Frequently Asked Questions
| 1495 | Leonardo DaVinci designed a parachute, shaped like a pyramid, that employed several features used in present day parachutes. There is no proof that it was ever tested by him! |
| 1590 to 1690 |
Galileo andNewtondiscovered the principle of relative falling speeds and the principle of terminal velocity. |
| 1617 | Fausto Veranzio jumped from a tower inVenice, using a canvas covered framework as a parachute, and landed safely. |
| 1783 | Sebastian Leormand experimented with parachutes as a means of escaping from burning buildings |
| 1797 | Jacques Garnerin made the first recorded parachute descent. His parachute was attached to a balloon and he rode in a basket suspended under the parachute. He was cut loose from the balloon 600 m (2000 ft.) overParisand landed safely. |
| 1808 | Kuparento, a Polish aeronaut, jumped from his burning balloon overWarsawand became the first man to save his life by parachute. |
| 1885 | Thomas Baldwin, an American, introduced a collapsible silk parachute. All previous parachutes had been rigid in design, |
| 1910 | The pilot chute principle was developed by Pinto, an Italian inventor. |
| 1912 | An American, Charles Saunders, made one of the first parachute descents in Canada from a Wright biplane. He took off and landed inHastingsPark,Vancouver, B.C., in conjunction with an airshow held there. |
| 1914 | Tiny Broadwick, an American lady barnstormer, became the first person ever to make a freefall jump. (She subsequently made more than 1000 jumps). |
| 1919 | Leslie L. Irvin made the first
military freefall jump, exiting at 450 m. (1500 ft.) overMcCook Field,Ohio.
He used a 28' Flat Circular canopy in a 4 Pin Container. Frank Ellis, a well-known pioneer in Canadian aviation, using a parachute borrowed from Leslie Irvin became the first Canadian to jump inCanada. In early July, Mr. Ellis exited a "Jenny" aircraft, flown by a friend, over Crystal Beach, Ontario. He landed inLake Erie, using an inner tube for flotation, and was picked up by a pleasure boat. |
| 1930 | Soviet sport parachutists competed in an accuracy competition at a sports festival in that country. |
| 1936 | The U.S.S.R. already had 559 training towers and 115 parachute training stations. |
| 1945 | Francis M. Rogallo invents the "Parawing" |
| 1946 | The concept of a steerable
circular parachute was developed inEngland.1948 The St. Catharines Parachute Club,Canada's oldest surviving club and forerunner of the Parachute Club of Canada, was formed. The F.A.I., acting on the request of a pioneer American parachutist, Mr. Joe Crane, formed an International Parachuting Committee (C.I.P.) to establish guidelines for international parachuting records similar to those for other aviation sports. Leo Valentin, the French "Birdman", had perfected the basics of controlled freefall, and could perform turns and barrel rolls in freefall. There were several American "Barnstormers" capable of controlled fall in the mid thirties, but they were generally very secretive about the tricks of the trade. |
| 1951 | The first World Parachuting Championships were held inYugoslavia. Five European nations were represented. |
| 1958 | JointU.S.and Canadian National
Championships were held in Abbotsford, B.C. The first baton pass inNorth Americawas performed over Abbotsford, B.C. New "secret weapons" were introduced toNorth Americathat reduced opening shock, and gave amazing control under canopy. They were the sleeve and the blank gore modification |
| 1961 | In France, M. Lemoigne developed the inverted apex "ascending parachute" |
| 1964. | "Pioneer" introduced
the "Para-Commander" based on Lemoigne's design. Domina C. Jalbert devised the multi-cell gliding foil parachute canopy. |
| 1966 | "Irvin Industries" introduced the "Rogallo Wing" to sport parachuting. |
| 1968 | Steve Snyder developed the P.C.R. system (Pilot Chute Controlled Reefing), making square parachutes practical for sport parachuting. |
| 1974 | The First World Cup of Relative Work was held inSouth Africa. |
| 1975 | West Germany hosted the First World Parachuting Championships in Relative Work. |
| 1984 | The First World Cup of Canopy
Relative Work was held inAustralia. Mike Zahar was instrumental in developing the Block & Random system of competitive 4 and 8-way Relative Work, which is still in use world-wide. |
| 1985 | Skydiving was listed as a demonstration sport at the Olympic Games. |
| 1986 | The First World Championships
of Canopy Relative Work was held. 100-way attempts were organized forVancouver's EXPO '86 International World Fair by Tom Piras, Rob Laidlaw and Bob Magee. Several 99-ways were built over Pitt Meadows, as well as one unofficial 100-way. The first official 100-way was built in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Shortly after, the record was broken by a 120-way in Quincy, Illinios |
| 1987 | The First World Paraski Championships
were held inSarajevo,Yugoslavia. Bev Watson became the Women's Overall
World Champion. She also won the Gold Medal as the Women's Overall
Champion at the European Cup inZadar,Yugoslavia. The VII World Championships of Relative Work were held inIgassu Falls,Brazil.Canadawas represented by a 4-way team. The Exhibition Jump Rating was created inCanada. The world record for largest formation wasbroken inEurope. The new record was a 126-way. |
| 1988 | At the Seoul Summer Olympic
Games, a huge parachuting demonstration was performed for the Opening
Ceremonies. A 144-way is built overQuincyIllinois, setting a new world record for largest formation. |
| 1990 | The XX World Parachuting Championships were held inBled,Yugoslavia. |
| 1991 | Domina C. Jalbert, the inventor
of the Ram Air parachute, died in the summer of 1991 of natural causes The term "Relative Work" was officially changed to "Formation Skydiving" to be more whuffo friendly. |
| 1992 | A 2 point 100-way, organized by Tom Piras and Guy Manos, was completed at Skydive Deland, Deland Florida. |
| 1992 | The new World Record is 150-way |
| 1992 | the new World Record is 200-way |
| 1997 | A 100-way star is built |
| 1998 | a 246-way was comleted at Skydive Chicago, in Illinois |
| 2003 | A 300-way at Skydive Arizona, in Eloy, Arizona |
| 2004 | A 357-way was completed at in Thailand |
