On June 21, 1913, a tiny woman weighing barely 80 pounds climbed into an airplane over Los Angeles and prepared to do something no woman had ever done before. Suspended outside the aircraft in a small swing-like seat, Georgia Ann “Tiny” Broadwick pulled a release lever and dropped into empty space. Moments later, her parachute blossomed overhead and she drifted safely to earth. With that leap, Tiny Broadwick became the first woman to parachute from an airplane.
Yet this remarkable feat was only one chapter in her extraordinary career. A year later, during a military demonstration, she would help pioneer a technique that evolved into the modern ripcord, forever changing the way parachutists escaped from aircraft.
Broadwick ready to drop from an airplane piloted by Glenn Martin. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Tiny Broadwick was born Georgia Ann Thompson on April 8, 1893, near Oxford, North Carolina. She earned her nickname at birth because she weighed only three pounds. Even as an adult she stood little more than four feet tall and weighed around eighty pounds.
Tiny’s early life was difficult. She spent her youth working in a cotton mill, got married at twelve, became a mother by thirteen, and was abandoned by her husband soon after. When she was fifteen, she attended a fair and saw parachutist Charles Broadwick perform jumps from a hot-air balloon. Fascinated by the spectacle, she convinced him to let her join his traveling troupe.
Charles Broadwick recognized her potential immediately. Her small size made her an ideal attraction, and audiences soon flocked to see the fearless "Doll Girl" descend from balloons suspended high above fairgrounds.
In 1908 Tiny Broadwick made her first jump at the North Carolina State Fair. She loved it even though she landed in a blackberry bush. When asked about her first jump she said “I tell you, honey, it was the most wonderful sensation in the world! From up in the air I can appreciate the beauty of the earth from a new perspective and felt that I was in the presence of God.”
Eventually Charles adopted her, and she became known professionally as Tiny Broadwick.
Tiny Broadwick posing beside an airplane in flying gear, with parachute. Credit: Smithsonian Institution
In 1912, the Broadwicks met aviation pioneer Glenn L. Martin, who proposed that she jump from one of his airplanes. Tiny seized the chance without hesitation. Charles Broadwick developed a special backpack-style parachute for the attempt, which could be packed neatly into a harness worn on the jumper's back.
On June 21, 1913, Tiny climbed aboard Martin's aircraft. She sat on a seat mounted outside the airplane, with her parachute resting above her. At approximately 2,000 feet, she released the seat and fell away. A line attached to the aircraft pulled the parachute from its pack and opened it automatically. Tiny landed safely in Griffith Park, becoming the first woman to parachute from an airplane.
Later that same year she became the first person to parachute from a seaplane and the first woman to make a parachute jump into a body of water when she descended into Lake Michigan.
In 1914, the U.S. Army invited Tiny to demonstrate parachutes at North Island in San Diego. Military aviation was still in its infancy, and many pilots viewed parachutes with scepticism. Tiny's demonstrations were intended to show that airmen could survive emergency escapes from aircraft.
Tiny’s first three jumps went smoothly. During her fourth demonstration, the static line that pulled the parachute out of the backpack became entangled in the airplane's tail. Hanging helplessly behind the aircraft, Tiny realized she could not climb back aboard. Thinking quickly, she cut the line loose. Once clear of the aircraft, she pulled on the remaining section of cord and opened her parachute manually.
This was effectively the ripcord method of parachute deployment, an innovation that would prove crucial for pilot safety and became a standard feature in parachute design. Although later refinements and patents were developed by others, Broadwick's demonstration proved the concept and showed that controlled parachute deployment from an aircraft was practical.
Tiny Broadwick with open chute, c.1913-1922. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Tiny Broadwick made more than 1,100 jumps during her career, an astonishing number for an era when aviation itself was still new. She survived broken bones, rough landings, and countless close calls. Despite her diminutive stature, she became one of the most respected figures in early aviation.
Ankle injuries eventually forced her retirement in 1922 while she was in her late twenties. She was later honoured by aviation organizations, inducted into halls of fame, and recognized as one of the pioneers who helped make flight safer. Her parachutes are preserved in museum collections, including the Smithsonian Institution.
Reference:
# Tiny Broadwick biography
# Georgia “Tiny” Broadwick’s Parachute. Smithsonian
# Parachutist Tiny Broadwick of Vance County. DNCR
# Pioneering Teenage Parachuter Georgia ‘Tiny’ Broadwick Showed That Courage Isn’t Counted in Pounds. Smithsonian Magazine
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