JUMPING INTO SPACE

Shannon News, 29 September 1925, Page 2

JUMPING INTO SPACE

HOW TO FALL A MILE “For unequalled simplicity in graduation exercises, the U. S. Army parachute school at Chanute Fiefd. Rantoul, Illinois, probably takes the world’s prize (says a writer in the American journal “Popular Mechanics”). To win the coveted diploma at the end of a six weeks’ intensive course, the student is required to do but two things—and neither of them is writing an essay or speaking a piece. “Instead, he folds up a parachute and takes his stand on the wing of a giant Martin bomber. The 'plane climbs a mile in the air, and at a signal frpm the instructor the student pulls the rip cord of his 'chute and is yanked off into space. Some two minutes later the ground rises up and bumps 'him—and the first half of his graduation exercises arc over. “The second half consist of refolding the parachute and taking a seat in the after cockpit of a De Haviland ’plane. The craft goes up a mile, and at a signal from the pilot the student climbs over the side of the fuselage, takes a deep breath, lets go of the ship, gives a lusty kick with his feet, and falls backwards into space. After sufficient time has passed to ensure that he is clear of the airplane’s tail, ho pulls the rip cord, the parachute, if properly folded, opens, and some two minutes later the ground rises and hits the student again. “Parachute jumping is not dangerous, at least anyone connected with the school will tell you so, and some of them have jumped so many times they have lost count of the total. There is no loss of consciousness at any time during the jump, even on the first trial. The sensation, all jumpers agree, is that of settling back into an incredibly deep and soft feather-bed. No feeling of falling accompanies the drop, and when the parachute snaps open there is no jerk. Instead, the harness tightens and the jumper who is usually falling in a horizontal position, or head down, is righted. A slow oscillation, like that of a giant clock pendulum, follows.

"The Army parachute costs £l5O, measures 24ft. across when open, and i' attached to the wearer by 25 stout silk ropes, twelve of the shroud going down t 0 one shoulder, where they are sewn in the harness, and thirteen to the other. The thirteenth is red. while all the others are whitej the red one being used as a dividing mark in folding the parehute, and also to ‘spill’ the wind out of it after a landing. “Everything depends upon thc way in which the ’chute is folded. The parachute is stretched out on a fiftyfoot table, with the pack and harness at one end. and the little pilot ’chute hanging over thc other. Thc pilot ’chute, two feet across, is built with ribs like an umbrella, but with a spring arrangement which causes it to fly open unless held under pressure. When the rip cord is pulled and the pack opened, the little ’chute flies out, catches the wind, and pulls the big parachute after it.”