Archibald “Archie” Pell Atherton III (January 4, 1906 – February 16, 1958) was an American pioneering parachutist, and inventor of various patented parachute designs. A pioneer for air safety; he is known as the originator of "spot landing", averaging a drop a day for one year at his peak.
Early life
Atherton was born in Maquoketa, Iowa on January 4, 1906. The second son of Archibald Pell Atherton II (1868–1940) and Netti Marie Buck (1878–1946) on January 4, 1906. His father was born in Glens Falls, NY, and moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa in his youth. His mother had paternal French Canadian ancestry. His father was initially a salesman for a sash and door company, before opening a grocery store in Iowa.
Career
At the age of 19, Atherton was mustered into the United States Marine Corps as a Private first class during May 1925, and was based at the Quantico, Virginia. Atherton gained notoriety within the service for developing his own technique of parachute landing.
Upon leaving the marines, he maximized use of this skill, together with his entrepreneurial spirit, contracting with industry T.C. Ryan Aircraft for high-profile jumps from 1928. The Aeronautical Industry publications reported Atherton having completed 81 jumps for marine aviation. He set up a School of Parachuting in 1928 in the San Diego area. By 1930, publications in the United Kingdom were reporting his successes in the industry.
He set up a parachute supply and repair service during the 1930s, and participated in the design of new parachutes for both commercial and military use; some which he patented in his own name throughout the 1940s. In the 1945 records from the Civil Aeronautics Board disclose that he testified as a parachute specialist as part of this organisation's staff.
Pioneering jumps
He first achieved national notoriety while in the United States Marine Corps for completing the first ever parachute jump into Yosemite National Park in 1926. Two years later the California State Automobile Association publication “Motorland” described Atherton as a rather small man in stature, who leaps overboard with only a silk chute to break his fall.
The year following his Yosemite jump, still active in the U. S. Marine Corps as a Marine Corporal, Atherton demonstrated a high-profile stunt jump to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Edward Pearson Warner, at the San Diego Naval Base. Press pictures captured him in mid air at .
In September 1927 the press described Sergeant Atherton and Chief Petty Officer Bill Dodson as the Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig of air stage parachute battle. In a joint interview Atherton and Dodson revealed that they made 34 jumps from a high plane and raced one another to the ground from a mile above the earth. Atherton was introduced into the article as a Famous Marine Corps Parachute Jumper, and in his own words describes to the Newspaper Enterprise Association the thrill of jumping out of an airplane, and speeding a half mile above the earth. His plunge from a plane is shown in a series of photographs; at the top of the leap, as his parachute opens, and then upon his final descent. Months later, Atherton retired from service.
The Archie Atherton School of Parachute Instruction
In April 1928, Time Magazine described Atherton as a crack parachutist of the U. S. Marine Corps, who had opened a private parachute school in San Diego. The first of its kind; the first such site offering an opportunity for thrill seekers to take up parachuting as a new outdoor sport. His proven track record, at the time of the parachute school's inauguration, was having 700 jumps under his belt. This level of notoriety had sparked interest on a national level and he received detailed coverage statewide in the regional press where he is described by one reporter as a Daredevil who opened a new Thrill School. The first articles praising this new chapter in aviation safety originated from the Miami News-Record in March 1928. In order to grow his parachute business, Atherton needed experienced parachutists, and was willing to pay a high rate to meet the demand. He promoted his enterprise by placing a parachutist recruitment advertisement in the March 1928 edition of Flying Magazine aiming to efficiently reach a specialist national audience of potential candidates, as well as promote his business. Within a year he had 135 students.