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National Geographic : 1960 Dec
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() NATIONALGEOGRAPHICSOCIETY That red hunting cap has now accompanied me to the launch site on three balloon jumps. I'm not supersti tious, but why change a winning combination? Three hours before take-off, I discuss details with the Air Force's most experienced test parachutist, George Post. To prevent the bends, I begin to breathe oxygen two hours before launch to decrease my body nitrogen. T/Sgt. R. A. Daniels adjusts a belt that monitors pulse, heart, and breathing. Dr. Richard Chubb, with ear phones, checks the belt. propeller. Flat spin is a characteristic of any falling object that is aerodynamically unstable. Dummies dropped from balloons up to 100,000 feet have attained 200 rev olutions per minute, whereas tests show that 140 r.p.m. would be harmful, possibly fatal. The problem was to get a man down fast to lower levels before opening his chute, but at the same time to safeguard him against flat spin. The answer came from Francis Beaupre of the Air Force's Aero space Medical Division. His organization is part of the Air Research and Develop ment Command's Wright Air Develop ment Division, which directed our project. Beau asked himself: Why not use a small parachute to stabilize a man during free fall, as a sea anchor steadies a ship? He started to work on what was to become the Beaupre stabilization parachute, one of the few major innovations in parachutes since the seat-pack type won the approval of the Army back in 1919. Beau's chute consists of three units: a conventional, spring-type chute to catch the wind and provide the pull to open the next unit; a 6-foot-wide stabilization canopy to prevent flat spin during free fall; and finally a conventional 28-foot chute to open at about 18,000 feet. Parachute Opens Too Soon In October, 1959, we made the first jumps with the Beaupre parachute, leaping from a C-130 Lockheed Hercules at 28,000 feet. I made the first leap, M/Sgt. George A. Post the second, and Capt. Harry Collins the third. The chute worked beautifully, and we felt ready for higher altitudes. But something went wrong on my first bail-out from a balloon, on November 16, 1959. Before I jumped from the gondola at 76,400 feet, the timer lanyard of the stabi lization unit was pulled prematurely and the 6-foot canopy and shrouds popped out after only two seconds of free fall, instead of 16, promptly fouling around me. At first I thought I might retard the free spin that began to envelop me, but despite my efforts I whirled faster and faster. Soon I knew there was nothing I could do. I thought this was the end. I began to pray, and then I lost conscious ness. I owe my life to my emergency para chute, set to open automatically at 10,000 858
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