floyd smith, parachuting pioneer, biography
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James Floyd Smith designed more parachutes, for more companies, than any other human being. 1884 - 1956. He is the father of the parachute industry. He was and is “Mr. Parachute”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Floyd_Smith Floyd Smith was the John Browning of parachute design. From 1916 through 1955, he designed most of the basic parachutes for four major parachute companies and the U.S. Army Air Corp. Dan recites the development of the personnel parachute from Leonardo da Vinci (1495) up to modern times and chronicles Floyd Smith’s contributions to the modern parachute. Floyd Smith was honored by the Parachute Industry Association in 2007 with the PIA Achievement Award (posthumously). A tribute to a fascinating parachute designer. Dan Poynter is past president of the Parachute Industry Association, past chairman of the Board of the U.S. Parachute Association and past president of the International Hang Gliding Commission. He has written more than 120 books; seven on parachutes and skydiving. A pilot, skydiver and master parachute rigger, this Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) is a frequent speaker at aviation and other events.TRANSCRIPT
- 1. Parachuting PioneerJ. Floyd Smith 2009with Dan Poynter, PIA Historian ParaPub.com
2. J. Floyd SmithMr. Parachute Inventor Designer Manufacturer Tester JumperHe designed parachutes for the military and every major U.S. parachute companyParaPub.com 3. Smith was Everywhere He designed parachutes for U.S. Army Air Corp Russell Irvin Switlik Pioneer Smith was the John Browning of ParachutesParaPub.com 4. Pilot License #207ParaPub.com 5. James Floyd Smith, Pilot.ParaPub.com Albert and James Floyd Smith 1915 6. Outline of Parachute Development To understand the significance of the manually-operated (ripcord) parachute, lets review the development of the parachute down through the ages.ParaPub.com 7. 1100: Rigid, held open.1100s: Chinese-1495: Leonardo da Vinci - 1595 or 1617: Fausto VeranzioParaPub.com 8. 1785: Non-rigid, suspended Canopy not packedHanging loose, ready to inflate. BlanchardGarnerin Bourget BaldwinParaPub.com 9. Thomas BaldwinHe sat on a trapeze bar and Jumped holding on to the lines of the canopy ParaPub.com 10. 1890: Foldable, Attached to Aircraft. Canopy packed into a bag on the aircraft (balloon) LettemenPaulusCharlie Dame ascending over Rochester, NH, in 1927. Kthe PaulusParaPub.com 11. 1901: Pack on BackStatic Lined Attached to wearer and static line operated Broadwick Stevens IrvinTiny Broadwick in 1914ParaPub.com 12. 1918: Pack on Back-Free type Attached to wearer and manually operated Smith Aerial Life Pack Army Type A Note the ripcord handleParaPub.com 13. Milestones in Jumping From Airplanes 1912: Albert Berry over St. Louis. 1912: Grant Morton, Venice, California from a Wright Model B airplane. He carried the folded canopy in his arms. 1913: Tiny Broadwick from Glenn Martins plane. First woman. 1914: Tiny Broadwick pulled own cord. 1916: Austrian pilot escaped a burning plane on the Russian front.ParaPub.com 14. Floyd Smithsst 1PatentFiled July 27, 1918. He wore a manually-operated parachute of his own design while flying in late 1917.ParaPub.com 15. Leslie Irvins 1st Patent A Static-Line-Operated DesignApplication Filed December 16, 1918ParaPub.com 16. 