Birdman braves bad weather to make most daring and spectacular flight at Portsmouth . Because he did not want to disappoint a vast crowd of 70 , 000 Clem Sohn , the American ' bird man ' , made the most daring and spectacular dive and flight of his career in bad weather only 3 , 000 feet above Portsmouth Airport . At first it was thought the weather was too bad for the ' bird man ' , to make his jump but he went up and , as the dark clouds above the aerodrome lifted , jumped from the plane , opened his wings and swooped for a mile before releasing his parachute at the last minute to land among the crowd . Sohn usually makes his jumps from from a height of 10 , 000 fet . Photo shows , Clem Sohn landing by parachute at Portsmouth during display . 10 May 1936 *** Local Caption ***