Parachutes have come a long way! If  we go back about 100 years, this is  

what it would have looked like, possibly  followed by a visit to the chiropractor!

The development of modern parachutes  and how personnel were trained,  

the variety of applications that they  have and the nations that pioneered them,  

and why after more than 70 years, American  troops are moving away from round parachutes,  

to this other style, and not to  this one, is not what you think!

The word “parachute” was coined by the French  inventor, Louis Sebastien Lenormand, who also  

constructed his own parachute and successfully  jumped from the tower of the Parisian Observatory  

in 1783. 300 years prior to that, Da Vinci took  a break from painting the Mona Lisa designed a  

conical parachute, but the concept goes way back,  to over 2000 years ago, as documented by Chinese  

historians. But the utility of parachutes  became more obvious once humans could fly.

Pilots can now survive burning airplanes,  cargo can be quickly delivered to remote areas,  

and astronauts can safely come back  to Earth, all thanks to parachutes.  

Contrary to popular belief, you actually  

don’t need a parachute to go skydiving.  But you do need one, if you wanna go twice!

Even as late as WWI, most American  pilots did not wear parachutes,  

and their use was mostly limited to  stuntmen. In contrast, France and  

Germany were some of the earliest adopters  of parachutes for their military pilots.  

Wearing parachutes for US Army aviators  only became compulsory post WWI, in 1921.

In the early 1930s, Russia started experimenting  with parachutes for other military use.  

Russia led the way in the use of jump towers  in the training of paratroopers. These towers  

were used, with specially constructed  parachutes, for their training.  

Successful large-scale assaults from the  sky were first carried out by Germany.  

The invasion of the Netherlands in 1940 and  the Battle of Crete in 1941 saw some of the  

earliest mass paratroop drops, to occupy tactical  points and assist the advance of ground troops.

Similar to Russians, Americans also  built training towers at Fort Benning,  

Georgia that were 250-feet high . The  training was made up of “ground week”,  

“tower week” and “jump week”. During Ground week,  

trainees would simulate jumping off the airplane,  but jumping off a platform. This was followed by  

other exercises to get used to the feeling of  the parachute opening and in some cases ouch!

Tower Week was when the trainees would  get some height for the first time!  

It started by getting pulled up and released in  a controlled manner, to get used to parachutes.  

The next training was to get them accustomed  to the jerk when the parachute opens.  

Then practicing how to land, which is  possibly one of the most important parts,  

as we’ll discuss later, and the final  step was a descent, on their own.

Jump Week was when it would all come together,  as trainees would get into airplanes,  

get up in the sky, and jump  out for their graduations.

80 years later, and much of  the training is still done  

in a similar fashion for ground  week, tower week and jump week.

The T-5 parachute was standardized in June of 1941  

and was heavily employed  in all theaters of action.  

The Americans were the only airborne troops in  World War II to use a reserve parachute. It rested  

below their chest toward their stomach and could  be pulled in case the main chute malfunctioned.

Easily identified with its round canopy, the T-5  underwent numerous upgrades throughout the years,  

all the way to T-10D.

A study of more than 131,000 jumps showed that  on average, every 1000 jumps resulted in 8.4  

injuries. But 88% of those injuries  were associated with ground impact. 

This is why in recent years, the US Military  started replacing the T-10s with T-11 parachutes,  

which for the first time,  do not have a round canopy.

The main canopy on the T-11s is a modified  version of a cross or cruciform platform. 

The new canopy has increased inflated diameter  and surface area, when compared with the T-10D.  

The T-11 is designed to have an average rate of  descent of 19 feet per second (5.8 m/s) compared  

with 24 feet per second (7.3 m/s) with the  T-10C. This reduction is intended to result in  

significantly lower landing injury rates for  jumpers. The unique design characteristics of  

cruciform parachutes also reduces oscillations  and swinging back and forth, during descent.

You might find it interesting that T-11 and  its predecessors are not really maneuverable.  

Some versions allow you to turn, but that’s  about it. And there are good reasons for this.  

Just imagine the sky filled with hundreds of  paratroopers, steering all over the place.  

Lack of maneuverability also  helps keep the forces together  

when deploying substantial  numbers of paratroopers.  

The job of these parachutes is to get you down on  the ground quickly and safely. That’s about it!

Ram Air parachutes are typically rectangular. The  canopy is divided into a set of individual cells.  

When air enters, or rams,  into the front of the canopy,  

it inflates the cells and gives  the parachute an airfoil shape,  

which is not only quite maneuverable,  it can make landing a lot easier.

With non-maneuverable parachutes which are  incapable of generating lift, it is crucial to  

use the parachute landing fall or PLF technique,  in order to land safely and without injury.

The military does employ Ram Air parachutes  as well, but they are primarily used by  

Special Operations Forces and Special  Mission Units , not conventional forces.  

Today, just about everyone who uses parachutes  for sports or recreational purposes,  

uses ram-air canopies. But the utility  of parachutes goes well beyond that!

The Russian experiments with parachutes in the  1930s were not limited to pilots or other military  

personnel. They were developing parachutes  that could deliver vehicles and weapons.

The Russians developed an  early method for cargo drop,  

where the chute was deployed first, which is  essentially how cargo is airdropped these days

They even tried low altitude drops without  parachutes. Not sure what those guys were  

doing in there, but they sure look happy! This technique evolved into Low Altitude  

Parachute Extraction System or LAPES,  even though it’s not common anymore.

With the development of cargo airplanes,  

transporting large amounts  of cargo became possible. 

Korea came up with advanced ways of airdropping  massive crates of cargo, from munition to large  

military vehicles. Huge nylon chutes were  used that could handle airdrop of artillery  

and light armor. The ability to deliver  large amounts of cargo over long distances  

revolutionized the concept of military  supply and cannot be underestimated.

Other uses of parachutes during WWII included  planting mines in shipping lanes from the air.  

The parachutes were used to slow the descent of  the mines so they wouldn’t detonate on impact. 

Before the invention of ejection seats, the only  way of escaping from an incapacitated aircraft was  

to bail out, but in many scenarios, this could  prove difficult due to the pilot being injured,  

impact of high G forces, or simply getting out  of the confined space of the cockpit in a timely  

manner. So ejection seats were invented. Although, as aircraft speed increased,  

especially into the supersonic range,  the ejection systems had to evolve.

Encapsulated Seat egress systems were developed  for use in the B-58 Hustler and B-70 Valkyrie  

supersonic bombers. These seats were enclosed in  an air-operated clamshell, which permitted the  

aircrew to escape at airspeeds and altitudes  high enough to otherwise cause bodily harm.  

These seats were designed to allow  the pilot to control the plane  

even with the clamshell closed, and the  capsule would float in case of a water landing. 

Whether it is used for aircraft deceleration,  return of crew members from space missions,  

or just a routine parachute jump,  

the parachute riggers play a critical  role in the safety of those involved. 

In the US Armed Forces,  parachute riggers wear red hats.  

It may look casual, but riggers are authorized  to wear this distinctive red baseball cap as  

their military headgear when on rigger duties. The riggers frequently make parachute jumps  

themselves. Not only does this help them better  understand how the equipment that they prepare  

and maintain works, it’s kind of a quality check  too, because if you are not willing to jump with  

a parachute that you and your colleagues  have packed, maybe others shouldn’t either!