Made in the late 1930s or early 1940s, this silent film shows some of the early history of the parachute, including its use at :40 as a novelty act as part of a circus or fair. A modern parachute is seen at 1:00, “packed by government licensed experts.” At 2:55 the rip cord is shown. At 3:00, a “pull off” jump is made from a biplane with the chute inflating in the air stream after the rip cord is pulled. At 3:20, free jumps from aircraft are shown. At 4:00, steering parachutes by the lines is demonstrated.

At 5:00, a forced jump is shown after an airplane loses control (or does it? Probably just a stunt for the viewers). At 6:00, practice jumps are seen being made by a blimp, followed by a series of jumps. At 10:58 a new, more steerable model parachute is shown, with the parachutist landing on a horse racing track. At 12:44 a landing is made at Clover Field, California, with the Bach Aircraft Company hangar clearly visible in the b/g.

The film ends with a mass jump shown at 12:55, part of U.S. Army Air Corps training.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com