BASE jumper at la Tour Eiffel
In 1912 this daredevil made the first BASE jump from the Eiffel Tower. He was an Austrian tailor by the name of Reichelt. He fashioned a garment to serve as both an overcoat and parachute and decided to test his invention from the Tower. Having told the authorities that he wanted to make a 'dummy' drop, at the last minute he strapped himself in. Note the official measuring party at the end.
click to blow up
Malcolm Lambe
This story on WINGMEN also mentions the Eiffel Tower jumper - incidentally 1912 was the same year of the first successful parachute jump from a plane.
"Kuosma is president and owner of BirdMan Inc., the world's first and largest purveyor of "wingsuits." Anyone who's logged 200 jumps can buy one of these getups for $618 and experience an entirely new kind of skydiving. According to Kuosma, wingsuiters can slow the downward speed of a free fall from 120 mph to 37 mph and fly horizontally through the clouds. This nearly triples their time in the air before pulling the rip cord. About 2,000 people have experienced the wingsuit since the company was founded in 1999. Only four have died."
Post a Comment
View Printer Friendly Version
Email Article to Friend
Reader Comments