The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1928-01-23

right wing commenced vibrating
and striking my head at the DOT.
ton of each oscillation. removed
unbuckled it. climbed out past the
trailing edge Of the damaged wing,
and with my feet on the cowling
on the right side of the cockpit,
which was then in a nearly verti-
cal position. / jumped backwards,
as FAR from the ship as possible.
: ..I hao no difficulty In locating
the pull.ring and experienced no
sensation OF falling. The wreckage
was falling nearly straight down
and for soma time ] fell in line
with its path and only slightly to
one side. Fearing the Wreckage
might fall on me. ] did not pull
the rip cord until dropped several
hundred feet and into the clouds.
During this time / had turned one.
half revolution and was falling flat
and face downward. The parachute
functioned perfectly; almost as soon
as I pulled the rip cord the riser
perked on my shoulders, the leg
straps frightened, my head went
down, and the chute fully opened.
81 saw Lieutenant McAlliste-
floating ABOVE me and the wrecked
ships pass about 100 yards to one
side. continuing to- spin to the right
and leaving trail of lighter frag-
ments along their path. watched
them until. still locked together.
they crashed. ia the mesquite about
! 900 feet below and burst into
flames several seconds after impact.
Seeks Landing
''Next Iturned my attention to To-
eating a landing place. was over
mesquite and drifting n the general
direction OF a pIowed field. which ]
reached by slipping the chute.
Shortly before striking the ground /
was drifting backward. hut Was able
TO swing around In the harness just
as / landed on the size of ditch.
less than 100 feet from the edge OF
the mesquite. Although the impact
of landing was too great for me TO
the rubber band safetying the belt.
remain standing. was not injured
in any way. The parachute was still
held open by the wind and did not
collapse until ! pulled in one group
Of shroud lines.
During my descent los' my Cog
giles. vest pocket camera which
fitted tightly in my hip pocket. and
the ripcord Of the parachute.
During the descent al the otheT
planes broke formation and arcned
around US. Every ship within sight
proceeded at full speed to the spot.
and before long the air was fun OF
machines, Several of the De Havl.
lands landed In The blowing, ana
within halt an hour two planes with
extra parachutes were SEM to take
us back to Kelly. About an hour
after the crash we had two new
SE.5's and were Jack IN the ar
again.
The parachute Is a marvellous IN,
vention. experimental with az early
as the sixteenth century oy Leon
ardo da Vinci.
The first parachute was built by'
q Frenchman in 1874. This para
chute was rigid structure Gov
cred with very strong paper ana
fabric. It was used In jump
from a building In Paris.
About a wear later. the same type
OF parachute was dropped from q
hot air balloon in England. Soon
Jumps began to be made from
balloons with other types Of rigid
parachutes.
About 1880. Captain Thomas Bald
win made a name for himself by
jumping from hot-air balloons with
q chute which was forerunner
OF the present type. He was the
first really successful jumper. but
success in those days was judged
by; how long a man lived in this
profession.
In 1912 the first parachute jump
from an ai-plane was made. The
container was attached to the plane
and the man who did the jumping
pulled the parachute out as ne
fell.
A Life-Savcr
The war really proved that the
parachute Is q life.saving appara,