How does a Parachute let you jump out of a plane?

Summary

Who Smarted? – "How Does a Parachute Let You Jump out of a Plane?" (May 18, 2026)

Podcast: Who Smarted?
Host: Trusty Narrator (Atomic Entertainment/Starglow Media)
Guest Character: Leonardo da Vinci
Target Audience: Kids, parents, teachers
Episode Theme: Exploring the history, science, and fun facts behind parachutes—how they work, their evolution, and their uses.

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Episode Overview

This episode takes young listeners on a humorous, fact-filled adventure through the history and science of parachutes. With the trusty narrator and a playfully skeptical Leonardo da Vinci as co-hosts, the show uncovers how parachutes slow down a fall, who invented and perfected them, what they're made of, and the amazing ways they’re used today—from skydiving to beaver relocation!

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Leonardo da Vinci and the Birth of the Parachute

• Setting: The episode begins in the 1480s with Leonardo da Vinci, who’s feeling inventive but stuck.
• Leonardo’s "Fall Slower": He introduces his concept:
  • "If you hold this over your head, you can leap from any great height without hurting yourself." (B as Leonardo, 02:48)
• Trusty reassures Leo his design is ahead of its time and will inspire the parachute.

2. What Makes Parachutes Work? (Scientific Principles)

• Main function: Parachutes use air resistance (drag) to slow a fall.
• "Parachutes create air resistance, also known as drag." (A as Trusty, 04:37)
• Key factor: Surface area is crucial.
  • "The bigger a fall slower is… the more air molecules it can trap underneath it, which causes more air resistance or drag." (B as Leonardo, 05:15)
• Fun fact: Gravity would make you fall at about 125 mph from a plane, but a parachute slows you to 12 mph—safe for landing.

3. History of the Parachute – Major Milestones

• 1783, France: Louis-Sébastien Lenormand coins “parachute” and demonstrates it for fire escapes.
  • "He’s the inventor who actually coined the word parachute, putting the Italian prefix para, meaning to resist, together with the French word chute, which means fall." (A as Trusty, 06:43)
• Design evolution:
  • Ditching wooden frames for lighter, silk parachutes (~1790s).
  • Modern parachutes are mostly made of nylon. (A as Trusty, 07:45)
• Innovations: 1907, Charles Brodwick invents the parachute backpack after jumping from hot air balloons.

4. Packing and Using Parachutes

• Who packs parachutes?
  • "There are people called riggers who were specially trained and certified at folding parachutes." (A as Trusty, 08:37)
  • Skydivers today learn to pack their own main chute.
• Number of parachutes:
  • "Modern skydivers actually have three. A main chute, a reserve chute... and a pilot chute." (A as Trusty, 08:55)
• Pilot chute: Pulls open the main parachute. (A, 09:17)

5. Parachutes in Action: Real-World Uses

• Parachuting isn’t just for thrill-seekers!
  • Air Force pilots: Eject to safety.
  • Paratroopers (WWII): Used parachutes for covert landings.
  • Dummies: Dropped to confuse enemies.
  • Wildlife: Idaho beavers were safely relocated by parachuting from planes.
    • "Which is both an amazing idea for helping wildlife and for a Pixar movie." (A as Trusty, 10:21)
  • Drag racing and space capsules: Use smaller "drogue" parachutes to slow down at high speeds.

6. Special Types of Parachutes

• Drogue parachutes:
  • Smaller, work at higher speeds, create less drag. (A as Trusty, 11:00)
  • "A normal parachute will rip apart if the object it's attached to is going faster than 172 miles per hour." (A as Trusty, 11:18)

7. Modern Parachute Records

• Alan Eustace's World Record–Highest Skydive (2014)
  • Rode a balloon to 135,898 feet before jumping.
  • Needed:
    • A drogue for stability (spin prevention).
    • A heavy spacesuit (over 400 lbs).
    • A main chute deployed at 4,000–5,000 ft.
  • "He survived a free fall from space higher than any person has ever gone without a spaceship. And he made it safely back to earth, thanks in large part to your invention, Leonardo." (A as Trusty, 19:14)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Smarty Pants. Pants that make you smarter. I love it. Painting can wait. I'll get right to work on designing a smarty pants."
  —Leonardo da Vinci puzzling over modern slang (02:00)

• "Mona Lisa. He's about to jump."
  —Leonardo upon seeing the first parachute demonstration (07:05)

