A Swiss man has shown that a parachute designed more than 500 years ago by Leonardo da Vinci works.
The 36-year-old parachutist made a successful 650-meter drop late last month. The parachute he used was made based on designs from a text by Leonardo.
“A perfect jump,” Olivier Vietti-Teppa said.
Vietti-Teppa is the first person to have made it safely to the ground with the Leonardo model. He jumped from a helicopter and the parachute opened at 600m.
The parachute was made using modern fabric. It consists of four equilateral triangles, 7m on each side. The base of the pyramid is a square of mosquito net, which enables the parachute to open.
One drawback is that it’s impossible to steer the Leonardo parachute. Vietti-Teppa said that “you come down at the whim of the wind.”
To test the parachute, Vietti-Teppa used a dummy launched from a remote-controlled model helicopter.
(STAFF WRITER, WITH AFP)
一名瑞士男子證實了五百多年前，由李奧那多．達文西設計的降落傘確實可「飛」。
上個月底，這名三十六歲的跳傘者成功地從六百五十公尺的高空跳下；他所使用的降落傘是根據達文西筆記中的降落傘設計圖製作而成。
奧立弗．維耶堤特帕說：「這是一次完美的跳傘。」
維耶堤特帕是用「達文西降落傘」平安著陸的第一人；他從一架直昇機上跳下，然後在距離地面六百公尺高處打開降落傘。
這具降落傘是用現代布料製成，由四個邊長七公尺的等邊三角形組成，金字塔底部是一個方形的蚊帳，這個設計讓降落傘可以順利展開。
「達文西降落傘」有一個缺點，就是跳傘者無法操控方向；維耶堤特帕說「你只能隨風飄」。
為了測試這具降落傘是否可行，維耶堤特帕先利用一具假降落傘和一架遙控模型直昇機進行演練。
（法新社�翻譯：袁星塵）
1. parachute n.
降落傘 (jiang4 luo4 san3)
例: Have you ever used a parachute?
(你有用過降落傘嗎？)
2. helicopter n.
直昇機 (zhi2 sheng1 ji1)
例: We took a helicopter to the top.
(我們搭直昇機上山頂。)
3. equilateral triangle n.
等邊三角形 (deng3 bian1 san1 jiao3 xing2)
例: All sides of an equilateral triangle are equal.
(等邊三角形的三邊等長。)
4. pyramid n.
角椎體 (jiao3 zhui1 ti3)，金字塔 (jin1 zi4 ta3)
例: There are many famous pyramids in Egypt.
(埃及有很多有名的金字塔。)
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