Albert Berry (parachutist)

Albert Berry collapses his parachute on Kinloch Field at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, after his jump on 1 March 1912.

Captain Albert Berry is one of two people credited as the first person to make a successful parachute jump from a powered airplane. 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. Morton's pilot was Phil Parmalee.^[1]

On 1 March 1912, Berry jumped from a Benoist 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 400 feet (152 m) before the parachute opened.

References

↑ Berry's Leap part one(February 29, 2012) and part two(March 1, 2012), The Daily Planet; Air & Space Magazine, Smithsonian

"Jefferson Barracks". Archived from the original on 5 September 2006. Retrieved 20 October 2006.
"Early History". Australian Parachute Federation. Archived from the original on 17 October 2006. Retrieved 20 October 2006.

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