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Fan Forces Parachute to Ascend with Jumper
August 1937 Popular Mechanics

August 1937 Popular Mechanics
August 1937 Popular Mechanics - RF Cafe[Table of Contents]

Wax nostalgic over early technology. See articles from Popular Mechanics, published 1902 - 2021. All copyrights are hereby acknowledged.

This sort of cutting edge technology used to be the domain of military operations, but nowadays it can be found in amusement parks and even at backyard parties. The parachute training facility which appeared in a 1937 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine was real whiz-bang stuff at the time. Although Russia's system is featured here, I have to believe other countries were doing the same sort of thing. Using a high power fan to boost the paratrooper trainee in a simulated parachute descent was an excellent method of introducing men to the sensations and reactions to control inputs via shroud lines. The story noes not mention whether the fan was forceful enough to simulate a free-fall experience. Just today a saw a news item showing such recreational free-fall machine companies called Urban Air and iFall.

Fan Forces Parachute to Ascend with Jumper

Fan Forces Parachute to Ascend with JumperFan Forces Parachute to Ascend with Jumper

Used in training parachute jumpers in Russia, a blower device forces the parachute upward until the student's weight counteracts the air current. Then the "jumper" descends in the usual manner, working the shroud lines to jockey for a perfect landing. At the beginning of the lesson, the student stands on a grilled platform, his chute attached. A powerful motor-driven fan generates a strong upward current of air, filling the parachute, tightening the harness and lifting the parachutist off his feet. Steadily the 'chute rises toward "ceiling," the point at which the student's weight overcomes the air current's force, and then comes the descent, which is made as though the student had dropped from an airplane. By eliminating that perilous interval between an actual jump and the opening of the 'chute, the blower reduces the hazard.

Several views of parachute ascension. Top, left, 'chute beginning to fill with air from blower. Right, ready for the take-off. Bottom, left, soaring into the air with aid of blast from blower. Right, starting descent.

 

Unrelated...

Dirt on Plane's Wings Costs Money by Reducing Speed

In operating high-performance airplanes the importance of smooth surface on the wings, as well as other parts, is so great that experts suggest it may be found economical to have the wing surfaces wiped clean of dirt and dust at every stop. Even a small amount of dirt on the wings increases resistance to the air and thus reduces speed, causing the engines to work harder to maintain the same rate of travel. Reducing the size of rivets in an airplane wing by one thirty-second of an inch makes it possible to reduce the power necessary for operation by 100 horsepower.

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