Robert Waugh asked:


This incident took place a few years ago, I am unable to name names, the location and country where this incident took place, however I can explain what happened on this day and the lucky escape a close friend of mine had. The reporting of these incidents is sometimes frowned upon, however I believe that good reporting of such incidents and accidents can help us all to become more aware and safer.

 

We had gone to max around 12k and the weather had suddenly closed in, the aircraft began descending and we were looking for a clear spot, we broke cloud cover at about 1,700 ft and the pilot gave the call do you want to take it, some of us said yes. On the run in we were now down to 1,500ft as the cloud was now closing in further. I called to the pilot and said no its too low, he said I will pull it up into the cloud just as we get over the spot we said OK that’s fine. We hit just over 1,700ft and the first guy a friend of mine exited with a bunny hop out of the door deploying almost instantly whilst still in the sitting position nice clean and stable. My other friend left the aircraft in an attempt at the same type of exit; however he later admitted that he had never done one before. He left the aircraft without keeping his body symmetrical and not on aircraft heading; this caused him to immediately go unstable spinning and tumbling as he disappeared into the cloud.

 

I left the aircraft and deployed straight away, as soon as I cleared the cloud I looked for my friend, he was almost on the ground and under a main canopy with twists; he hit the ground a few seconds later just as the last twist was kicked out. Before he hit the ground I could see something trailing behind him and realised that his cypres had fired and the reserve bridle and pilot chute had luckily wrapped itself around his spinning body locking the reserve in the container. He was alright apart from a few bruises and rather shaken. Luck was on his side it could have been much more serious, he could have ended up with the main and reserve entangled, also by luck he landed on a part of the dropzone which was about 150ft lower than the main landing area. He was so low that several of the jumpers on the DZ had looked away feeling sure that he would not survive.

 

OK perhaps we should not have taken it, but we each have to take responsibility

for our own ability and actions. My friend should not have attempted an untried and unfamiliar exit and he was lucky to not get hurt or killed. He should have pulled earlier even though he was unstable, however he should not have been unstable in the first place.

I think it’s a good idea to keep yourself refreshed with a hop n pop now and again just encase you have to do one in a real emergency.

 

Blue skies and safe landings.

Robert Waugh. http://www.incomepool.com



Laurie

smpfilms asked:

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Dennis

Nicholas Tan asked:


Skydiving is considered to be a very extreme sport, yet a lot of people nowadays are becoming very inclined to it. As time passes, more daredevils come into being and get hooked on this breathtaking sport.

However, due to the danger coupled with this sport, a lot of people that have not tried it may have some misconceptions about it. This is very much true especially regarding the issue of malfunction in the activity. To serve as a guide to those who want to try out this sport, yet are having doubts of doing so, here is an overview about parachutes and malfunction issues.

All Hope Is Lost For You

This is probably the myth that a lot of people are scared of happening and is the one that hampers them from trying out the sport. For most people who haven’t tried out this sport, they would likely think that once their parachute would fail to open or inflate, then are in big trouble and somewhat feel that they are at the moment screwed beyond no doubt.

If you’re in mid-air 25,000 ft high, falling with the pull of gravity, feeling the wind rush on your face and something like this happens, you would definitely be scared to death. However, it is important that you understand the basic principles of a parachute first, before you even go have anxiety attacks.

Chutes Are Made To Save You

The truth is parachutes do want to open; since they are specifically designed to open. These are made to save you and assist you with your descent; and most likely your chute would perform its function and fulfil its purpose. In fact, all skydiving rigs have two parachutes. This is the standard and is actually stated by the law.

Proper care and safety measures are done when parachutes are packed. Basically, the main chute could be packed up by anybody who knows how. However, for the second chute, also known as the reserve chute, it could only be packed up by a certified F.F.A. rigger who has undergone extensive training about the subject.

Malfunction Issues

Additionally, malfunctions on the primary chute are not that common, unlike what most people think. It also does not mean that you’re screwed, dead or whatever fatal ending you may think about. As a matter of fact, a lot of those mal-functions are actually minor ones and are very simple to correct even if you’re in mid-air. As a safety measure, if ever your primary chute’s malfunction can not be corrected you can simply release the primary one, so that you can open the reserve parachute that you have got.

Lastly, if ever a malfunction occurs, you would not feel so extensively screwed since before you are even set for a jump, you would have to undergo special training. So basically, you would already know what to do, even before you take a jump.