• "You just said main parachute. People have more than one?"
  —Leonardo boggled by modern skydiving (08:50)

• "In Idaho, they once relocated hundreds of beavers in the wilderness by dropping them out of planes with parachutes. Which is both an amazing idea for helping wildlife and for a Pixar movie."
  —Trusty sharing a fun, surprising fact (10:21)

• "Drogue or regular style?"
  —Leonardo, learning skydiver lingo (17:49)

• "He survived a free fall from space higher than any person has ever gone without a spaceship. And he made it safely back to earth, thanks in large part to your invention, Leonardo."
  —Trusty, tying history and modern science together (19:14)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:08–04:18: Introduction; Leonardo’s “fall slower”; origins of the parachute concept
• 04:18–05:47: Science of falling—drag, air resistance, surface area
• 06:12–07:29: 1783: Lenormand’s demonstration; coining “parachute”
• 07:39–08:28: Silk and nylon parachutes; parachute pants mention
• 08:50–09:37: Packing parachutes; how modern chutes work; pilot chute explained
• 10:01–11:15: Uses in war, wildlife, racing, and space; special "drogue" chutes
• 16:47–19:26: Alan Eustace’s record skydive; modern high-altitude parachuting
• Throughout: Interactive questions, trivia, and jokes between hosts

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Episode Style & Tone

• Language: Playful, conversational, peppered with jokes and kid-friendly banter.
• Approach: Relatable analogies, historical sketches, interactive trivia, and vivid storytelling.
• Tone: Energetic, supportive, and infused with awe for science and invention.

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Final Thoughts

This episode of Who Smarted? delivers a whirlwind tour of parachutable wisdom: from da Vinci’s sketches to modern space jumps, all wrapped up with humor and dynamic exchanges. Listeners come away knowing not just the how, but the wow—of parachute science and history.

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Perfect for: Curious kids, science-lovers, teachers building lesson plans, parents wanting smart entertainment, or anyone who’s ever wondered if you really can jump out of a plane and land safely.

Transcript

[A]

Hey, parents trusty here. You know what I hear constantly from homeschool parents in the whosmarted community? Thank you for introducing us to ixl. I get it. My cousin homeschools her kids and raves about how much IXL helps. We're heading into that stretch where families are finishing the year strong, and then summer hits with travel camps and shifting routines, and that's where IXL shines. IXL is an award winning online learning platform that fits seamlessly into homeschooling, with interactive practice across math, language arts, science and social studies from Pre K through 12th grade. Everything's organized by grade and subject, so you quickly find what each kid needs. Kids get instant explanations and parents, you get clear Progress reports. Over 15 million students use IXL and it's proven to improve achievement in all 50 states. So make an impact on your child's learning. Who Smarted? Listeners get an exclusive 20% off when they sign up today at www.ixl.com smartid. That's ixl.com smarted and now it's time for who Smarted?

[B]

Who is it?

[A]

Hi, Mr. Da Vinci. It's me, the trusty narrator. May I come in?

[B]

Fine.

[A]

Here you go, Leo. That book you wanted from the library. Painting for Dummies.

[B]

Thanks. I need a new hobby. Inventing stuff. It isn't working out.

[A]

You've got ideas for scuba gear, air conditioning, a self supporting bridge, a helicopter, even a robotic knight. You're a true genius.

[B]

Oh, stop. No, please, go on.

[A]

Trust me. One day you'll be so famous they'll name a turtle warrior after you.

[B]

I don't know what that means.

[A]

You'll also be featured on the who's Smarted podcast, where tons of smartypants will learn all about your works of greatness.

[B]

Smarty Pants. Pants that make you smarter. I love it. Painting can wait. I'll get right to work on designing a smarty pants.

[A]

Um, you're taking Smarty Pants a little too literally. Smarty Pants are the listeners of who's Smart It Smartypants. As you can hear, I'm with the great Leonardo da Vinci in the mid-1480s, and he seems to be in a bit of a creative funk. Say, what's this drawing in your sketchbook? Is this a new kind of umbrella?

[B]

Huh? No, that's a man holding an open pyramid of wooden poles covered by linen cloth. I call it the fall slower.

[A]

The fall Slower? Uh, what does that do?

[B]

If you hold this over your head, you can leap from any great height without hurting yourself.

[A]

I'm okay.

