H istory will credit Cirrus Aircraft as the first manufacturer to certify a parachute system for general aviation airplanes-but Cirrus was not the first to try it. In 1929 Roscoe Turner-the barnstorming race pilot who was known for flying with a lion cub- flew to 4,000 feet in a Thunderbird W-14 biplane and activated a whole-airplane parachute attached to the front of the airplane. The airplane sustained a rather solid touchdown that crushed its landing gear, but Turner lived to fly another day. (He wasn't flying with the lion cub on that occasion.) aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 67http://www.aopa.org/pilot