“I had to borrow money for my wedding garb. The only two things in life that are certain are debt and tuxes.”
Nylon parachute jumpIn 1942, the first parachute jump in the U.S. using a nylon parachute was made by Adeline Gray. Cotton had been superceded by silk cloth as a higher-strength, lower-weight parachute fabric. Oriental high-volume sources of the silkworm product were cut off during WWII. Fortunately, nylon, a newly invented synthetic substitute produced by the DuPont Co was available, as exhibited at the 1939 World's Fair. Nylon parachutes had been tested with dead weights, but the military needed a live trial to confirm personnel use. Gray, a parachute rigger at the Pioneer Parachute Company volunteered. She jumped from an aircraft flying from Brainard Field, Hartford, Conn. convincing an audience of 50 critical army and navy observers.« |