[B]

Of Course, I'm not sure if anyone could actually leap from a great height. There isn't a building in town taller than 20ft. Never mind. It's useless.

[A]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Believe it or not, your fall slower invention is actually a really good idea. Not for now, but for the future. Oh.

[B]

How do you know so much about the future?

[A]

Let's just say I get around. Anyway, I know for a fact that your false slower drawing would lay the groundwork for an invention that would change the world. Or at least make it a little safer. Smarty pants. Do you know what invention I'm talking about? Did you say the parachute?

[B]

Parachute, huh? I like that almost as much as smarty pants.

[A]

Let's forget the smarty pants. No, no, no, no. Not you, smarty pants. Listening. I mean smarty pants you wear. Instead, let's focus on the parachute, which also became pants back in the 1980s.

[B]

Parachute pants.

[A]

We'll get to that. But first, let's answer, how do parachutes make you fall slower? What are parachutes made of? And how have parachutes evolved over the years? It's time for another whiff of history and science on who smarted,

[B]

who's smarted?

[A]

Who's smart?

[B]

Is it you? Is it me?

[A]

Is it science or history? Listen up, everyone. We make smarting lots of fun.

[B]

On who's smart and.

[A]

Okay, Leonardo, before we talk about the evolution of parachutes, let's talk about how parachutes act actually slow you down when you're falling. It all has to do with what is it? A, creating air resistance, B, making you lighter than air, or C, making you fall sideways? The answer is, A, parachutes create air resistance, also known as drag. And the amount of drag a parachute creates is mainly based on what, Smarty pants? The color of the parachute, the material it's made of, or how much surface area it has.

[B]

Oh, I know this one. It's the surface area. The bigger a fall slower is. I mean, a parachute, the more air molecules it can trap underneath it, which causes more air resistance or drag.

[A]

Nice job, Leonardo. Smarty pants. Did you get either of those right? Nice job if you did. The way it works is like this. If you jump out of an airplane, gravity causes you to fall toward the Earth at about 125 miles per hour.

[B]

Whoa.

[A]

Yikes. That's fast. But thanks to drag, a parachute can slow you down to just 12 miles per hour. Slow enough to land on your feet. Wow.

[B]

Also, what's an airplane?

[A]

We'll get to that. But first, let's jump ahead in time. To another key moment in the history of the parachute.

[B]

Wait, you invented a time machine?

[A]

Just go with it, Leo. Welcome to France in the year 1783. Believe it or not, Leo, you. You were so far ahead of your time, it took 300 years before anyone improved on your initial parachute design. And they're about to test it for the first time right now.

[B]

Wait, why is that guy standing on the roof of that observatory? Is he insane?

[A]

That is Louis Sebastien Lenormand. He's the inventor who actually coined the word parachute, putting the Italian prefix para, meaning to resist, together with the French word shoot, which means fall. Para shoot. The invention that helps you resist falling. Right now, he wants to demonstrate how a parachute could be used to escape from a burning building.

[B]

Mona Lisa. He's about to jump.

[A]

Little Mend would become known as the father of the modern parachute.

[B]

Hold on. He gets credit for the parachute, but his looks almost exactly like mine. It's basically just a big, wooden framed umbrella covered with a cloth.

[A]

Don't worry, Leo. People still credit you with the original design Anyway. The next big advancement in parachute design came about 15 years later when they got rid of the frame and started making parachutes from silk, which was stronger and lighter.

[B]

Ooh, silky.

[A]

Today, modern parachutes are made mostly of nylon. And in the 1980s, parachute pants made from a similar nylon material were very popular. They also had a lot of zippers. But back to the early parachutes. Smarty pants. Any idea how they tested them? Did they leap off cliffs, jump out of hot air balloons, or shoot themselves out of cannons? If you said hot air balloons. Nice. In 1907, Charles Brodwick gained fame by jumping out of hot air balloons at fairs. He was the one who came up with the idea of folding a parachute into a backpack.

[B]

You're cheating, right? How could you possibly know how to fold a parachute correctly? I can't even fold a fitted sheet, and I'm a genius.

[A]

Luckily, there are people called riggers who were specially trained and certified at folding parachutes. However, today, people who skydive regularly are trained to pack their own main parachutes.

[B]

Wait, you just said main parachute. People have more than one?

