observers and artillery fire directors were saved by parachutes, demonstrating a desperate need for a foolproof and practical lifesaving device for aviators. The next step was to improve parachute reliability and make them mandatory for military fliers. Parachute lore tells us that in 1917 a French pilot attacked a German Fokker and riddled it with bullets. The plane exploded in flames and began to plunge to earth. As the Frenchman circled his kill, he was surprised to see the enemy pilot jump, immediately followed by a ribbon of white swing out behind him as he fell through the clouds. Still amazed, he watched as a great billowing canopy fluttered and opened. The plummeting body slowed with a jerk and began swaying gently beneath the air-filled blossom. The adversary waved at the stunned victor and proceeded to swing into no man’s land, where the reception was far from friendly. Twenty-seven rifle and machine gun bullets were pumped into the German’s legs. He survived and gained the honor of being the first person to save his life by an emergency escape from an airplane. Official documentation reveals that regular emergency bailouts were made during the late months of 1918 by German aviators. Captured equipment showed the parachute to be a unique one designed by Heineke. Gradually, German fighter pilots began to equip themselves with parachutes. Soon, whole squadrons were doing the same. At the end of the war, it was reported that all fliers in the entire German Air Force were in the process of wearing parachutes in flight. All parachutes, however clever in design, were still dependent upon a static line attached to the aircraft to deploy the parachute, and they were far from perfect. Thus, some emergency escape attempts continued to take lives. Towards the end of 1918, with the war coming to a close, demands by the flying public and Congress finally resulted in the formation of a U.S. Air Service Parachute Board at McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio. Floyd Smith, with a reputation for his ideas in parachute design, was put in charge of this new unit of the Engineering Division. He surrounded himself with Guy M. Ball, James M. Russel, James J. Higgins, and Sgt. Ralph W. Bottreil. At the beginning of 1919, energetic Major E. L. Hoffman was chosen as military head of this parachute development team. The “crash program” produced results. Parachutes from all over the world, all attached (static-line actuated) types, were tested and found to be unsafe and weak, and otherwise unsuitable for use in emergency jumps from airplanes. Initial testing on a new parachute design devised by Floyd Smith showed potential. This concept involved the use of a parachute canopy and lines packed into a container worn on a body harness, using a manually operated ripcord, yanked while falling freely through the air with no attachment to the aircraft, to open the parachute. Floyd Smith, with Guy Ball working closely at his side, worked together to perfect this new revolutionary parachute. This parachute ultimately became the U.S. Air Service Airplane Parachute, type A. It had a 28-foot diameter silk canopy with silk suspension lines. The canopy was formed of 40 gores, with a novel shock-reducing vent design, and it was packed into a backpack container worn on the body of the flyer, by being attached to a webbing harness. A small pilot-chute was used to deploy the packed canopy and lines into the air when a pull on the ripcord opened the flaps on the back container being worn on the body. Not being dependent on any attachment to the aircraft for operation, it allowed the aviator to leave his disabled aircraft regardless of its position. It was capable of withstanding an opening shock de- livered by 200 pounds falling at a speed of 400 miles per hour. When Major Hoffman felt that it was time for the Model A parachute to be live-jumped, he chose a young, enthusiastic parachutist and designer named Leslie L. Irvin because of his vast experience as a parachute jumper. Irvin had responded to the government’s call for a suitable parachute, and submitted a static-line operated parachute assembly with a cotton canopy. He was apprised that the submitted parachute was unsuitable because by that time the use of a silk canopy, as well as the ripcord concept, was considered preferable. Irvin continued to cooperate with the board by supplying parachute items. On April 28th, 1919, flying in a USD-9 airplane piloted by Floyd Smith at an altitude of 1,500 feet and airspeed of 80 miles per hour, Irvin jumped from its turret cockpit wearing a proto- type Model A chute. He pulled the ripcord, the parachute opened in one and two-fifth seconds, and he became the first man to make a free-fall parachute jump from an aircraft. The new parachute was the first step on the way to all modern personnel parachutes—emer- gency, military, and sporting. From this basic design came the seat pack, chest or reserve chutes, backpacks, and any other parachute that can be attached to a harness. 1-2