When Planes Had Parachutes: The War Department’s Bold 1928 Experiment
In 1928, long before modern ejection seats or ballistic parachutes, the U.S. War Department tried something wildly ambitious: saving an entire airplane with a single, giant parachute. Now, I know what you’re thinking—was this for cargo drops? Maybe a Jeep or a supply crate? That’s what I thought too when I first saw the headline…