[A]

Yep. Modern skydivers actually have three. A main chute, a reserve chute in case the main one doesn't open, and a pilot chute. Say, what do you think the pilot chute does, smarty pants? Does it, A, help to open your main parachute, B, fly above your parachute to help others spot you, or C, float back up to the plane for the pilot to use? The answer is A When a skydiver is at the height where they want to deploy their parachute, usually about 3,000 to 5,000ft, they release their pilot chute, which flies up and pulls their main parachute out of their backpack so it can open. Wow.

[B]

Parachutes certainly have gotten fancy. But do they really have any good practical uses? I mean, why would anyone want to jump out of a perfectly good flying machine? Airplane, whatever.

[A]

Well, sure, there are people who skydive for adrenaline or as a thrill seeking hobby, but the parachute has been used for all kinds of stuff. Air Force pilots use them to safely eject from their jets if something goes wrong.

[B]

Mayday.

[C]

Mayday.

[A]

And there's a type of soldier called a paratrooper. Back In World War II, not only did soldiers parachute down behind enemy lines or onto battlefields, we also dropped thousands of dummies with parachutes in other places to confuse the enemy.

[B]

Brilliant.

[A]

In Idaho, they once relocated hundreds of beavers in the wilderness by dropping them out of planes with parachutes. Which is both an amazing idea for helping wildlife and for a Pixar movie.

[B]

Pixar?

[A]

Never mind, smarty pants. There's also a sport called drag racing where cars speed down a track at over 300 miles an hour. They use special parachutes called drogues to slow them down at the finish line. They also use drogue parachutes to slow down space capsules when they re enter our atmosphere.

[B]

How are these drogue parachutes different from regular ones?

[A]

Let's see if the smarty pants can guess which of the following is true about a drogue parachute. It's smaller than a regular parachute, it can be used at higher speeds or it produces less drag. The answer is all three.

[B]

Pretty sneaky trusty.

[A]

A normal parachute will rip apart if the object it's attached to is going to faster than 172 miles per hour. The air resistance is just too strong. That's when you have to go drogue.

[B]

Um, did you say space capsule? You know, I dabbled a bit in astronomy.

[A]

Yes. Believe it or not, Leo, in the mere 600 years since your lifetime, we've not only learned to fly, but we've landed on the moon. The eagle has landed. In fact.

[B]

What are you doing?

[A]

I'm setting my time machine for October 24, 2014. You're not going to believe this. Any idea what I'm going to show Mr. Da Vinci Smarty pants? Well, you'll find out right after this quick break. Hey, smarty families. I've had the skylight calendar in our kitchen. For about a week. And I'll just tell you what changed. It became the one source of truth before this, keeping track of who, what, when and where with sticky notes, group text, and hopefully me remembering to get the groceries. Now everyone checks the same screen. The meal planning feature alone has saved us from the nightly what's for dinner spiral, and I can pull recipes right into it. Skylight is the calendar I didn't know I needed Skylight is designed to bring families together for more time. It syncs seamlessly with Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, and Outlook with customizable daily, weekly, and monthly views. The tasks feature helps kids build healthy routines and independence. Brushing teeth, homework, and chores become fun and rewarding. Assign each family member their own color and the excuses disappear. If you're not 100% thrilled in four months, you can get a full refund. Now, you know I love an adventure, but Skylight has helped me make organizing the family less of a safari. Families are better when they're working together. Right now, Skylight is offering our listeners $30 off their 15 inch calendars by going to myskylight.com smarted go to myskylight.com smartED or for $30 off your 15 inch calendar that is my S K-Y-L-I G-H-T.com smarted. You know what I love? TaskRabbit when we moved our whosmarted office, how did we find our mover? TaskRabbit When I've got errands piling up and zero time to run them? TaskRabbit Ikea furniture assembly that's about to drive me mental, I call call me a Tasker. I've been blown away by how helpful and awesome they are every single time. TaskRabbit connects you with skilled taskers in your area for moving furniture, assembly, home repairs, mounting a tv, yard work, you name it. You can search based on cost, skill set, availability and past client reviews, and these taskers have put in the reps. Over 3.4 million pieces of furniture assembled. 700,000 home repairs. One and a half million moves and counting. I love TaskRabbit smarty pants. And you will too. When life happens, your to do list grows. Get ahead of it now and get $15 off your first [e-mail] or on the TaskRabbit app using promo code Smarted taskers book up fast, especially for same day tasks. So book trusted home help today. That's 15 off your first task using promo code smarted with the TaskRabbit app [e-mail]

