![]() ![]() The next day, newspapers were full of illustrated stories about the death of the “reckless inventor”, and the jump was shown in newsreels. He is dressed in what looks like a huge black overcoat, and the caption reads, 'Monsieur Franz Reichelt with his early parachute - an outstanding example of the way in which early aviators were as spectacular in their failures as in their successes. The parachute failed to deploy and he plummeted 57 metres (187 ft) to his death. (4 February 1912, France) I have a picture of someone who may be my relative, called Franz Reichelt. Despite attempts to dissuade him, he jumped from the first platform of the tower wearing his invention. ![]() He finally received permission in 1912, but when he arrived at the tower on 4 February he made it clear that he intended to jump personally rather than conduct an experiment with dummies. Believing that a suitably high test platform would prove his invention’s efficacy, Reichelt repeatedly petitioned the Parisian Prefecture of Police for permission to conduct a test from the Eiffel Tower. Franz Reichelt wearing the parachute that he designed and invented before ascending the Eiffel Tower. Initial experiments conducted with dummies dropped from the fifth floor of his apartment building had been successful, but he was unable to replicate those early successes with any of his subsequent designs. Reichelt had become fixated on developing a suit for aviators that would convert into a parachute and allow them to survive a fall should they be forced to leave their aircraft in mid-air. “Franz Reichelt (16 October 1878 – 4 February 1912), also known as Frantz Reichelt or François Reichelt, was an Austrian-born French tailor, inventor and parachuting pioneer, now sometimes referred to as the ‘Flying Tailor’, who is remembered for jumping to his death from the Eiffel Tower while testing a wearable parachute of his own design. Reichelt standing on platform high up on the tower preparing to jump he hovers on the brink for some time and then eventually jumps falling straight down to his death. The film shows Reichelt teetering on the edge and after hesitating for awhile, he jumps off but plummets straight down to his death.” Franz Reichelt wearing the parachute that he designed and invented before ascending the Eiffel Tower. However, after some persuasion from his manager, he climbed the tower again. The first time Reichelt went up the tower, he actually turned back after getting scared. The press and Pathé cameras were all invited to witness his jump. “In February 1912, the inventor Franz Reichelt had gained permission to test his self designed parachute from the Eiffel Tower. Please, click the picture above and view the film on YouTube The task of converting the prototype from these trials into a working and wearable parachute turned out to be a herculean task for him.Death Jump – Franz Reichelt jumps off the Eiffel Tower Some of these dummies didn’t fall but touched the ground lightly. ![]() Reichelt had a few successful trials with dummies that he threw from the 5th floor of his apartment building. It was supposed to help them get out of crashes uninjured as no such lifeline was available for aeronauts at that time. Thus, he took it upon himself to develop a suit that pilots could wear that would double as a parachute. The available parachutes at that time were parachutes with a fixed canopy meaning they were designed on rigid frames to stay open even before the jump. Such was Franz Reichelt, a tailor passionate about flying who invented a parachute and jumped off the Eiffel Tower. He started experimenting with several designs of parachute-suit around 1910. At some point, he got obsessed with the idea of human flight, particularly with the idea of a wearable parachute for pilots. He was born in Austria in 1879 and moved to France in 1899, eventually obtained French citizenship in 1909. Known today as the Flying Tailor, Reichelt made a little mark on history by designing a wearable parachute for aviatorssomething aviators could use during those dangerous early days of flying. ( Wikimedia Commons)įranz Reichelt was an Austrian born tailor who owned a successful dressmaking business in the middle of Paris. ![]()
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