Tiny Broadwick
Personal Information
Born: 1883
Died: 1978
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
dropped out of school age 13
Professional Life
Field of Study: Parachuting
Institution/Corporation: none
Degrees & Memberships: Member: 1964, Honorary member of the 82nd Airborne Division, Ft. Bragg; Early Birds of Aviation
Awards & Achievements
Awards: US Government Pioneer Aviation Award; John Glenn Medal; Gold Wings of the Adventurer s Club
Achievements: 1st woman to jump out of an airplane; 1st woman to jump from a seaplane; 1st planned free-fall descent; inventor of the rip cord; made over 1,100 jumps before retiring in 1922
1st woman to jump from an airplane
1st person to jump from a seaplane
Weighed 3 pounds at birth; as an adult, weighed 85 pounds & was 4 feet 8 inches tall
Married at 12, had a daughter at 13 & was abandoned by her husband when she was 15
Joined Charles Broadwick's World Famous Aeronauts at 15 & became a parachutist
Born Georgia Ann Thompson
Was known as Broadwick's adopted daughter & at times, his wife; even her own family was unsure of their exact relationship
Originally jumped out of hot air balloons & was billed as "the doll girl"
1914, while demonstrating parachuting to the US Army, on her 4th jump the static line got tangled in the tail assembly of the aircraft. for her 5th jump she cut the line short & didn't attach it to the plane, pulling the short cord manually while in free-fall thereby inventing the rip-cord
She was married & divorced 3 times
She made over 1100 jumps before retiring cue to ankle problems in 1922
Even though she wasn't a pilot, she was 1 of the few female members of the Early Birds of Aviation
She appeared on You Bet Your Life episode 55-07 on November 10, 1955, on To Tell the Truth March 30, 1964, & Mysteries at the Museum Season 11 Episode 33
1964, donated a parachute handmade by Charles Broadwick of 110 yards of silk to the Smithsonian Air Museum (precursor to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum)