Georgia "Tiny" Broadwick was a pioneer parachutist and considered one of the most daring aeronauts during the golden age of flight. Born in 1893, she began parachuting in 1908 after persuading a balloonist at a local fair to take her up, and she quickly mastered parachuting to the ground from a trapeze attached to the gondola. Broadwick began traveling with the carnival, making exhibition jumps across North America, and became a darling of the aviation community for her youthfulness and diminutive frame of less than five feet tall.
On June 21, 1915, she became the first woman to parachute out of a moving airplane after Glenn Martin asked her to help demonstrate his parachute for the United States Army. Convinced of its usefulness, the aviation corps soon made parachutes mandatory for its pilots, and Broadwick served as an informal advisor for the military during World War I. Her final recorded jump was in 1922, and she was one of only a handful of women invited into the Early Birds, an early pilots club, even though she never earned her license. She lived quietly until her death in 1978.
Display Status
This object is on display in Early Flight at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
Object Details
Country of Origin
United States of America
Type
EQUIPMENT-Parachutes
Physical Description
Early parachute used by Tiny Broadwick. Cotton canvas pack; cap style silk canopy.
Dimensions
Approximate (as photographed): 22.86 x 172.72 x 71.12cm (9in. x 5ft 8in. x 2ft 4in.)
3-D (display): 41.9 × 45.7cm, 4.1kg, 25.4cm (1 ft. 4 1/2 in. × 1 ft. 6 in., 9lb., 10 in.)
Materials
Natural Fabric, Silk, Steel, Aluminum, Wood
Inventory Number
A19640639000
Credit Line
Donated by Mrs. G. T. Brown
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
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