Leonardo's parachute consists of sealed linen cloth held open by a pyramid of wooden poles. In his notebook he remarks that with such a device anyone can jump from any height without injury.
Skydiver Adrian Nicholas tested Leonardo's design, jumping from a hot-air balloon at 3000 metres. He found the ride to be smoother than the modern parachute. However weighing over 90 kg, it put the parachutist in danger of injury on landing.
Like many of da Vinci’s ideas, the invention was never actually built or tested by Leonardo himself. But, in 2000, daredevil Adrian Nichols constructed a prototype based on da Vinci’s design and tested it. Despite skepticism from experts, da Vinci’s design worked as intended and Nichols even noted that it had a smoother ride than the modern parachute.
Da Vinci's parachute flies
By BBC News Online's Dr Damian CarringtonLeonardo Da Vinci was proved right on Monday, over 500 years after he sketched the design for the first parachute.
A British man, Adrian Nicholas, dropped from a hot air balloon 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) above the ground, after ignoring expert advice that the canvas and wood contraption would not fly.
Attempts to fully test the parachute in the UK earlier this year failed due problems of wind and safety near populated areas - it weighs a hefty 85 kilograms (187 pounds).
But in the wide open spaces of Mpumalanga, South Africa, Mr Nicholas safely floated down, saying the ride was smoother than with modern parachutes.
A British man, Adrian Nicholas, dropped from a hot air balloon 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) above the ground, after ignoring expert advice that the canvas and wood contraption would not fly.
Attempts to fully test the parachute in the UK earlier this year failed due problems of wind and safety near populated areas - it weighs a hefty 85 kilograms (187 pounds).
But in the wide open spaces of Mpumalanga, South Africa, Mr Nicholas safely floated down, saying the ride was smoother than with modern parachutes.
No comments:
Post a Comment