Vietti-Teppa lands safely with a parachute based on sketches made by Leonardo da Vinci in 1485!

Vietti-Teppa lands safely with a parachute based on sketches made by Leonardo da Vinci in 1485!

A Swiss daredevil Olivier Vietti-Teppa jumped at the weekend using a parachute based on sketches made by genius Leonardo da Vinci in 1485. Vietti-Teppa had been wearing a modern reserve parachute in case da Vinci's design - made out of four triangles of fabric and with a pointed top - had failed to open. Vietti-Teppa is the first person to have made it safely to the ground with the da Vinci model. In 2000, Briton Adrian Nicholas tried it but had to use a back-up parachute to complete his descent. Vietti-Teppa's parachute was made using modern fabric along lines imagined by da Vinci. The specifications were found in a manuscript dating from 1485.

The da Vinci's design parachute consists of four equilateral triangles of fabric, seven yards on each side. The base of the pyramid is a square of mosquito net, which enables the parachute to open. A wooden frame originally conceived by da Vinci was not used. It has one drawback - it is impossible to maneuver. Vietti-Teppa said after the jump in Payerne, near Geneva that the parachute worked perfectly, though he was unable to steer it, he just glided gracefully to the ground.

April 29, 2008 - 3:53 AM | Posted in - Other Stuff |