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The Story of Franz Reichelt
🕑 Added 2023-03-21 11:15:00 +0000 UTCHere are a couple of other parachute-related stories I came across while researching Reichelt.
Frederick Law
Just a couple of days before Reichelt’s fateful jump, another parachute test took place in America… and this one was much more successful. Steeplejack Frederick Law leapt from the torch of the Statue of Liberty and managed to land safely on the island below.
It might not have been a particularly fun experience, though. According to this Popular Mechanics article he “dropped like a stone” for the first part of his descent, with the parachute only opening once he’d tumbled a fair distance.
But Law survived. And not only did he survive, he was also paid handsomely for his bravery. A motion picture company gave him $1,500 for allowing them to film his descent. It was a risky jump that couldn’t have had a more different outcome from Reichelt's!
A View to a Kill
In the video I mention that Parisian authorities were reluctant to allow more parachute experiments from the Eiffel Tower. That was the case for many years… but by the 1980s they had relaxed this prohibition enough to allow another “live” jump.
In this case it was for the purposes of making a film. In the classic 007 film A View to a Kill, an assassin escapes the Eiffel Tower by leaping from it with a parachute. Despite some truly terrible faux-French accents, it’s a spectacular scene, which you can view here.
The jump was, in fact, carried out by a stunt performer off the real Eiffel Tower. It followed 22 test jumps from a hot air balloon... and, you’ll be pleased to hear, went smoothly on the day.
Comments
Fascinating Horror
Every time I'm on a plane being served a drink while watching an on-demand movie I have to remind myself: this is all happening thousands of feet up in the sky. It's wild
Still amazed at how far we’ve come in such short order! From those flying “lawnmowers” to gigantic jets with every amenity!
Fascinating Horror
The early years of aeronautics were pretty crazy all round. Suffice to say it took a lot of trial and error to get where we are today!
I've never given the origin of parachutes a second thought. As always, this story proved both horrifying, and fascinating 🙂
