Captain Albert Berry is one of two people credited as the first person to make a successful parachute jump from a powered aeroplane. The other contender is Grant Morton, who is reported to have jumped from a Wright Model B flying over Venice Beach, California sometime late in 1911.
On 1 March, 1912, Berry jumped from a Benoit pusher biplane from 1,500 feet (457 m) and landed successfully at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. The pilot was Tony Jannus. The 36 foot (11 m) diameter parachute was contained in a metal canister attached to the underside of the plane - when Berry dropped from the plane his weight pulled the parachute from the canister. Rather than being attached to the parachute by a harness Berry was seated on a trapeze bar. According to Berry he dropped 500 feet (152 m) before the parachute opened.
Encyclopedia
top
