Tiny Broadwick
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This document provides a history and tribute to Georgia "Tiny" Broadwick, recognizing her as the first lady of parachuting. It summarizes her career from 1913-1922, during which she made several firsts as the first woman to jump from an airplane and float plane. Broadwick helped establish parachuting as a viable safety method and occupation. She demonstrated that parachutes could be reused, a person could deploy a parachute without losing consciousness, and that women were capable of taking on dangerous roles in aviation. The document pays tribute to her small stature but immense determination as a pioneering figure in the development of skydiving.
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Tiny Broadwick
- 1. First Lady of Parachuting with Dan Poynter, D-454. ParaPub.com © 2012
- 2. Georgia Ann Thompson History and a tribute ParaPub.com
- 3. ParaPub.com
- 4. ParaPub.com
- 5. ParaPub.com
- 6. Smoke Balloon ParaPub.com
- 7. The Balloon Attracted Crowds ParaPub.com
- 8. Charles Broadwick And his Coatpack ParaPub.com
- 9. Tiny’s First Jump ParaPub.com
- 10. She Sat on the Trapeze Bar ParaPub.com
- 11. The Balloon Inverts as the jumper Falls Away ParaPub.com
- 12. Charles & Tiny ParaPub.com
- 13. ParaPub.com
- 14. ParaPub.com
- 15. Broadwick Adjusts Tiny’s Coatpack ParaPub.com
- 16. Cutaways ParaPub.com
- 17. Not Much Money ParaPub.com
- 18. Frequent Water Landing ParaPub.com
- 19. Glenn Martin Congratulates Tiny ParaPub.com
- 20. ParaPub.com
- 21. Broadwick Repairing the Canopy ParaPub.com
- 22. 1912 – Dominguez Hills, CA. ParaPub.com
- 23. Tiny Saw Another Potential Wind ParaPub.com
- 24. Martin Promoted the New Act ParaPub.com
- 25. 1913 - First Woman to Jump from a Plane ParaPub.com
- 26. Tiny’s First Landing from a Plane ParaPub.com
- 27. ParaPub.com
- 28. In the Cockpit ParaPub.com
- 29. Outside the Cockpit ParaPub.com
- 30. Broadwick giving Tiny Last-Minute Instructions ParaPub.com
- 31. Tiny Sitting Next to Glenn Martin ParaPub.com
- 32. Jumping ParaPub.com
- 33. See the Static Line. ParaPub.com
- 34. Canopy Deploying ParaPub.com
- 35. Tiny was Famous ParaPub.com
- 36. Charles Broadwick Adopted Tiny ParaPub.com
- 37. Martin Float Plane ParaPub.com
- 38. Tiny in 1913 ParaPub.com
- 39. 1914 After jumping for the Army at North Island in San Diego. ParaPub.com
- 40. She Activated the Parachute ParaPub.com
- 41. 1916 ParaPub.com
- 42. After her separation from Broadwick ParaPub.com
- 43. 1920 ParaPub.com
- 44. Tiny’s Career: 1913-1922 ParaPub.com
- 45. 1922 ParaPub.com
- 46. Tiny was a Pioneer ParaPub.com
- 47. Tiny & Daughter Verla ParaPub.com
- 48. Bill Booth with Tiny ParaPub.com
- 49. 1893 - 1978 ParaPub.com
- 50. Broadwick Street ParaPub.com
- 51. Georgia "Tiny" Broadwick Historical Marker Near Gravesite ParaPub.com
- 52. Tiny Broadwick Firsts st woman to jump 1 from an airplane st person to jump 1 from a float plane. st person to make 1 an intentional water jump ParaPub.com
- 53. Contributions to Jumping Parachutes could be used repeatedly. A person could pull a ripcord without passing out in freefall She learned to “spot“ the exit point A woman could do something most men would not do. ParaPub.com
- 54. We owe a lot to this small woman of immense stature and determination. ParaPub.com
- 55. ParaPub.com
- 56. Why not Invite Dan to Speak to your Group? More than 15 aviation and parachute programs ParaPub.com
Editor's Notes
- Tiny Broadwick was a pioneer.She accomplished a lot of firsts.She did things most men would not do.And Tiny developed skydiving techniques that we still use today.Georgia Ann Thompson was born in 1893 on a farm in Granville County, North Carolina. The youngest of seven daughters, she weighed only 3 pounds at birth. Her parents named her "tiny" and she never grew taller than 4' 1" and 80 lbs. Tiny Broadwick was a pioneer.She performed a lot of firsts.She did things most men would not do.And, Tiny developed jump techniques that we use today.