1918-1920: The Army Years McCook Field, Dayton, OhioMajor E. L. Hoffman, Team Leader. Floyd Smith, designer and pilot. Guy Ball, designer. Leslie Irvin, movie stunt man. Jimmy Russell, Jumper. J. J. Higgins Sgt Ralph Bottreil, Pilot & Jumper. ParaPub.com 17. The Team at MCookRussellSmithBottriel HoffmanBallParaPub.com 18. Testing at McCook FieldFloyd Smith inspects damage to a Heinicke canopy dropped with 200 lbs at 150 mph on June 9, 1919ParaPub.com 19. ParaPub.com 20. The U.S. Airplane Type A ParachuteGuy Ball ParaPub.com 21. April 28, 1919 at McCook Field, Ohio. Leslie Irvin made a freefall jump to test the Type A parachute as Floyd Smith piloted the plane. The manually-operated parachute was basically the same one that Smith had designed earlier. ParaPub.com 22. (Sidebar) Irvin immediately formed Irving Air Chutes and built the first 300 units for the Army. In a rush to incorporate, a g was added to the Irvin name and the company was Irving Air Chutes for 40 years ***. In 1999 *** Irvin UK and GQ merged *** And became Irvin-GQ. Ironically, the email addresses for employees became [email protected] or IrvingQ. ParaPub.com 23. Jimmy Russell Makes Test Jump #3 Fifteen days later, on May 12, 1919, Floyd Smith, Jimmy Russell and 2 others jumped the new parachute.ParaPub.com 24. Smiths Second Patent Provides more DetailFiled on April 28, 1919ParaPub.com 25. Floyd Smiths Third Patent on a Pack & HarnessDecember 31, 1919ParaPub.com 26. Irvinsnd 2PatentFiled January 9, 1920ParaPub.com 27. The First Parachute ManualOctober 1920ParaPub.com 28. Line-Riser AttachmentSmith filed it October 22, 1920ParaPub.com 29. Pack PatentSmith filed it April 18, 1921ParaPub.com 30. Smith Kept on DesigningFiled April 10, 1921ParaPub.com 31. Early 20s: The Russell YearsThe Russell Lobe Back Type ParachuteParaPub.com 32. Pack & Harness for IrvinQuick-Attachable Chest parachute, filed March 31, 1927 ParaPub.com 33. 1931-32: The Switlik Years Floyd Smith designed the Safe-T Chutes with oval packs. The top part of the pack became the pilot chute. ParaPub.com 34. Mid-30s: The Irvin YearsFiled March 6, 1935ParaPub.com 35. 1938-1947: The Pioneer Years Floyd Smith and Lyman Ford approach Henry R. Mallory at the 100-year-old Cheney Brothers Mills in Manchester, Connecticut, proposing to form a parachute company. Pioneer Parachute Co. was established and Smith designed a new line of parachutes. ParaPub.com 36. New Packing Method PioneerFiled September 6, 1939, assigned to PioneerParaPub.com 37. New ContainerNovember 15, 1939The P1-B Container included bow stiffeners which permitted a flexible and more comfortable packParaPub.com 38. A-2 Pilot ChuteFiled September 6, 1939, assigned to PioneerParaPub.com 39. 1940: Whirl Tower Smith was obsessed by canopy malfunctions. He claimed that partial inversions occurred 3-9 times out of each 100 openings.(Temporary partial inversions occur even more often). Result: he developed a new packing method . . . N: Packing patentParaPub.com 40. Container & Packing Filed October 9, 1941Note the restraint straps over the lower portion of the canopy. Break-ties are used today.ParaPub.com 41. AAD AttachmentFiled August 12, 1943ParaPub.com 42. 1948: The Slider The slider was invented by J. Floyd Smith in 1948. It was adapted to wing-type canopies by Greg Yarbenet of Erie, Pennsylvania, as he experimented with some of Pioneer's gliding canopies. It soon found its way onto most gliding canopies. ParaPub.com 43. He Kept on DesigningFiled October 21, 1950ParaPub.com 44. A Parachute Family Floyds son Prevost, worked for Pioneer from 1942 to 1947. ThenFloyd & Prevost moved to San Diego to set up their own parachute company. GrandsonEric worked at the plant and now works for the U.S. Navy at China Lake. ParaPub.com 45. Floyd Smith: 1884 - 1956Portal of Folded Wings, Burbank, CA, Airport. Recognized in last lineParaPub.com 46. J. Floyd Smith Inventor Designer Manufacturer Tester JumperHe designed parachutes for the military, Russell, Irvin, Switlik & Pioneer.Mr. Parachute N: ApplauseParaPub.com 47. J. Floyd Smith2009 PIA Don Beck Memorial Achievement AwardMr. Parachute EndParaPub.com 48. ParaPub.com