Dummy Flyers Help Make Air Safe
By R. BACHE
Tumbling Headfirst from a Plane, the Parachute Jumper Is Jerked Upright as the Silk Umbrella Fills with Air; at Bottom of Page, a Seat-Pack Chute Which Takes the Place of a Cushion
Dummy aviators are importantly helpful in trying out new ideas for parachutes. They afford just as good safety tests as live men, and, in case of accident, nobody is hurt. A fall of a few thousand feet or more doesn't bother the dummy.
The typical dummy used by aeronautic experimenters of our army and navy is made on a strong wooden frame, covered with canvas, and stuffed with any kind of material that happens to be handy, an essential requirement being that it shall weigh 180 to 200 pounds. Thus its weight corresponds to that of the heaviest airman. It has a neck but no head: the legs and arms are mere stumps. The parachute equipment is fastened upon it with a harness of straps, exactly as it would be attached to a man.
The equipment is a "seat pack," secured to the lower part of the dummy's back. This kind of pack, used as a seat cushion by an aviator, removes all weight and bulk from his person, save for the harness. It is a canvas envelope containing a parachute of light and very strong silk, twenty-four feet in diameter, carefully folded in a particular way, and weighs eighteen pounds.
