ALBERT BERRY Biography - Military related figures

 
 

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ALBERT BERRY

Name: Albert Berry                                                                   
                                                                                     
Captain Albert Berry is one of two people credited as the first person to make a     
successful parachute jump from a powered aeroplane. The other contender is Grant     
Morton, who is reported to have jumped from a Wright Model B flying over Venice     
Beach, California sometime late in 1911.                                             
                                                                                     
On 1 March 1912, Berry jumped from a Benoit pusher biplane from 1,500 feet (457     
m) and landed successfully at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. The pilot was Tony       
Jannus. The 36 foot (11 m) diameter parachute was contained in a metal canister     
attached to the underside of the plane - when Berry dropped from the plane his       
weight pulled the parachute from the canister. Rather than being attached to the     
parachute by a harness Berry was seated on a trapeze bar. According to Berry he     
dropped 500 feet (152 m) before the parachute opened.