ONCE TOO OFTEN

Grey River Argus, 27 April 1937, Page 5

ONCE TOO OFTEN

U.S.A. PARACHUTIST

Killed Before French Crowd

(Aus. & N.Z. Cable Assn.) (Received April 26, 5.5 p.m.) PARES, April 25.

Two hundred thousand horrified spec, tabors saw a “bird' man,” named Clem Sohn, killed while parachuting at an air fete in Vineeness. Sohn was twenty-six years of age, and was an American exponent of gliding. He used to make a parachute descent by means of winds, attached tp harness, these giving him a bat-I.ke appearance. His method was t 0 be taken up in an aeioplane to a height of ten thousand feet, when he dived off. head first. After falling fwio thousand feet, Sohn used to open the wings with, which, by lifting and lowering his aims, he controlled! and so extended h.s flight, until he was six hundred feet from the ground. Then he would open a parachute, enabling ti landing to be carried out)

He had performed the feat over two hundred time-. He was continually experimenting with a view to obtain, ing ti better wind curve, and so enabling him to make his landing without a parachut’e. To-day, loudspeakers announced that Sohn had difficulty in adjusting Ins complicated harness. There was a strong wind blowing. The aeroplane took fifteen, minutes in climbing to a height of over nine thousand feet. Sohn "then dived from a wing, and spread his arms. He performed per. feet-ly the ae-iobatics of twisting, glitiing and looping. When at the customary distance of 600 feet from the ground, Sohn pulled the cord of the parachute, which, however, failed to work. Sohn continued to fall rapidly. The onlookers breathlessly watched Sohn fighting to save himself. He was tugging at the cords of a second parachute on his breast, which became entangled in the useless strings of the first paiachute. Sohn crashed in the centre of the aerodrome. Thousands of people dashed forward as Sohn neaied the earth, the pressure fr.om behind nearly forcing the leading throngs to trample on Sohn’s body. The first aid men found Sohn breathing his last, and he died be. fore he could be placed on a stretcher.