Monday, September 17, 2007

In 1912 a visionary named Franz Reisfeldt had an idea. Reisfeildt, a tailor with nothing but an understanding of fabric, a dream and perhaps too much time on his hands, constructed a suit that would allow him to fly. All he needed was a point high enough for him to jump- Enter the Eiffel Tower.

As you can imagine, the city was abuzz with excitement. This was, after all, before cable television and the internet so the people were understandable hungry for quality entertainment. As with most innovation, it was a plan so simple that no one had thought of it before and, if they had, were probably put off by the whole “jumping off the Eiffel Tower” portion of the plan. Franz Reisfeldt was not dissuaded, he was, after all, a tailor. He theorized that if you that if you fashion a suit of clothes with enough folds the resistance will keep you afloat- much in the same way the mighty ostrich will float for hours in lazy circles above.

On a warm day in 1912 John Reisfeldt stood at the parapet of the Eiffel Tower. He gave a triumphant wave to the crowd below, put his seat in the upright position, turned off his electronic equipment and he jumped.

The flight time was a little quicker than he imagined and the landing a little more sudden but for a brief moment Franz Reisfeldt flew. Unfortunately, this was followed by an immediate and very quick descent.

4 comments:

Aralena said...

Ah, the good 'ole days, you know? I'd much rather watch a couture-inclined innovator jump off the Eiffel Tower than suffer Desperate Housewives.

This post reminded of those ads (selling what, I can't remember) with the parents trying - and failing miserably - to entertain their kids with spookily-angled flashlights, vegetables up the nose, etc.

Anonymous said...

Yes I have actually seen his jump on Youtube before. If you have not already seen it here it is.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BepyTSzueno

Karyn said...

Oh holy God, that was funny.

The Mighty Ostrich...hahahaha....

Cécile Qd9 said...

a lot of people still jump from the Eiffel Tower... most of them are not even tailors... all of them land quite quickly and end their flying career there.