[C]

who's that walking through the woods? Why, it's Yoshi. Here to explore a world of curious creatures with you Discovered a creature you haven't seen before? Why don't you get Yoshi to see what it tastes like? Hmm, soapy. No wonder this creature blows giant bubbles so big they can carry you. You can even jump from one bubble to another and reach new areas. There are plenty more surprises to discover too. Bowser Jr. What are you doing out here? You can jump into adventure with Yoshi and The Mysterious Book. May 21, only on Nintendo Switch 2. Game Rated E for everyone.

[A]

Hey, smarty pants. Trust your narrator here. Spring is here. And you know what that means on the farm. Baby chicks hatching inside their eggs. Calves moving into their tiny little houses. Flowers figuring out when it's time to wake up. And yes, that smell. You know the one. If you've ever wondered why any of that happens, I have got the show for you. The Super Smart Farm Show Podcast. But don't take it from me. Take it from my friend Elmer, who actually lives this stuff and hosts the show. This spring on the Super Smart Farm show, we're hatching chicks, visiting baby calves, and yes, we are going to talk about why farms smell funny in the spring. And trust me, once you know the reason, you'll never look at your garden

[B]

the same way again.

[A]

See what I mean? That Super Smart Farm Show, A family podcast that answers every question you never knew you had about farms, animals and food. Playful, curious and genuinely smart. From the Lancaster Farming team, who've been covering agriculture since 1955. Find Super Smart Farm show wherever you get your podcasts or@lancaster farming.com now back to who smarted? Here we are.

[B]

Are we where I think we are?

[A]

Yep. The edge of outer space.

[B]

My heavens.

[A]

Precisely. AKA the stratosphere. And if you look over there, you'll see a guy in a spacesuit attached to the bottom of a gigantic super high tech high altitude balloon.

[B]

Who's that and what's he doing?

[A]

His name is Alan Eustace. He's an American computer scientist who is about to break a record. Smartypants, any guesses what Alan is trying to do? Is it A, be the first person to float to the moon, B, execute the world's highest free fall, or C, find a really quiet place to read?

[B]

There's got to be quieter and safer places to read, for sure.

[A]

No. Alan has ridden a giant balloon 135,898ft up above the earth to break the world Record for the highest skydive ever. But while he needs a balloon to go up, he'll also need a very good parachute to get back down. Luckily he has two.

[B]

Drogue or regular style?

[A]

Both. He has a very large parachute to help slow him down. Also, because Alan is not in a capsule, he needs a specially designed spacesuit that weighs over 400 pounds. But he also has a drogue parachute that will help stabilize him from spinning in circles more than 100 times per minute.

[B]

Why would he start spinning like that?

[A]

Because he'll be falling over 8, 120 miles per hour. It took Alan hours to float up this high, but it'll just be a matter of minutes for him to fall back to Earth. When he reaches an altitude of about 4 to 5,000ft, his main chute will deploy.

[B]

That's still pretty high up.

[A]

Yes, but you need to be at a high enough altitude when you open your parachute. Otherwise it won't fully open and you'll hit the ground too fast.

[B]

Nope, don't want that to happen.

[A]

No siree. The lowest inexperienced skydiver will open. Their chute is around 2,500ft. Anyway, here he goes. Wow. He's going faster than the speed of sound. But look. Thanks to the drogue, he isn't spinning.

[B]

But all that weight plummeting downwards that fast. Is his parachute really going to stop him?

[A]

He did it. He survived a free fall from space higher than any person has ever gone without a spaceship. And he made it safely back to earth, thanks in large part to your invention, Leonardo.

[B]

Wow. I'm glad my false lore has been put to good use. Now I just have one question, Trusty, we don't have parachutes. How are we getting down?

[A]

Just kidding. A high flying shout out to Cole in Faftown, North Carolina, who loves that Whosmarted, makes learning fun and teaches them so many interesting facts. Which of course is exactly what we're here for. Thanks, Cole. This episode Parachutes was written by Steve Melcher and voiced by Taya Garlad and Jerry Colbert. Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hahn. Who's Smarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios. Our associate producer is Max Kamaski. The theme song is by Brian Suarez with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex Davis. Who's Smarted was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colbert. This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.