{{Short description|American airshow daredevil (1910–1937)}} {{Infobox person | name = Clements Joseph Sohn | image = Clem Sohn, vleugelmens, SFA005000066.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Sohn (center) prior to his final jump | birth_date = December 7, 1910 | birth_place = Fowler, Michigan, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1937|04|25|1910|12|07}} | death_place = Vincennes, Val-de-Marne, France | occupation = skydiver }}
'''Clements Joseph Sohn''' (December 7, 1910 – April 25, 1937) was an American airshow daredevil in the 1930s from Fowler, Michigan, United States.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/04/24/daring-bird-man-soars-at-10000-ft-on-homemade-wings/ |title=Daring Bird-Man Soars At 10,000 Ft. On Homemade Wings |journal=Modern Mechanix |date=May 1935 |access-date=31 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060617230328/http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/04/24/daring-bird-man-soars-at-10000-ft-on-homemade-wings/ |archive-date=June 17, 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Birthdate from [http://www.dewittlibrary.com/cemetery/other/mostholy.pdf cemetery inscription]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511154048/http://www.dewittlibrary.com/cemetery/other/mostholy.pdf |date=May 11, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Birdmen, Batmen, and Skyflyers: Wingsuits and the Pioneers Who Flew in Them, Fell in Them, and Perfected Them |first=Michael |last=Abrams |pages=[https://archive.org/details/birdmenbatmensky00abra/page/41 41–52] |publisher=Harmony Books |location=New York |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-4000-5491-6 |url-access=registration |access-date=31 May 2024 |via=Internet Archive |url=https://archive.org/details/birdmenbatmensky00abra/page/41}}</ref> He perfected a way of gliding through the air with a home-made wingsuit. He had himself dropped from an airplane at a height of approximately {{convert|6000|m}} and would glide down until he was only {{convert|300|m}} to {{convert|250|m}} from the ground, at which point he would open his parachute for the final descent.
He made the wings from zephyr cloth mounted on steel tubes, forming a large web under each arm which was clasped to his hips.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,883273,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929033310/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,883273,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 29, 2008 |title=Transport: Wing Man |magazine=Time |date=March 11, 1935 |access-date=October 16, 2012}}</ref> A feature of the wings was a device to prevent them from opening out too far and ripping his arms from their sockets. A loose cloth formed another web between his legs, which acted like a bird's tail. His large goggles gave him an appearance which led to his becoming known as "The Batman" or "The Batwing Jumper".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fowlermi.com/history.html |title=The Village of Fowler |last1=Feldspauch |first1=Rhonda |last2=Simon |first2=Lisa |publisher=Fowler, Michigan |access-date=October 16, 2012}}</ref><ref>Abrams, pp. 41, 45-47.</ref>
Clem was badly injured during the opening ceremony of Gatwick Aerodrome, in London, England, when his primary parachute tangled in his wings. He broke and mangled his shoulder on landing, after opening his emergency parachute at an altitude of only {{convert|60|m}} and crashing into a taxi.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.systemf.demon.co.uk/gargrave/birdman.htm |title=The Yorkshire Birdman |last=French |first=Dennis |access-date=October 16, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219065408/http://www.systemf.demon.co.uk/gargrave/birdman.htm |archive-date=February 19, 2012}}</ref><ref>Abrams, p. 49.</ref>
thumb|right|Sohn falls to his death. Sohn's career came to an end on April 25, 1937, in Vincennes, France. Before taking off, Clem had remarked, "I feel as safe as you would in your grandmother's kitchen". During his descent on that day, his parachute did not open. A crowd of 100,000 watched him frantically tug on the ripcord of his emergency chute, but that failed too, and Sohn, 26 years old, plunged to his death.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,931616,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080127080410/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,931616,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 27, 2008 |title=Transport: End of Sohn |magazine=Time |date=May 3, 1937 |access-date=31 May 2024}}</ref><ref>Abrams, pp. 50-51.</ref>
==Marketing== There was at least one attempt to exploit Sohn's fame with a product tie-in. A UK manufacturer made the 'Welcom' Clem Sohn Bird-Man Glider, featuring "a red suited male figure with fold-out arms" and rubber wheels. It is now a collectible.<ref>A specimen in good condition, complete with the original box, [http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/1566-Welcom-London-Clem-Sohn-Birdman-Glider_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem260315391680QQitemZ260315391680QQptZDiecastQ5fVehicles sold on eBay in 2008]{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} for GBP 100 (US$147.76). Retrieved December 10, 2008.{{dead link|date=October 2012}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{cite journal |last=Shannon |first=Homer |title=The Man Who Flew Like A Bird |journal=TRUE Flying Saucers and UFO Quarterly |page=18 |volume=17 |date=Spring 1980 |url=http://mimufon.org/1970%20articles/ManWhoFlew.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080606052519/http://mimufon.org/1970%20articles/ManWhoFlew.htm |archive-date=6 June 2008 |access-date=31 May 2024 |via=mimufon.org}} * {{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=td4DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA31 |title=Parachute Jumper Glides On Canvas Wings |magazine=Popular Mechanics |date=July 1935 |via=Google Books}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sohn, Clem}} Category:1910 births Category:1937 deaths Category:American skydivers Category:People from Fowler, Michigan Category:Sport deaths in France Category:Wingsuit flight deaths Category:20th-century American people