Can you fly with an umbrella like Mary Poppins?

Have you ever wondered if it is possible to glide through the air with an umbrella just like Mary Poppins? Well, it's probably not a thought that keeps you up at night, but for daredevil Erik Roner, he put the idea to the test!

Using a specially constructed umbrella, he was suspended from a hot air balloon. Once sufficient altitude was reached, he and the umbrella were dropped and the whole event was caught on cameras from various angles.

As Erik puts it:

"I'm hanging out under an umbrella, under a hot air balloon. I'm going to see if an umbrella actually slows you down, like Mary Poppins does."

And the result? Well, it works for quite a few seconds. In the video we see him gliding quite serenely through the air with the umbrella, until the force of the air causes the canopy of the umbrella to fail and he then falls to earth with his attached parachute. Although whether he is able to sing as beautifully as Julie Andrews has yet to be seen!

We think this was such a fun experiment and definitely answers a question that many of us probably asked as kids! Still, we fully recommend that you refrain completely from using our umbrellas at Brolliesgalore for such a stunt!

Well done Erik Roner for making such a fun and exciting video! What did you think of it?