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This sort of cutting
edge technology used to be the domain of military operations, but nowadays it
can be found in amusement parks and even at backyard parties. The parachute
training facility which appeared in a 1937 issue of Popular Mechanics
magazine was real whiz-bang stuff at the time. Although Russia's system is
featured here, I have to believe other countries were doing the same sort of
thing. Using a high power fan to boost the paratrooper trainee in a simulated
parachute descent was an excellent method of introducing men to the sensations
and reactions to control inputs via shroud lines. The story noes not mention
whether the fan was forceful enough to simulate a free-fall experience. Just
today a saw a news item showing such recreational free-fall machine companies
called Urban
Air and iFall.
Fan Forces Parachute to Ascend with Jumper
 Fan Forces Parachute to Ascend with Jumper
Used in training parachute jumpers in Russia, a blower device forces the parachute
upward until the student's weight counteracts the air current. Then the "jumper"
descends in the usual manner, working the shroud lines to jockey for a perfect landing.
At the beginning of the lesson, the student stands on a grilled platform, his chute
attached. A powerful motor-driven fan generates a strong upward current of air,
filling the parachute, tightening the harness and lifting the parachutist off his
feet. Steadily the 'chute rises toward "ceiling," the point at which the student's
weight overcomes the air current's force, and then comes the descent, which is made
as though the student had dropped from an airplane. By eliminating that perilous
interval between an actual jump and the opening of the 'chute, the blower reduces
the hazard.
Several views of parachute ascension. Top, left, 'chute beginning to fill with
air from blower. Right, ready for the take-off. Bottom, left, soaring into the air
with aid of blast from blower. Right, starting descent.
Unrelated...
Dirt on Plane's Wings Costs Money by Reducing Speed
In operating high-performance airplanes the importance of smooth surface on the
wings, as well as other parts, is so great that experts suggest it may be found
economical to have the wing surfaces wiped clean of dirt and dust at every stop.
Even a small amount of dirt on the wings increases resistance to the air and thus
reduces speed, causing the engines to work harder to maintain the same rate of travel.
Reducing the size of rivets in an airplane wing by one thirty-second of an inch
makes it possible to reduce the power necessary for operation by 100 horsepower.
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