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Dan_San_Abbott · 4 June 2006, 10:45 PM

Nadia;
My experience in the history of Parachutes began in 1930 when I saw my Father, Lt.Col.Harry W. Abbott, S.C.A.S jump from a Travelaire with a parachute of his own design. Prior to my service in the U.S.Army I was employed by Security Parachute Company as a assistant parachute rigger. I went on to become the Director of Engineering and designed all the parachute commercially marketed by Security as well as contractor for military parachutes for personnel, cargo and aircraft deceleration. The 44 ft diameter ribbon parachute for the B-52 in 1956 was one of my designs. I had worked on various special equipment for Mercury, Gemini and Apollo maned space programs.
I have had an interest of parachutes that were used by balloonist, my Grandfather Wayne Armstrong Abbott, had his own parachute and balloon factory in Denver, Colorado in 1900. Almost all early American parachutes were derivations of the parachute designed by Prof. Tom Broadwick. My Grandfather came up with a conical design which was more stable the the flat circular designs. I redesigned it to modern standards and it was used as a reserve parachute by thousands of sky divers.
The military parachute came into being in the early months of WW1 after aircraft were armed. Balloonist observers were attacked and the balloons flamed and the observers lost their lives. This was quickly resolved by the various armies by buying hot air an hydrogen gas balloon parachutes and making such modification as to make them serviceable for military use. Unfortunately these parachutes were designed by trial and error, rather than structurally engineered as they are today. They were adequate for balloon use and were static lined operated. The parachute was pulled from its container by the weight of the observer as he fell away from the balloon basket, and opened and safely descended to earth. There were a few cases were burning pieces of the balloon fabric fell on the descending parachute and catching the canopy on fire with the observer falling to his death. From 1915 on the balloon observer had a means of escape if he was attacked and many balloon observers from all services saved their lives with the parachute.
As the airplane and the machine guns developed and became more deadly.
The greatist fear of pilots of all services was being burned alive if their fuel tank was ruptured by machine gun fire. The Allied military heads were reluctant to provide parachutes for pilots for fear that if they were attacked they would jump and leave their airplane. Germany thought differently, pilots were valuable, it takes a lot of time to train them. A German balloon technician name Heinecke developed a static line operated parachute for use from aircraft. At best it was adequate, it served it purpose. It save many pilots lives throught 1918.
In 1918, the U.S. Army formed a Parachute Committee for the purpose of designing a parachute for the pilots of the U.S.Army Air Service. The Committee was headed by Major E.L.Hoffman, with several civilians, H.H.Higgins, Guy Ball, Floyd Smith and J.M.Russell. They studied and tested all Allied and Central Powers parachutes. From this study was developed the S-1 24 ft dia. Seat Pack and the 28' diameter S-2 Seat pack for pilots who weighed over 180 pounds. A detachable chest parachute was designed for observers.
Finally in 1922, The U.S.Army standarized the S-1 and S -2 and it was made mandatory for all pilots and air crew to wear a parachute during flight. The canopy construction of the S-1 and S-2 parachutes came from professional Parachutist, Leslie Irvin, who held the patents for the design. He formed the Irvin Air Chute Company, Guy Ball went to work for Irvin. Major Hoffman established the Triangle Parachute Company. In 1929, Major Hoffman received the Collier Trophy for the design of the Hoffman Triangle Parachute. It was adopted by the U.S.Army in the 1930s. H.H.Higgins formed the Standard Parachute Company. J.M.Russell founded the Russell Parachute Parachute Company and lastly Floyd Smith established the Pioneer Parachute Company.
You may have noticed I have not mentioned Stefen Banic! As far as I know he has not contributed to the U.S.Army anything toward parachute design and developement. Irvin Air Chute is now Irvin Industries, and Pioneer Parachute Co. still exists in Manchester Conn. The rest have disappeared in time.
