names stand out prominently in the history of the aeroplane, notable among whom are the Wright brothers, but the final result is due to innumerable inventions, many of them by unknown men.
But perhaps someone will say, how can you possibly talk about final results in a matter which is still in its infancy?
The answer to that is that so far as the safe, "flyable" machine is concerned, it has arrived. Little now remains to be done in that direction. Further improvements there will, of course, be, but the great fundamental problems of flight have been solved.
CHAPTER XXV
THE AERIAL LIFEBOAT
Balloons had not long been invented when the idea arose of a device by means of which an aeronaut who found himself in difficulties might be able to reach the ground in safety. In other words, the need was felt for something which should play towards the balloon the part which the lifeboat does to the ship.
The original idea of a parachute was even older than that, since we are told of a man away back in the seventeenth century who amused the King of Siam by jumping from a height and steadying his descent by means of a couple of umbrellas. It was not, however, until the very end of the eighteenth century or the beginning of the nineteenth that descents were made from really considerable heights from balloons.
The usual arrangement then was to have the parachute hanging at full length fastened below the basket, or tied to one side of the balloon in such a manner that it could be detached by cutting the cords that held it up. When the parachute was carried below the balloon basket the man was already in the cradle or seat of the parachute ready to be dropped, but when the seat was tied to the side of the car of
the balloon the aeronaut, when he wished to make a descent, first got from the car into the seat, and, casting himself adrift from the car, swung out from under the centre of the balloon so that when he was hanging clear another man in the balloon cut the cords or pulled a slip-knot which set the parachute free. There were different ways of doing this and when a man was by himself he had to get into the sling of the parachute and, on finding himself clear of everything, he would give a tug to a cord which would release a catch holding up the parachute and allow it to drop to earth.