A Parachute Pioneer With More Courage Than Sense
Franz Reichelt (1879 – 1912) was an Austrian-born French tailor who was fascinated with flight since childhood. After the invention of the airplane, he sought to invent a device that would allow pilots to parachute safely to the ground if they ran into trouble aloft. His efforts were spurred on when, in 1911, the Aero Club de France offered a 10,000 Franc prize to the first inventor of a successful parachute. Reichelt’s design was a suit that featured a cloak with a big silken hood. It weighed about twenty pounds, and had a surface area of around 340 square feet.
Reichelt tested his design several times on dummies thrown out of his fifth floor apartment, but without success. Despite the repeated failures, he petitioned the Paris police for permission to test his invention on a dummy from the Eiffel Tower. Once a permit was secured, he proceeded to drum up interest among journalists and the public to witness the test at 8AM, February 4th, 1912. On the appointed day, Reichelt arrived clad in his parachute suit. He was met by a crowd of onlookers gathered at the Eiffel Tower, outside a cordoned off drop zone.