Skydiving Explained

Skydiving is an activity where people jump off from an airplane at high altitude before landing on the ground. While many consider this an extreme sport, it is also used by the military for various purposes.

In sports, parachuting is the term used for skydiving. Here, a group of people jump from an aircraft and perform various aerial maneuvers before landing. While they are airborne, a group of judges watch what they do and score them accordingly. The team that garners the most points wins.

In the military, skydiving was a backup system to save airmen who have to evacuate their aircraft. But years later, this was soon replaced with ejection seats. This did not stop the military from maximizing its potential because they soon realized that this is one way to drop troops quickly into a battle zone.

During the Second World War, airborne troops were dropped behind military lines. This practice is still being done today not only by the regular army but also by specialized units. Outside the military, wildfire fighters are deployed into a remote site if that is the only way in the fire zone.

The history of sky diving dates goes back to the 18th century because this was done by Andre Jacques Garnering who jumped from this air balloon with a parachute.

To make skydiving safe for those who jump, the gear they use is checked on a regular basis before they board and exit the aircraft. If the first parachute fails, a backup parachute is deployed and sometimes the person does not have to do anything if this is deployed automatically once it reaches a certain altitude.

Skydivers have to be physically fit, attend classes and be certified before they can go on a jump. For people who just want to try it, they can enlist the services of a skydiving company who will assign someone to do it with them.

There are thousands of sky divers in the US and the number is still growing because there are over 400 skydiving centers scattered all across the country. Some are open all year round, seven days a week while there are some that are only open on weekends. This really depends on the weather conditions and the discretion of those who run it.

Although there is no minimum age for skydiving, most skydiving centers require the individual to be at least 18 years of age. You can still jump even if you are 60 years old as long as you are not epileptic, have heart ailments or obese.

Skydiving is a safe activity despite the fact that you travel at a high speed before finally landing on the ground. On average 35 out of two million people who jump are killed each year. The cause of death is carelessness while very rare is it caused by equipment failure.

This is why it is important for skydivers both amateur and professionals to be trained very well in the use of their equipment. After jumping a few times with someone and taking ground classes, you may soon want to try this on your own.

Before you can do that, you have to sign a legally binding assumption of risk agreement which means that despite the risks involved in jumping from a plane, you are still willing to do so and not holding the skydiving center responsible should something happen.

What You Really Need to Know About Skydiving

Skydiving came from the recesses of necessity, as people need an escape route when an aircraft suddenly becomes unfit or unsafe to continue flying, or when it cannot land safely. It was conceptualized from a stunt done during 1797 when a crazy Frenchman by the name of Andre Jacques Farnerin jumped out of a hot-air-balloon and landed unscathed.

Obviously, this brought in a multitude of new possibilities into the table. Emergency safety in aircrafts has been improved and the US military even used it as a strategy that helped them win World War 2, especially in the European theater. With necessity established and good to go, people turned their attention to leisure.

Initial Public Outcry

Of course, it comes as no surprise that people would be moaning about the dangers of jumping out of an airplane that is thousands of feet above sea level. While doing so with the plane threatening to crash onto the earth like an impromptu meteorite, they all got squeamish with doing so out of a perfectly good one. Surely, they never saw the potential that skydiving could bring onto the table.

Soon enough, it was proven that it was safe beyond any shadow of a doubt. Statistics show that only one in every one hundred thousand jumps goes wrong and such circumstances are evidently rare. In comparison to other activities, skydiving is surprisingly safer.

Financial Misconceptions

Most people would think that skydiving is a luxury that is only accessible to the wealthy. While this is not entirely a fallacy due to the cost of equipment used for skydiving, not everyone who skydives is rich. There is charity organizations set up to let people skydive without expense at all. Also, sponsors can be called upon to fund an event where you can skydive for charity as well. As expenses may be grand, skydiving doesn't have to be aristocratic at all. It is definitely available for those with both the desire and the heart to do it.

Health Concerns

There are also health concerns regarding skydiving for each individual. Surely, there is no way that a sick person can skydive, right? Well, that may be true, but for only conditions that would definitely be affected from such an adrenaline-pumping activity. An epileptic, for example, would not be fit for a jump at all. On the other hand, an asthmatic can partake as long as he/she can keep it under control with medication. If you are one of those with medical conditions and you want to skydive, obtain an authentic medical certificate from your physician before participating in such an activity.

World Achievements

There are a lot of trivia when it comes to skydiving, and some of them are quite amazing indeed. For example, there was an event held in Thailand back in 2006 where 400 people from 312 countries jumped from 23,000 feet in a flower-like formation for around a minute and a half. There's also one of the oldest world records in skydiving, which is the longest skydiving jump in history.

Joseph Kittinger's extraordinary jump lasted for over four minutes from a height of 102,800 feet, which is quite unbelievable. The record, as of this writing, still stands and is one of the most amazing feats in skydiving history.