Flying the parachute has two basic challenges: to land where planned, often on a target; and to avoid injury. On a more advanced note, some skydivers enjoy performing aerobatic manoeuvres with parachutes. An example of this would be the “Swoop”, an extremely exciting, but dangerous skill which entails a fast speed approach towards the ground, and then levelling off a couple of feet above the ground to cover as much distance as possible (as much as 600 feet), in a fast horizontal swoop.
A modern parachute or canopy “wing” can glide substantial distances. Elliptical canopies go faster and farther, and some small, highly loaded canopies glide faster than a man can run, which can make them very challenging to land. A highly experienced skydiver using a very small canopy can achieve over 60 mph horizontal speeds in landing.
A good landing will not have any discomfort at all, and will land the skydiver within a few feet of his intended location. In competitions, champion accuracy skydivers routinely land less than two inches from the centre of a target.
Nowadays, most of the skydiving related injuries happen under a fully opened and functioning parachute, the most common reasons for these injuries are badly-executed, radical manoeuvres near to the ground, like hook turns, or too-low or too-high landing flares.
Parachuting organizations
National parachuting associations exist in many countries (many affiliated with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI)), to promote their sport. In most cases, national representative bodies, as well as prudent local dropzone operators, require that participants carry certification, attesting to their training, their level of experience in the sport, and their proven competence. Anyone who cannot produce such bona-fides is treated as a student, requiring close supervision.
Within the sport, associations promote safety, technical advances, training-and-certification, competition and other interests of their members. Outside their respective communities, they promote their sport to the public, and often intercede with government regulators.
Competitions are organized at regional, national and international levels in most these disciplines. Some of them offer amateur competition. Many of the more photogenic/videogenic variants also enjoy sponsored events with prize money for the winners.
The majority of jumpers tend to be non-competitive, enjoying the opportunity to “get some air” with their friends on weekends and holidays. The atmosphere of their gatherings is relaxed, sociable and welcoming to newcomers. Party events, called “boogies” are arranged at local, national and international scale, each year, attracting both the enthusiastic young jumpers and many of their elders — Parachutists Over Phorty (POPs), Skydivers Over Sixty (SOS) and even older groups who have yet to choose a catchy name for themselves. Famous people associated with this sport include Valery Rozov who is a gold medallist from the 1998 “X” Games, who has had more than 1,500 jumps. Also, there is Georgia Thompson (“Tiny”) Broadwick who is one of the first American skydivers, and she made the first freefall.
Parachuting Records
World’s largest freefall formation: 400. This record was set February 8, 2006 in Udon Thani, Thailand.
Don Kellner holds the record for the most parachute jumps, with a total of over 36,000 jumps.
Cheryl Stearns (USA) holds the record for the most parachute descents by a woman, with a total of 15,560 in August 2003.
Capt. Joe W. Kittinger achieved the highest parachute jump in history on August 16, 1960 as part of a United States Air Force program testing high-altitude escape systems. Wearing a pressure suit, Capt. Kittinger ascended for an hour and a half in an open gondola attached to a balloon to an altitude of 102,800 feet, where he then jumped. The fall lasted more than 13 minutes, during which Capt. Kittinger reached speeds exceeding 600 miles per hour.
What should I know about skydiving before going?
What to bring?
Comfortable clothes. Call ahead to see if the Dropzone provides jumpsuits. Some require them, some just offer them and some don't have them. If you will not be wearing a jumpsuit, wear heavy jeans and a shirt that will prevent your boobies from flying out. Or not, it's your video.
Cash. Pretty much everyone either requires or gives a discount for cash. Also Instructors always love tips.
Money to buy video. You want the video. Trust me on this.
Something to keep you occupied while you wait. Anytime you try to put human beings on an airplane shit gets in the way and sometimes you have to wait. Depending on where and when you go, the wait can be anything from the 10 mins it takes you to fill out your paperwork to leaving after an 8 hour wait without jumping. What will affect your wait time?
1. Weather. You can't jump through clouds, so if you live the Pacific Northwest bring a sandwich and a deck of cards.
2. The day of the week. Some places get super busy on the weekends, so a weekday jump may be preferable.
3. Your arrival time. Arriving early, in the first available slot will result in the least amount of wait time.
What will happen after you arrive?
You will fill out paperwork, watch a horrible movie by Bill Booth, one of the inventors of tandem skydiving and the guy who made your skydiving equipment. Some places will put you in a class, some places will have your instructor train you.
The training will most likely be brief. You really just need to know what to do with your arms and legs on exit, in freefall, and during the landing. The training for the landing is the most important. If you forget everything else they say, pay attention to what they say for landing.
This is the part where you might have to wait like 5 hours. It's normal.
What will happen on your jump?
It depends. There is a variety of things Instructors do on the exit. Some will do a gainer, some a flip if you ask them. Most do a poised exit, where they face their belly into the wind as stable as possible. Within 10 seconds of leaving the aircraft they will deploy the drogue parachute. It is a small parachute that both stabilizes the tandem pair and slows them to a 'normal' 120mph.
If you have Outside Video your jump will be much more entertaining. Your videographer will fly around and take some cool shots of you, and may even come in for a highfive. If your Dropzone only does HandCam, where you Instructor will wear a camera on his hand, the video is still cool, but if you don't really want it then don't get it. It's worth the cost of the Outside Video just to have another person out there with you.
At around 5,000ft your Instructor will pull the drogue release cable. Up until this time the drogue has been behind you. When the cable is pulled the drogue is not longer attached to your Instructor's harness. It will then catch air and pull your main parachute out of the container and inflate. Opening shock isn't that severe at all, so don't expect some huge jolt.
After opening your Instructor will detach the two lower connection points on your harness and proceed to burn off some altitude. At around 500ft they'll enter the pattern at the landing area and fly a downwind, base and final just like an aircraft. On landing you will do what they told you to do and then plop down. You may stand up, you may sit down, you might impact and rip your pants. It depends on about 5000 things, of which your Instructor can control about 2000.
Sometimes people say their ears hurt. If you have problems equalizing, like when you descend in an airliner, if your sinuses hurt, then skydiving may be problematic. Taking sinus clearing medication, like zyrtex, claritin, ibuprofen or something like that will help, as will cough drops or dayquil or something.
Is it safe?
No. You are jumping out of an airplane.
Will I hurt myself or die?
No, probably not. Tandem skydiving is the safest form of skydiving there is. It is safer than riding a bicycle in San Francisco or skateboarding or doing almost anything else where your body moves faster than 30mph.
How do I pick where to go?
There are a couple things you can do to make sure you pick the best Dropzone for your first jump.
Check out their reviews. Go to Yelp, Dropzone.com, Tripadvisor, etc. What are you looking for? Ignore anything complaining about the wait time. You should look for the vibe. Find a place where the reviews mention 'fun' over and over again. Avoid places where they say 'asshole' over and over again.
Find out what kind of aircraft they use and how many it seats. If the engine is piston powered, avoid at all costs. If the aircraft is turbine powered you're in luck. If the aircraft holds less than 10 people, avoid at all costs. Bigger, turbine powered aircraft mean higher altitude and a strong, healthy dropzone that has been around awhile or is run by competent people. Piston aircraft are small, noisy, uncomfortable, and should be avoided. These dropzones are generally smaller and are sometimes fly-by-night operations. Sometimes dropzones will use piston aircraft on weekdays. If this is the case make sure you jump out of a turbine.
Ask what kind of tandem equipment they use. If they say anything except Sigma don't go there. Sigma tandem systems are the newest in the industry and at this point everything else is outdated and based on a 20 year old design.
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