January 30, 1872
В St. Petersburg was born Gleb KotelnikovThe creator of the first aviation backpack parachute - RK-1 ("backpack, Kotelnikov, first model").
It was 1910. I was 39 years old, an actor, performing at the People's House. Sometimes, in my free time, I would go to the airfield to watch the flights. <> Having taken off, Matsievich circled the airfield several times... But what happened? Why did a black figure of a man detach from the airplane and plummet downwards? <> It was the first victim of Russian aviation... Is it really impossible, I wondered, to protect the pilot, to save a person's life if an airplane crashes?
By the time of the tragedy at the All-Russian Balloon Festival, Kotelnikov had served in the Imperial Army, retiring with the rank of lieutenant, worked for 11 years as an excise official, and had established himself as a theater actor.
In 1911, the actor-inventor filed a patent for a "rescue pack for aviators with an automatically ejecting parachute." He sewed the canopy from durable silk—he was amazed that the enormous shawl easily fit through a woman's ring. This meant the gigantic piece could even be packed into a pilot's helmet. But Kotelnikov decided to pack the parachute into the pack.
I made a metal backpack. Inside the backpack, there was a shelf resting on two coil springs. The slings were placed on this shelf, and on them, the parachute canopy. I made the backpack lid on hinges with springs inside, so that when it opened, it would open more quickly. I attached a strap with a ring to the backpack's locking latch, hanging from the chest strap, so that I could open the parachute myself after jumping out of the plane.
The parachute's testing was successful. Abroad, the idea was put into production. However, delays arose at home—the first 75 units were manufactured only during the First World War, and even then, they were never used.
Kotelnikov handed over the improved models of the RK-2, RK-3 and the cargo RK-4 to the Soviet government.
He died in 1944. Paratroopers often visit his grave, tying "tyavochki" (tyavochki) on trees as a sign of gratitude to the inventor.