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Floyd went to work for Glenn Martin as a mechanic and then as Martin's chief test pilot. It was while he was making a test flight for Martin that he began his work on developing the manually operated free parachute which was used worldwide for many years by civilian and military pilots alike. 

Martin had scheduled a combination exhibition flight and parachute jump in 1914 as part of the ceremonies opening Los Angeles' Inner Harbor. Hilder Smith, who had worked with her husband in his parachute experiments, agreed to participate in the parachute part in exchange for flight instruction and use of Martin aircraft. 

Hilder made her jump from about 600 feet, but as she left the aircraft, she twisted and fouled her chute, which streamed along behind her. She had a free-fall of about 400 feet, working frantically all the while with all her trapeze training to untangle the lines. The chute opened about 200 feet off the water, and swinging her feet to avoid the masts of the boats below her, she reached land safely.