- Life on the farm was hard and Tiny had to work as soon as she could walk. The family raised chickens and pigs but Tiny usually worked in the tobacco fields.
- When Tiny was 12, her family moved to Henderson so her father could work in the Harriet Cotton Mill. Child labor not only OK, it was expected back then.Also at the age of 12, Tiny married William Aullsie Jacobs and gave birth to a daughter she named Verla.When questioned about marrying at such a tender age, she replied with a twinkle in her eyes: "Honey, that's the way it is done down south".
- Shortly thereafter, Tiny's husband abandoned her so she went to work in the mill. She had to walk back and forth from home to the mill several times each day to nurse her daughter. She worked 12- hour shifts.
- Then, one day, the Johnny Jones Carnival came to nearby Raleigh. A main attraction was a man who ascended in a balloon and then parachuted back to earth. She found someone to take her to Raleigh.The parachutist was Charles Broadwick. His smoke balloon was 92' high, 56' in diameter and open at the bottom. He would build a fire in a pit and let the hot air chimney through a horizontal trench to the base of the balloon. Hot air would make the cotton envelope lighter than air.
- Someone would have to go inside the envelope with a bucket and a bunch of sponges to put out the fires. Cinders would rise and start burning the cotton envelope so he would have to throw wet sponges to put out the fires. Where is OSHA when you need them?
- Broadwickwould ascend over the crowd in the balloon, slip into the parachute and release from the balloon. During the descent, he would light a cigar and wave to the crowd below. Tiny was in love—not with Broadwick--but with parachuting. She argued that she would be a better attraction being a young girl and would land easier being smaller. Broadwick saw the potential. Tiny's mother agreed to take care of the grandchild if Tiny sent money home to support her.
- Tiny's first jump was when she was 15, in 1908 at the North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh. Broadwickdressed her as a doll with ruffled bloomers with pink bows on her arms, ribbons in her long curls and a little bonnet on her head. Tomboy Tiny preferred to wear pants—especially for tree landings. But she dresses as a little girl for the show.
- The trapeze bar was common. Tiny sat on it. Photo shows how she did it. KathePalus of Germany is pictured. Some put on an act.See her canopyTiny later used the Coatpack.
- At altitude, a release cord is pulled. As the jumper and parachute fall away, the balloon rolls over to release a cloud of smoke—and heightens the dramatic effect.
- Charles with Tiny
- Equipment. Broadwick developed the Safety Pack Vest or coatpack with a 6 lb silk canopy. It looked like a knapsack attached to a snug-fitting canvas jacket with harness straps. This was the first "Pack on Aviator" or "Automatic Attached Back Type Parachute".It was static line activated.
- Equipment. The static line pulled off the cover breaking the breakcords and pulled out the canopy as she fell away. Broadwick's parachutes were the first to be used repeatedly from airplanes.
- Broadwick taught her everything he knew. Since she did not have an altimeter, she would wait for his signal—he would fire a blank from a pistol. Or, she would wait until the air cooled and the balloon began to descend.
- To make the event more exiting, Tiny would do a series of cutaways. Sometime they would add fireworks. Tiny normally made 6 jumps per week. Tiny was spectacular! Newspapers described her as the most daring female aeronaut ever seen and, in spite of her frail size, she performed like a veteran.
- Tiny did not make a lot of money. Broadwick was a great showman but not a good businessman. She was promised $250/week, plus expenses.Often, all she got for a jump was a Coke. But she loved the excitement and it sure beat working in the mill for a 40 cents a day. Q: What is the difference between a skydiver and a camel?A camel can go 7 days without a drink.
- Tiny mastered water landings. She ended up in rivers three times a week.
- In 1912, 9 years after the Wrights Brothers’ fight, Tiny and Charles traveled to Los Angeles to participate in air competition at Dominguez Field. Tiny met Glenn Martin. Martin instantly recognized Tiny's potential for drawing a crowd to his aviation act.
- Tiny got attention and ink wherever she performed. .
