Gleb Kotelnikov

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Gleb Yevgeniyevich Kotelnikov (Котельников, Глеб Евгеньевич in Russian, January 30 [O.S. January 18] 1872 – November 22, 1944), was the Russian-Soviet inventor of the knapsack parachute.

In 1894, Kotelnikov graduated from the Kiev Military School. In 1911, he created his first parachute RK-1 (which stands for Rantseviy (knapsack) Kotelnikova (by Kotelnikov), 1st model), that was successfully employed in 1914 during the World War I. Later on, Kotelnikov significantly improved the design of his parachute, creating new models, including RK-2 with a softer knapsack, RK-3, and a few cargo parachutes, all of which would be adopted by the Soviet Air Force.