In realty, skydiving is a really fun sport to engage in. Sadly, a lot of people are still scared of trying it out due to a lot of factors. For instance, media can be one of the causes of such fears; this is especially true with some movies that show malfunctions happening during a dive. However, if you’re affected by things like this, you should keep in mind that these are only movies. There’s a lot more to skydiving than parachute malfunctions and you’ll never get to experience them unless you get the courage to take that great leap of faith off an airplane!



Marian

Nicholas Tan asked:


Most people think that skydiving can only be done outdoors in the sky. However, with the development of technology, there is now an indoor rendition of the sport, which is done through vertical wind tunnels.

What Is A Vertical Wind Tunnel?

Vertical wind tunnels (VWT) are wind tunnels that blows up air in a column. This is actually a recreational wind tunnel that is most of the time advertised as “bodyflight” or “indoor skydiving”. It’s also a training tool that most skydivers use.

These wind tunnels can give people the ability to fly on air without needing parachutes or planes, simply by the force of wind that’s generated vertically. The wind inside these tunnels generally moves upward at 120 mph, which is also a falling human body’s terminal velocity, although it can vary from one person to another.

VWT’s are most of the time called ‘indoor skydiving’ because of its popularity with skydivers that say the sensation they get is very similar to the real thing. As the person ‘floats’ in midair inside the wind tunnel, this is termed as ‘bodyflight’.

Bodyflight

Bodyflight is said to be the art of ‘flying your body’ but in a controlled method. Control would include rolls, fall rate control, turns, lateral movement and some other acrobatic stunts in mid-air. Knowing body flight skills help skydivers go closer to each other while freefalling, so that they can link for formation skydiving, and then fly away from each other again until they reach a safe distance so that they can open their parachutes.

A lot of bodyflight skills could be learned and practiced from VWTs. Most skydivers use this as practice equipment so that they can be better in controlling their bodies while falling from the sky.

Bodyflight can be done through decreasing/increasing your body drag, by using your legs and arms as ruddersfor motion control. Additionally, other techniques used similar by airplanes are used.

Types Of Vertical Wind Tunnels

Basically, there are 2 main types of VWTs, namely: outdoor and indoor. The outdoor type can be either portable or stationary. The portable ones are the types that are often used for movie productions, demonstrations and are usually rented for big events like state fairs and conventions.

Portable units give a dramatic effect for the spectators and the flying person, since there are no walls bounding the flight area. This kind of wind tunnel gives you the opportunity to fly with a partial or full sky/outdoor view. Some outdoor units can also have nettings around or walls so as to keep beginners from flying out the tunnel boundaries.

For the indoor types, you also have to sub categories, namely: re-circulating and non-re-circulating. Non-re-circulating wind tunnels generally **** air via inlets found in the building’s bottom portion. Then the air would go up the bodyflight area, and exit through the top portion of the building. However, the re-circulating type would create an aerodynamic loop that has turning vanes, which are similar to scientific wind tunnels, but has a vertical loop and a bodyflight chamber inside the vertical portion of the loop.

Re-circulating tunnels are usually used in places where the climate is too cold for non-re-circulating types. Indoor types usually have a smoother and controlled airflow than outdoor types. They also have more control on temperature. Thus, they can be operated year-round in places with cold climate.



Hector

John Ewing asked:


Las Vegas skydiving offers skydiving to everyone and makes them all feel welcome. You can do a tandem skydive if you are a beginner or you can jump on your own if you are more experienced or feel more confident if you would prefer.

There are many different places to enjoy skydiving all across the world, with each place offering something different to the next. What makes people want to skydive you may be asking? Well everyone has their own different reasons why they want to skydive, but it is mainly due to the experience of it. Some people may skydive to conquer their fear of heights whilst others may feel that their lives are mundane and they want to add excitement to it.

Whatever the reason may be, skydiving continues to be extremely popular for people of all ages. A great place to go skydiving would be in Las Vegas where the views will be nothing short of spectacular and the skydiving centers are extremely impressive as well.

Can Beginners Skydive in Las Vegas?

The great thing is that beginners can skydive in Las Vegas and you have to think that everyone starts as a beginner. Tandem skydiving is an option available to beginners and it is where a professional can help to show you the great views of Las Vegas from high up in the sky. You will be attached to a professional skydiver and you will not have to worry about anything as they construct the jump and landing. You will experience a massive adrenaline rush as you freefall towards the brilliant city of Las Vegas.

Is Las Vegas Only Good for Beginner Skydivers?

The beauty about skydiving in Las Vegas is that anyone who wants to can enjoy the whole experience. More advanced skydivers can join in the fun of skydiving and they can show their enthusiasm as well as joining in with the fun with the other students at the skydiving schools.

