on the faces of the spectators They expected drama rama and got nothing more exciting than an arrival on sched sched- ule Moralists used to say that the old fair crowds liked parachute stunts be be- because because cause calise they the expected somebody y to be hurt and so complex is human nature I ex expect ex- ex peet that's thal's true In any case when you see n parachute in midair now chances arc about 1000 to 1 that the jumper will land lan uninjured Clark is only one of ot about thirty-five thirty aviators saved by para para- I chute jumps since flying became com com- common common mon in America Most of the others were air mail pilots and they have a club of their own known as the Caterpillar Club Some others who have died could have saved themselves if they had not stayed too long with crippled planes he says There is a tradition one must remain with his plane as long as there is a chance of saving it just as there is isa isa isa a tradition a sea captain must remain with his ship so long as there is a chance she will live through the storm But it itis itis itis is possible to carry such a tradition to illogical lengths Parachutes in army and navy planes are packed in pairs so that if the first one fails the reserve may be brought into play In Jn passenger planes Clark says they will be inspected just as lifeboats are inspected on ocean liners Recently the navy flier astonished his friends by taking a motion picture of himself and the surrounding landscape and while he was descending from a plane flying several thousand feet above Anacostia near Washington He apparently holds the record in that re re- re- re gard The film was made with an auto auto auto- automatic automatic matic camera lashed to his body and he could shift shi t the focus with his hand The picture of the earth as it comes conies up to meet a man when he is falling is described as amazing and of great inter inter- interest interest est to scientists as well as thrill seekers Clark says promoters of commercial flying tell him that they are relying on the proved workability of parachutes to convert coO otherwise timid and sky-shy sky souls to air travel tra The sight of a pile of parachutes is isas isas isas as reassuring as the sight of a comple comple- complement complement ment cf lifeboats on a liner he main main- Both the army and navy of the United States maintain schools for parachute jumpers showing what shat the heads of the two departments think of it The army school is at Chanute Field Fiel Illinois It was there that Lieutenant Arthur G. G Hamilton leaped from a plane 1400 2 feet in air and landed safely Sergeant Enoch Chambers leaped from a flying fling machine feet high and was un un- hurt Not to forget Miss Phoebe Fair Fair- Fairgrove Fairgrove grove gro who made mad a parachute descent of feet at Curtiss Field Fied away back in 1921 1021 Thus assured says sa s 's Clark the pas pas- passenger passenger passenger in future air liners may contemplate contemplate plate a trip earthward with lith ith nil all the equa- equa equanimity which normally 1 accompanies a pleasant sail on the b boom jom om of a placid lake in a thoroughly comfortable boat There will be no danger and the sensa sensa- sensation sensation sensation tion of floating through the atmosphere watching the earth approach will ide provide a unique and entirely new thrill New lessons in perspective may be gained through the same means he a avers 1 |