Blue skies,
Dan-San

4 June 2006, 10:45 PM	#5 (permalink)
Dan_San_Abbott Forum Ace of Aces Contributor Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Ceres, California Posts: 7,960	Parachute History of the U.S.Army. Nadia; My experience in the history of Parachutes began in 1930 when I saw my Father, Lt.Col.Harry W. Abbott, S.C.A.S jump from a Travelaire with a parachute of his own design. Prior to my service in the U.S.Army I was employed by Security Parachute Company as a assistant parachute rigger. I went on to become the Director of Engineering and designed all the parachute commercially marketed by Security as well as contractor for military parachutes for personnel, cargo and aircraft deceleration. The 44 ft diameter ribbon parachute for the B-52 in 1956 was one of my designs. I had worked on various special equipment for Mercury, Gemini and Apollo maned space programs. I have had an interest of parachutes that were used by balloonist, my Grandfather Wayne Armstrong Abbott, had his own parachute and balloon factory in Denver, Colorado in 1900. Almost all early American parachutes were derivations of the parachute designed by Prof. Tom Broadwick. My Grandfather came up with a conical design which was more stable the the flat circular designs. I redesigned it to modern standards and it was used as a reserve parachute by thousands of sky divers. The military parachute came into being in the early months of WW1 after aircraft were armed. Balloonist observers were attacked and the balloons flamed and the observers lost their lives. This was quickly resolved by the various armies by buying hot air an hydrogen gas balloon parachutes and making such modification as to make them serviceable for military use. Unfortunately these parachutes were designed by trial and error, rather than structurally engineered as they are today. They were adequate for balloon use and were static lined operated. The parachute was pulled from its container by the weight of the observer as he fell away from the balloon basket, and opened and safely descended to earth. There were a few cases were burning pieces of the balloon fabric fell on the descending parachute and catching the canopy on fire with the observer falling to his death. From 1915 on the balloon observer had a means of escape if he was attacked and many balloon observers from all services saved their lives with the parachute. As the airplane and the machine guns developed and became more deadly. The greatist fear of pilots of all services was being burned alive if their fuel tank was ruptured by machine gun fire. The Allied military heads were reluctant to provide parachutes for pilots for fear that if they were attacked they would jump and leave their airplane. Germany thought differently, pilots were valuable, it takes a lot of time to train them. A German balloon technician name Heinecke developed a static line operated parachute for use from aircraft. At best it was adequate, it served it purpose. It save many pilots lives throught 1918. In 1918, the U.S. Army formed a Parachute Committee for the purpose of designing a parachute for the pilots of the U.S.Army Air Service. The Committee was headed by Major E.L.Hoffman, with several civilians, H.H.Higgins, Guy Ball, Floyd Smith and J.M.Russell. They studied and tested all Allied and Central Powers parachutes. From this study was developed the S-1 24 ft dia. Seat Pack and the 28' diameter S-2 Seat pack for pilots who weighed over 180 pounds. A detachable chest parachute was designed for observers. Finally in 1922, The U.S.Army standarized the S-1 and S -2 and it was made mandatory for all pilots and air crew to wear a parachute during flight. The canopy construction of the S-1 and S-2 parachutes came from professional Parachutist, Leslie Irvin, who held the patents for the design. He formed the Irvin Air Chute Company, Guy Ball went to work for Irvin. Major Hoffman established the Triangle Parachute Company. In 1929, Major Hoffman received the Collier Trophy for the design of the Hoffman Triangle Parachute. It was adopted by the U.S.Army in the 1930s. H.H.Higgins formed the Standard Parachute Company. J.M.Russell founded the Russell Parachute Parachute Company and lastly Floyd Smith established the Pioneer Parachute Company. You may have noticed I have not mentioned Stefen Banic! As far as I know he has not contributed to the U.S.Army anything toward parachute design and developement. Irvin Air Chute is now Irvin Industries, and Pioneer Parachute Co. still exists in Manchester Conn. The rest have disappeared in time. Blue skies, Dan-San Last edited by Dan_San_Abbott; 4 June 2006 at 10:58 PM.