The great thing about some of skydiving schools in Las Vegas is that they welcome everybody, no matter if they are jumping for the first time or if they have done it many times before. You may even be lucky enough to be in a center that coaches people up to the national competition standard for formation and canopy formation skydiving.

Las Vegas is a place where a lot of people like to get married and one place that some people may consider is getting married just before jumping out of the plane. It is such a great experience that a married couple can do together and it will be a day which they will never forget.

As you can see Las Vegas skydiving is an extremely good place to go to have a life changing experience. Skydiving is available to people of all ages and skill levels and they are made welcome to the skydiving schools and centers.



Lynn

expertvillage asked:

Watch this introduction to skydiving and the different types in this free skydiving video from our parachuting and free flying expert and certified skydiving instructor.

Laurie

Nicholas Tan asked:


Skydiving, as the word implies, is an activity in which you’ll be literally diving down from the sky with some safety measures, of course. It’s done from an airplane or a helicopter which takes off from a drop zone, which is like a small airbase.

A Bird’s Eye View Of Skydiving

If you’re planning to do this breathtaking activity, then you should be prepared to know that skydivers would usually exit their airplane at the height of 4000 metres or 13,000 feet. After doing so, you would have to do a freefall for a period of time and then you could open your parachute to slow down your descent until you reach a safe and slow landing speed.

Generally, the chute should be fully inflated by the height of around 2,500 ft. In fact it is part of the law that skydivers should jump with two chutes. One would be the main chute and the other would be the reserve, just in case the main parachute would fail.

Once your parachute is in its full inflation, you now have the ability to control your speed and direction using your chute’s steering lines. With that, technical manoeuvres could be executed by experienced skydivers giving them the ability to land with great accuracy. In fact, there are even some competitions held on being able to land in a specific spot with the most precision and style.

Other than bundling yourself out of the plane, opening a parachute and floating your way down to Earth, skydiving also have some specialization areas, and here are some of them.

Formation Skydiving: Creating Art While You Fall

During the freefall period of the jump, some experienced skydivers would combine to create and hold different formations before they breaking off and open up their parachutes and float down to earth as normal skydiving does. In fact, the world record for this kind of skydiving is actually a 400 man dive. The formation was maintained for 4.25 seconds from the altitude of 25,000 ft. in Udon Thai, Thailand.

Freestyle Skydiving: A Solo Performance

This kind of diving can be a very entertaining one. It is where the skydiver would perform some acrobatic manoeuvres and stunts, such as rolls, tumbles and graceful formations by himself throughout the freefall period and before he opens his parachute. Freestyle dives would also need the participation of another skydiver.

The second diver on the other hand would not do any kind of stunts. However, he would be the one to film his partners’ performance through a camera that is mounted on his helmet. This kind of dive is actually a registered competitive sport that was declared in 1996 by the FAI.

Free Flying: Do It Your Way

This is considered to be the art of controlling your body and having the ability to move through different static positions while you are in the freefall period of your jump, before you open your parachute. If you’ll be doing dives like this, you would have to do some manoeuvres like Sit Flying, Back Flying, and Head Down. These would allow you to have more control on your speed and trajectory. You also have to do some exit rolls or tumbles at the end of your freefall stage so that you can safely deploy your parachute by the time you reach the right altitude.



Norman

Dalvin Rumsey asked:


Nowadays, skydiving is related to every major branch of human activities, from action movies, soft drinks commercials and reality shows, to military activity. It is seen very often and almost everywhere in the world.

The main characteristic that draws anyone’s attention is the extreme nature of this sport. Leaping out from a plane and falling through air at speeds over 120 mph is definitely an edge.

For the first – timers, the best and most popular way to take a leap is the tandem jump. This procedure requires for the student to leap from the plane strapped to his instructor and fall with the instructor’s parachute (which is big enough to carry both your and the instructor’s weight and is controlled by the instructor).

At first sight, there is a great resemblance between a simple jump and a tandem jump, but in reality, there are several big differences:

* Unlike a simple jump, when an experienced skydiver will simply leap from the plane, the tandem jump requires more maneuvers for the leap in order to synchronize the student and the instructor.

* In the tandem jumps, the speeds of falling through air are greater than in the simple jump because of the higher weight of the tandem jumpers (180 – 200 mph instead of 120 mph). This speed is reduced with a drogue parachute of around 4 feet in diameter which is pulled by the instructor immediately after the leap and is kept through the entire free fall.

* After the free fall, when the altitude of deployment is reached, the instructor or the student pulls a cord that releases the drogue and pulls out the parachute from the container.

* The student and the instructor land together.

