Parachutes and Gliders in Umayyad Spain
Minaret of the Great Mosque at Córdoba. In 852, Ibn Firnas is said to have jumped off the top in a parachute-like apparatus, and survived with minor injuries.
Islamic Spain during the Umayyad renaissance under the Caliphate of Cordoba witnessed several attempts at flight by the Arab polymath and inventor Abbas Ibn Firnas (his name is sometimes Latinized as "Armen Firman", leading to some confusion whether these two are different people), who was supported by the Emir Abd ar-Rahman II. In 852 he made a set of wings with cloth stiffened by wooden struts. With this umbrella-like apparatus, Ibn Firnas jumped off the minaret of the Grand Mosque in Cordoba - while he could not fly, his apparatus slowed his fall, and he escaped with minor injuries. His device is now considered to have been a prototype of the modern parachute.
Twenty-five years later, at the age of 65, Ibn Firnas came up with an improved design, which included the first flight control surfaces. He took this set of wings, considered to be the first hang glider, to a small hill called Jabal al-'arus, and apparently managed to fly for quite some time, by some accounts as long as ten minutes. This was the first attempt at controlled flight, as he was able to alter his altitude and change his direction in order to return to where he flew from. After successfully returning to his starting point, he eventually crashed to the ground, and said later that the landing could have been improved by providing a tail apparatus. His flight was apparently the inspiration for Eilmer of Malmesbury, more than a century later, who would fly for about 200 meters using a similar glider (circa 1010).
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