Q&A YOU ASK, WE ANSWER
Has anyone tried to fly from the Eiffel Tower?
SHORT ANSWER Well, they didn’t call poor Franz Reichelt the ‘Flying Tailor’ for nothing
LONG ANSWER In the early days of aviation, pilot safety became a priority issue rather quickly. The parachute had long been a firm favourite, but a Bohemian tailor living in Paris had lofty ambitions for his revolutionary lifesaver. Franz Reichelt made a wearable parachute, essentially an extremely baggy suit that unfurled and caught the wind (like an early 20th-century version of today’s wingsuit).
Spurred by a prize of 10,000 francs, promised by the Aéro-Club de France for a parachute design, Reichelt saw a chance to prevent any more of the tragedies that had accompanied the advances in aviation. Instead, he became another one. Reichelt carried out several tests from the window of his fifth-floor apartment using a dummy before moving on to a human guinea-pig – himself. Despite lots of failed jumps, one broken leg and countless warnings from friends, Reichelt remained convinced that his suit would work from a greater height.
On 4 February 1912, the ‘Flying Tailor’ climbed to the first stage of the Eiffel Tower, nearly 60 metres high, and leaped into the Parisian air. He then plummeted to the Parisian ground, his parachute utterly failing to slow his descent. The whole thing was caught on camera.
