Historic BASE Jumping footage

[Craig]

[link:www.britishpathe.com|British Pathe] (those producers of scratchy cinema newsreels with the classic Mr. Cholmondley-Warner voice-overs) have encoded their entire library, paid for in part by the [link:news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/2490639.stm|British National Lottery]. Previews (128 kbps WMVs) are available for download from the website (with registration). 512 kbps versions are available for £50 or £100 (depending on intended use). There are some classic early BASE jumping clips in there:

ftp://ftp.skydivingmovies.com/public...he/1052.07.WMV

> 1052.07 | THE DAREDEVIL! (1:17:34:00 - 1:18:41:00) 02/05/1932
>
> Full titles read: "The Daredevil! - Meet Willard
> Blain, who risked his neck by a parachute jump
> off the George Washington Bridge - a trifle of 260
> feet."
>
> New York, United States of America.
>
> M/S of Willard Blain standing in a street, holding a
> parachute. He says he is about to approach the
> new George Washington Bridge and that others
> have attempted to jump off the bridge but have
> failed in death. He understands the cops are
> waiting for him so he will have to make a dash for
> it and jump over in a death-defying attempt. He
> gets into a taxi, asking the driver to take him to
> the middle of George Washington Bridge, "and
> make it snappy!"

> L/S from the bridge shows Blain jumping off as a
> policeman runs up to try to stop him. Blain lands
> in the Hudson River below and swims towards a
> boat. C/U of Blain after the event: he says he
> counted seven seconds on the way down and hit
> with a terrific wallop!

The parachute barely inflates before impact! It would be generous to say you could count to three, let alone 7, luckily for him!

ftp://ftp.skydivingmovies.com/public...the/658.20.WMV

> 658.20 | LOS ANGELES CAL (aka LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA - WORLDS FIRST MOTORCYCLE

> Full title missing, according to issue sheet it
> reads: "Los Angeles Cal. World's first motorcycle
> parachute jumper plunges of 200 foot cliff! Fred
> Osbourne adopts aviator's device and stage's a
> uniquely thrilling feat".
>
> LA, California, United States of America (USA).
>
> M/S of man helping Osbourne into parachute
> harness. Osbourne then climbs onto his
> motorcycle, shakes hands with his companion
> and drives off. L/S of Osbourne driving past
> camera at great speed.
>
> Intertitle reads: "Off the brink at 60 miles an
> hour".
>
> M/S of Osbourne riding off cliff edge. L/S of
> Osbourne and bike descending at speed towards
> beach and sea. Osbourne's parachute does not
> have time to open before impact with ground.
> Smoke and tattered bit of parachute silk float up
> from hole in ground, a man runs over to
> investigate.
>
> Intertitle reads: "A lot of broken telephone wires > and a cremated motor bike".
>
> Top shot, looking over cliff top, of people rushing
> over to landing place. Motorbike appears to be in
> flames. C/U of Osbourne talking to camera - must
> have been taken before stunt as it seems unlikely
> that he would have survived such a terrible
> crash!

Barely gets line stretch. Does he make it? I'm not sure.

ftp://ftp.skydivingmovies.com/public...the/975.41.WMV

> 975.41 | PARACHUTE DROP - U.S.A. (1:45:56:00 - 1:46:38:00) 15/08/1938
>
> Item title reads - United States.
>
> Short drop parachute jump in USA (America).
>
> L/S of a lady holding the new parachute, M/S as
> she folds the material. M/S as the inventor jumps
> off a 90 foot grain elevator 'Omar Flour'. The
> parachute opens very quickly and he lands on a
> ledge below. C/U of lady looking upwards. M/S as
> he jumps again. M/S of him on top of a 250 foot
> crag, people watch as he jumps off and lands
> safely.

Looks like a real BASE jump? But could be a dummy. Looks a bit higher than 90 feet but the landing is on a roof! He seems to have that no-momentum launch nailed!

"So from now on, you'll have to climb the mountains, but coming down is cushy!"

[Skypuppy]

Freddy Osbourne was a good friend of John Tranum, a jumper who at one time held the world record for high altitude parachute jump (30,000')... He's also mentioned in Dick Grace's autobiography 'Squadron of Death' about stunt-flying in Hollywood in the 20's and 30's...

Tranum describes Shorty Osbourne's jump in his auto biography, 9 Lives, "So he bought an old motor-bike and took it to the top of a cliff some 300 feet high, and over-looking the tram-lines from Santa Monica to an outlying suburb. Then, with a parachute stuck on his back, he jumped on the machine and drove it as fast as he could over the edge.

Upon leaving the ground, he instantly pulled his cord, and out shot the parachute. But a very nasty thing happened. The chute, instead of flying away and opening, caught on to the mudguard of his machine and held fast. HIS POSITION WAS NOW HOPELESS (my capitals). The chute was no more use than a tea-cloth, and down he came, bicycle and all, like a thunderbolt.

I have mentioned that the cliff overlooked the tram-lines. Above these lines were cable, and it was these that preserved his life. The motor-bike crashed to scrap iron, but Osborne had the extraordinary good fortune to catch one of the cable, which broke his fall even if it also broke every bone in his body.

It was eighteen months before he could stir again, and things had happened to him, his legs being almost smashed to pulp. He more or less recovered sufficiently to start doing stunts again, but I believe that he is now dead, although I could not be sure on that score. IT WOULD TAKE A LOT TO KILL FREDDY OSBORNE." (my capitals)

Later Tranum became the jumper probably featured in the archival footage attached to a Norm Kent film showing a 30's vintage motorcycle going over a 1000' cliff in Colorado...

Skypuppy
BASE92:+

[base587]

Woah. . . that's pretty friggin' hardcore if you ask me (but nobody did). I wonder if he wasn't an import from Australia?

Peace and happy holidays,

D-d0g
ddog@wrinko.com
www.wrinko.com

[Craig]

Here's another one:

> Paris, France.
>
> Franz Reichelt wearing the parachute that he
> designed and invented before ascending the Eiffel
> Tower.
>
> Reichelt standing on platform high up on the tower
> preparing to jump he hovers on the brink for some
> time and then eventually jumps falling straight
> down to his death.
>
> Police and small crowd around the body of Reichelt
> as it is carried away, they then measure the depth
> of the hole made by his fall.
>
>The film has French intertitles.
>
>Cataloguer's Note: Old record suggests this event
> happened 4th February 1912.

ftp://ftp.skydivingmovies.com/public...he/1824.01.WMV

Not really a parachute, more of a large coat. Doomed from the start :-(

[Tree]

There was a post a couple of years ago that was something like "ethiopia Base". This is where some tribal fellow jumps a cliff about 75' tall does a front layout and lands flat on his back. There was wood shavings all over the ground but he hit pretty darn hard with a good solid thud. The audience claps loudly with joy. Must have been some passasge of right ritual or something. If you can find it in the archives it would fit well in this thread.

Hey buddy, can you spare a Mojo 280?

Tree&-)