Skydiving Skydiving is something that you probably see

Skydiving Ø Skydiving is something that you probably see all the time. Ø Every major soft drink company has done a commercial with skydivers in it. Ø Lots of action films feature skydivers. Ø Skydiving appears in reality shows. Ø The sport definitely has an edge to it. There is something about leaping from a plane and falling through the air at 120 miles per hour that really gets people's attention. Ø Have you ever wondered how skydiving works? Ø What kind of equipment do skydivers use? Ø How safe is skydiving as a sport? Ø How do you become a skydiver and how much Ødoes it cost?

Tandem Skydive Ø Most people experience skydiving by doing a tandem jump strapped onto a qualified instructor ØYou get to jump from 15, 000 ft and travel at speeds of over 120 mph before the parachute is deployed ØThe parachute is built for two for a very soft landing

Learning to Skydive Ø You can learn to skydive with 2 instructors who teach you while flying in freefall at 120 mph Ø You learn to make yourself unstable then prove you can recover and deploy your parachute before you qualify Ø This course qualifies you as a skydiver in only 8 jumps which is why it is called accellerated Freefall

Static Line Ø New skydivers can learn to fly a parachute before learning freefall by doing a static line course Ø When they leave the aircraft the parachute is automatically deployed for you Ø You progress slowly and become qualified in approx 30 jumps

Video & Photos ØSkydivers wear cameras on thier heads to take photos and vodeo skydivers ØYou can take a DVD of your tandem skydive or photos home with you

Parachutes Ø Parachutes come in all sizes from 300 sq ft to 79 sq ft for the very experienced pilots Ø Skydivers have to pack thier own parachutes or can pay a packer to do it for them

Formation Skydiving Ø Formation skydiving is when a group of skydivers get together and make as many different formations as possible within 1 minute Ø The record is 43 points achieved by a french competition team

Canopy Formation Ø Canopy formation is when a group of skydivers fly the parachutes together and hold onto them to make different formations. ØYou need 100 skydives before your allowed to do this

Freefly Ø Some skydivers now prefer to fly upside down or standing up which is called freefly skydiving ØThis has only become popular over the past couple of years ØMost new skydivers now want to freefly

Swooping Ø Skydivers with small fast canopies love to fly at speed over water, this is called swooping ØOnly skydivers with over 500 jumps are allowed to do this because if you get it wrong it can be dangerous

Birdman Ø Skydivers who jump with winged suits are called birdmen ØWhen they fly together they are called a flock of birdmen ØThe advantage is they get to fly for twice as long as formation skydivers

Accuracy Ø Accuracy is a competition to see who can land on the smallest point ØThis is one of the oldest parachute competitions

Parachute Displays Ø Skydivers have jumped into many events promoting the sport and these are called parachute displays ØYou need a minimum of 200 skydivers before your allowed to jump into a display

World Records Ø The first 100 formation skydive was done in 1999 ØThe largest formationskydive is now 400 ØThe Largest Canopy Formation was achieved this year with 100 skydivers holding each others parachutes

Fun & Excitment Ø Skydiving is all about having as much fun as you can in a very short period of time Ø There are now a lof of skydiving game on the internet for children and adults

Skydiving Challenges Ø Skydivers can be very creative and are always trying to do things that have never been done before ØThe photos show one guy landing in a speeding boat and another gou not wearing his parachute – (Dont try this at home)

Skydiving Stunts Ø Very experienced skydivers organise and take part in skydiviong stunts for TV & Film

TV Adverts Ø Many companies have used skydiving to advertise thier products on TV ØThis is becuase its a very visual way to get attention

Sponsorship Ø Skydivers can get sponsored by large companies who want thier logo or name seen in a very vissible manner

Famous People Ø Many famous people have done a skydive, here is a photo of president Bush. Ø James Bond always looks good skydiving but never does it himself, he has a stunt man to take his place

Wind Tunnels Ø Now anyone can learn to skydive at any age in a wind tunnel ØThis new way of skydiving now lets skydivers train without having to worry about the parachute flight or being in real freefall ØThese photo’s were taken in Roosendal wind tunnel, one of the best in Europe