B↓ GETTING STARTED IN SKYDIVING
Questions You’ll Probably
Ask Right Before You Leap
IDEAL SKYDIVING WEATHER
Sunny, with winds less than 15 mph,
and a few clouds to give you a visualGive it to me straight—what
does it feel like?
Many people say skydiving
doesn’t really feel like
falling, and that’s true.
After about the first five
seconds, you’ll mostly feel
the air resistance, which
is more like sticking your
face out a car window than
a breathless, stomach-
twisting roller-coaster
drop. However: The first
five seconds, when you
actually jump out of
the plane, feel completely
bananas. Good luck!Do you talk to your instruc-
tor on the way down? If so,
what do we talk about?
There’s so much wind during
free fall that it’s tough to
talk to anyone. During your
fall, your instructor will tap
you on the shoulder. He will
also alert you before pulling
the chute by waving his
hands in front of your face.
Once you’re “under canopy,”
which means the chute is
out and controlling your
descent, your instructor may
point out local landmarks
or explain how to steer.How long will I be in the sky?
This depends how high
you are when you jump,
obviously, but for first-time
tandem jumps from about
10,000 to 14,000 feet,
you’re looking at 45 seconds
to a minute of free fall.
Your instructor will pull the
chute at about 5,500 feet.
“It leaves time to use your
emergency procedures,
including deploying your
reserve parachute if neces-
sary,” says Woznack. If all
goes well, you’ll have about
five minutes under canopy.Skydivers always jump with
one more parachute than
they need. In most cases,
that’s two: a main chute that
is packed at the drop zone
and a reserve that is packed
off-site by an FAA-certified
rigger. All tandem setups
also have an AAD, or auto-
matic activation device, that
will deploy the reserve
parachute if you reach a
certain altitude at free-fall
speed. As for obstacles:
Skydiving is covered by the
Federal Aviation Adminis-
tration, so all drop zones are
marked on aviation maps.
At Skydive the Ranch, pilots
alert other planes through
air traffic control roughly two
minutes before releasing
people and again as people
exit the aircraft. “And
then, both the pilot and
all skydivers are respon-
sible to spot—to visually
look for air traffic to make
sure there’s nothing in the
area,” says Woznack.Why
It’s Safe
18 April 2019 _ PopularMechanics.com