Adrian Nicholas
{{Short description|British skydiver (1962 – 2005)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
Adrian Nicholas (4 March 1962 – 17 September 2005) was a British skydiver who completed more than 8,000 jumps in 30 countries.
He is best known for his successful test in July 2000 of Leonardo da Vinci's (1452–1519) parachute design, proving it to be in retrospect the world's first working parachute.{{cite web|work=Dropzone|url=http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page.cgi?ID=150|title=Adrian Nicholas Proves Da Vinci Chute Works|date=9 July 2000|accessdate=22 October 2012}} A modified pyramidal design was later also successfully tested by his Swiss colleague Olivier Vietti-Teppa.{{cite web|publisher=FOX News Network|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/swiss-man-safely-uses-leonardo-da-vinci-parachute|title=Swiss Man Safely Uses Leonardo da Vinci Parachute|date=29 April 2008|access-date=22 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421072140/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352917,00.html|archive-date=21 April 2010|url-status=live}}
World records
On 12 March 1999, Nicholas stepped out of an aeroplane at {{convert|35850|ft|m}}. He flew for 4 minutes, 55 seconds and covered a distance of {{convert|10|mi|km}}, establishing new world records for the longest sky dive and the furthest human flight. During the attempt the exhaust valve of his oxygen mask froze preventing him from breathing properly for about four minutes.{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1498884/Adrian-Nicholas.html | title=Adrian Nicholas | journal=The Daily Telegraph | date=22 September 2005 | accessdate=22 October 2012}}
Death
On 17 September 2005 Nicholas was jumping in Texel, the Netherlands. While performing a high speed landing manoeuvre, his automatic activation device fired at approximately {{convert|750|ft|m|abbr=off}} above the ground and deployed his reserve parachute. He attempted to correct the situation by releasing his main parachute, however, he still hit the ground hard enough that he died at the scene as a result of his injuries.{{cite web | url=http://www.dropzone.com/fatalities/Detailed/146.shtml | title=Hard landing after downplane caused by AAD firing | publisher=dropzone.com | work=dropzone.com skydiving fatalities | accessdate=15 October 2012}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{cite news|journal=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1498884/Adrian-Nicholas.html|title=Obituaries: Adrian Nicholas|date=22 September 2005|accessdate=22 October 2012}}
- Times Online: [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article578519.ece Adrian Nicholas (obituary)]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
- {{cite web|url=http://www.bpa.org.uk/skydive/pages/people/adriannichols.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301210052/http://www.bpa.org.uk/skydive/pages/people/adriannichols.htm|archivedate=1 March 2009|title=Adrian Nicholas - People in the Sport|last=Gale|first=Lesley|publisher=British Parachute Association|date=October 1998|accessdate=21 October 2012}}
- Dropzone.com: [http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1834550;page=1 Fatality Incident Discussion]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas, Adrian}}
Category:People educated at Aldenham School
Category:Place of birth missing
{{UK-sport-bio-stub}}