The Flying Tailor

Franz Reichelt was an Austrian-born French tailor and parachuting pioneer who designed a new wearable parachute. After much negotiation with the local police, Reichelt got permission to conduct dummy test drops from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. So, on Sunday, February 4, 1912, he arrived at the tower at seven o’clock in the morning and announced that instead of performing the expected experiment, he himself would jump from it. Deeply concerned, his friends and spectators tried to dissuade him, but he did not change his mind. When questioned about the use of a safety rope or any other precautions, he simply replied, “I want to try the experiment myself and without trickery, as I intend to prove the worth of my invention.”3 Reichelt’s initial attempt to climb to the first floor of the tower was blocked by a guard who had witnessed previous unsuccessful dummy drops. But finally, they settled the issue, and he, along with two friends and a cinematographer, continued up to the first floor, a little more than 187 feet above the ground.

Reichelt was confident that, to release his parachute, he only had to extend his arms in a cross position. At 8:22 A.M., observed by a crowd of some thirty journalists and curious people, he adjusted the apparatus with his friends’ assistance, checked the wind direction, hesitated for about forty seconds, and then jumped.

His half-open parachute immediately folded around his body, and he crashed into the icy ground at the foot of the tower.

The autopsy revealed he had suffered a deadly heart attack shortly before impact —the tragic end of the so-called flying tailor.

There is much wisdom in the following words, usually attributed to Ronnie Oldham: “Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical, and expecting more than others think is possible.”4 However, the notion of “risking more than others think is safe” needs to be questioned. Sometimes it could be best, but not always. Perhaps we should listen more carefully to the counsels and warnings of those who already know the path we are just beginning to explore. If you decide to take a risk, always do it within the parameters of God’s plan and never outside of them.