Switzerland Bird Man Rudolf R. Piles (b/w photo)

MILESTINES CATALOGUE - The most famous Swiss birdman Rudolf R. Boehlen poses in June 1953 in Switzerland with a self-constructed pair of wings. He died at the age of 56 because of severe brain bleeding he came from the International Airshow in Augsburg, Germany. Bohlen, an employee of the municipal administration in Therwil in the canton of Basel-Land (Basel Country), Switzerland, held the world records of highest and lowest parachute jumps. He became internationally known as birdman because of his jumps from airplanes with a pair of wings. He used the wings to float to a height of 300 meters at which point he used his parachute to land.