![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() This was roughly five times higher than his previous launch points. He set his sights on the first deck of the Eiffel Tower, which was 57 meters, or 187 feet, above the ground. This would allow the dummies to gain sufficient speed for his parachute to properly deploy and slow the fall. Reichelt believed higher launch points were needed to properly test his designs. Still, he continued with his studies and made numerous test-jumps from low launch points, around 10 meters, or 32 feet, in height. He applied to organizations in the hope of securing financing, but was unsuccessful. His focus was on reducing weight while increasing surface area for the canopy. These initial tests were promising, but he ran into difficulty when he tried to create a wearable suit out of the design. He tossed the dummies from the fifth floor of his apartment building in Paris. His first designs consisted of foldable wings made of silk, and he used dummies for testing. Reichelt believed he could develop a wearable version of the frame-less parachute, which would greatly increase it’s potential. He was inspired by the work of André-Jacques Garnerin, who developed and successfully tested the first frame-less parachute design. In 1910-1912 he developed a wearable suit for pilots that would expand into a parachute should they need to eject themselves from their aircraft. Pictured above is an illustration showing Franz Reichelt, a French tailor and inventor who was an early pioneer of parachuting. ![]()
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