- Glenn Martin and Tiny watch Broadwick sew the canopy.Broadwickfailed to file for a patent on his parachute and didn’t benefit from the huge profits it would eventually generate.
- Tiny married again briefly in 1912 to a Schooner Master names Andrew Olsen. Tiny did not like home life. They separated and she went back to jumping. SeeTiny’s Balloon
- Tiny saw a new potential. Form an airplane, she could land in front of the spectators. She had been taking off in from the spectators, pushed downwind until he reached jump altitudeAnd then carried further downwind to land a long way from the spectators.The plane toke off in front of the spectators, fly up-wind. She would jump and float down to land in front of the spectators. She learned to spot. From a plane, she would not have to worry about landing on poles, steeples, buildings, trees, or in rivers. She could land in front of the crowd.
- Glenn Martin promoted their new act.
- Tiny set records
- Tiny’s first landing from an airplane. Griffith Field, Los Angeles, June 21, 1913.She put on quite a show.
- Tiny and Glenn Martin were in great demand.
- Sometimes she rode up in the cockpit.
- Sometimes, Tiny was suspended on a trap seat just behind the wing, outside the cockpit. The canopy was on a shelf above her. Martin would ascend to 2,000' at 70 mph and Tiny would pull the lever beside the seat to drop the seat. She descended into Griffith Park in Los Angeles.
- Charles and Tiny
- Tiny with Glenn Martin
- See Tiny under plane (laser)
- See the static line
- Canopy deploying
- Tiny received a lot of publicity
- Broadwick adopted Tiny and she changed her name. Her family did not object because the social mores of the day dictated that it was improper for a young girl to travel around the country with an older man. Today, of course, younger women with older men is accepted—IF he is rich.
- The same year, Tiny traveled to Chicago and became the first person to jump from a float plane. She landed in Lake Michigan. Tiny presented a bouquet to the mayor and then Wilbur Wright came over to shake her hand. She was also the first to make an intentional water jump from an airplane. Tiny set one record after another.
- She jumped at North Island, San Diego on 12 and 14 September 1914 from an Army Martin plane flown by Oscar Brindley.
- Tiny was making demo jumps for the Army in San Diego.On her fourth jump, her static line hung up briefly on the tail of the Martin Trainer.Fearful it might happen again and not wanting to spoil the demonstrations, She cut the static line.On the last jump, he pulled the line herself and made history.The first jump on a manually-operated parachute. .
- In 1916, Tiny married for the 3rd time to Harry Brown, a man who helped pioneer the Greyhound Bus company in Los Angeles to SLC. Tiny retired as Brown did not approve of her jumping. That lasted 4 years. The marriage dissolved and once again, Tiny came out of retirement.
- Tiny and Charles Broadwick went their separate ways during WWI. The airshow business was becoming tougher. He died in a veteran's hospital in California in 1943.
- 1920 in Sacramento. (Corbis photo: Sept 17, 1920, Sacramento.)
- The parachute came to be referred to as a "Life preserver of the air". It was thought to be similar to the life preserver on a ship.
- Finally, in 1922 and 1,100 jumps, Tiny retired for the last time. She was 29.Once asked if she ever had a reserve parachute, Tiny said "yes, home in the garage in case I tore the one I was using."
- Georgia Ann Thompson "Tiny" Broadwick was a true pioneer. She paved the way for us. This little woman showed us what could be done.
- Tiny with daughter Verla showing she could still get into the BroadwickCoatpack.
- Bill Booth with Tiny.
- Tiny passed away in California on August 25, 1978; she was 85. She was laid to rest in Sunset Gardens in Henderson, NC. Members of the Golden Knights served as pall bearers.
- A street was named after her
- Historical Marker near her grave site in Henderson, North Carolina.
- Everyone is amazedWhen someone does something No one would do.She is credited with a lot of first.
- 1. Parachutes could be jumped over and over.2. Tiny demonstrated that a jumper could pull her own ripcord, activating the parachute. There was no need for a static line. Would not pass out in freefall. 3. She figured out where to exit the plane so as to land in front of the crowd.that escape from a damaged airplane was possible, 4. She could do things most men would not do.
- Cover of Life magazineEveryone is amazed whenSomeone does something thatNo-one in their right-mind would do.Tiny was amazing. She was a pioneer. She entered the unknown and did it first. She blazed a trial for us.We owe a lot to this small woman of immense stature and determination.