When choosing the method you’ll first skydive you have to consider how much time you have and how much cash you’ve got. Off course, how brave you are is another factor and depending on these factors you’ll have to choose one of three methods for your first jump.If what you want is to fly freely you have to go for accelerated free fall. Just want a nice ride, tandem might be the best choice. If you just want a quick ride you can go for static line.



Katie

Sutiyo Na asked:


Jumping from a plane meters above from land is not a safe sport as everybody may think. Skydiving poses that same feeling to anyone. In fact, skydiving safety has been better over the years.

Most skydiving fatalities and incidents are not caused by faulty equipment but failure to obey necessary precautions before jumping, like wrong timing of deploying the parachute, incorrect folding of the parachute and performing or experimenting with maneuvers that are extremely difficult and dangerous

The most common reasons for skydiving deaths and injuries, and that is 92 percent, are mistakes in judgment and procedure. This means that the jumper should be prepared well for the jump and do everything accurately to the time it takes until he reaches the ground.

Even in the process of signing up practice honesty. State or inform your skydiving instructors of any medical condition you are in. Saying that you have medical condition would not automatically stop you from skydiving, but absolutely doctor’s approval would be needed.

Before jumping, knowing and checking you gear is very important, however experienced or eager you are to make your first jump. Ensure the goggles, helmet and jumpsuit are all in good condition.

Parachute checks are also done before the jump. Parachutes are not always 100 percent safe, that’s why jumpers have a reserve parachute completely independent form the main chute. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires that the reserve parachute be inspected and repacked every 120 days (whether it is used or not) by a FAA- certified parachute rigger.

Aside from the reserve parachute that can be used when the main chute is malfunctioning, the AAD is another safety device that skydivers are currently using. AAD stands for automatic activation device. The AAD automatically activate the jumper’s reserve parachute in the even that the jumper is disabled or disoriented or has lost track of the altitude and failed to deploy the main parachute.

The AAD was introduced by a German named Helmut Cloth. It was first called as CYPRESS or Cybernetic Parachute Release System. It used to be a student only device. During a free-fall, the CYPRESS uses computer interpreted barometric metering to constantly assess a skydiver’s altitude and rate of descent. If a skydiver is descending faster that a certain speed, this device will instantly activate the skydiver’s reserve.

Currently, the AAD is available for novice and expert skydivers. It has evolved into a compact, reliable and readily available for an average of $1200.

Other safety items that skydivers bring are visual and audible altimeters. When a person is skydiving, it is difficult to inform how close to the ground you are. Opening a parachute requires you to be at a specific altitude. Altimeters provide the altitude reading and even activate alarms whenever you have reached the height for releasing the parachute.

Aside from these issues with the equipment questioning how safe skydiving is, there are also several myths about skydiving that make people more afraid of it. An example of a skydiving myth is that divers cannot breathe during free fall which is totally untrue, since consciousness is needed to open the parachute.

Nobody would argue that skydiving is a safe thing to do. And statistics can be manipulated to make skydiving look very safe or very dangerous. Generally, safety in skydiving is determined by the individual. Rarely do skydiving accidents result from equipment failure or bad luck.



Debbie

Dalvin Rumsey asked:


In the United States there are many experienced skydivers with hundreds or thousands of jumps. Usually, an experienced skydiver owns his gear and his parachute and prepares his gear on his own for the jumps. The enthusiasts jump every weekend and whenever they have spare time. Here is what jumping is like:

* The first thing to do is packing the parachute and checking it.

* This is followed by the AAD (automatic activation device) set and check.

* The skydiver puts on his jumping gear and his parachute and is checked by another skydiver for the straps and rig to be well set.

* The skydivers embark on the plane. The number of the skydivers that can jump at the same time depends on the size of the airplane.

* The jump altitude is reached. The most common jump altitude is 10 000 feet and gives the skydivers a 45 seconds free fall before opening the parachute. The altitude varies and can go as high as 16 000 feet providing 75 seconds of free fall. Above this altitude, the skydivers would need supplemental oxygen.

* After reaching the jump altitude, the plane lines up with the jump site and the skydivers take the leap.

* In the first ten seconds, the jumper accelerates and reaches the speed of 120 mph. after this point of terminal velocity, he is in free fall.

* The parachute is deployed at around 2500 feet by a drogue parachute.

* The parachute is than steered to line up with the landing site and the skydiver lands.

The tandem jump

For the first timers, the best and most popular way to take a leap is the tandem jump. This procedure requires for the student to leap from the plane strapped to his instructor and fall with the instructor’s parachute (which is big enough to carry both your and the instructor’s weight and is controlled by the instructor).



Joan