WHAT ARE
THE AGE RESTRICTIONS TO SKYDIVE ?
The minimum
age is 16, but if you are under 18, your parent or guardian's consent
will be required on the supplied medical declaration form. If you are
40 years of age or above the supplied medical form will require your
doctors signature of approval.
Between the
ages of 18 and 40 you simply make a "self declaration"
on the
medical and indemnity forms, this can be done on the morning of you course.
WHAT
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS DO I HAVE TO MEET ?
Skydiving
is a sport, most levels of health can participate.
Your weight
to height ratio should not be disproportionate.
The maximum
weight for both our Static Line and Tandem Course is 14 Stone for Men
and 12 Stone for Women.
If
you suffer from epilepsy, fits, recurrent blackouts, heart or lung
disease or mental illness you should NOT consider jumping. If you
have ever suffered from chronic bronchitis or asthma, diabetes, liver
or kidney disease, chronic ear or sinus problems, server broken bones
you should request a BPA Medical declaration form which we will send
to you, this should then be completed by your doctor.
We reserve
the right to refuse anyone who we do not consider suitable for parachuting.
WHO WILL
BE TEACHING ME TO PARACHUTE / SKYDIVE ?
Instructors
are Skydivers who have successfully completed an extensive and in
depth training program for certifying instructors. All instructors
are a BPA qualified Instructor / Jumpmaster.
WHAT IF
MY PARACHUTE DOESN'T OPEN ?
By law, all
parachute jumps must be made with single harness / dual harness
parachute system with both a main and reserve parachute. Basically,
if one doesn't work, you have another one. Parachuting has
advanced by leaps and bounds over recent years and the equipment has
become more reliable, simpler, and durable. The reserve parachutes
are inspected and re-packed every 6 months by a certified rigger
whether they have been used or not. The main canopy is also packed by
a rigger or under the direct supervision of a certified rigger. In
addition all canopy's are equipped with an AAD which will deploy the
canopy if the student fails at activate either a main or reserve
parachute. AAD's however, are considered a back up device only. It is
still up to the skydiver to perform appropriate emergency procedures.
HOW FAST
DO YOU FALL WHILE IN FREEFALL ?
When you
first leave the aircraft you are moving at the same speed as the
aircraft which is typically 80-110mph / 130-180km. During the first
10 seconds the skydiver accelerates to what is called terminal
velocity. You can alter your body position to slow or speed up your
decent and experienced skydivers can reach fall rates in excess of
200mph and there are record speeds of over 300mph, however in a
standard skydive the fall speed is around 120mph. Once the parachute
is open your decent rate slows down to approx. 20mph or less.
HOW HARD
IS THE LANDING ?
Modern
parachutes allow a softer landing, these parachutes are called RAPS (
Ram Air ) Canopies (Square Parachutes) which work more like an
aeroplane wing. These also offer exceptional manoeuvrability, and
with some exceptions allow you to land pretty much anywhere you wish.
CAN
I BREATH IN FREEFALL ?
Yes, you
can breath in freefall.
CAN YOU
TALK IN FREEFALL ?
When
falling at a 120mph, the wind makes it too loud to talk in freefall.
Student instruction includes learning a variety of hand signals for
the instructor to communicate with the student. Once the parachute is
open, tandem passengers are able to talk to their tandem master.
Other student training methods use ground to air radios which are one
way communication between the jumpmaster and the student under canopy
to help guide them in for landing.
WILL I
BE SCARED ON MY FIRST JUMP ?
Most people
do experience some level of anxiety. It is normal to be apprehensive
about jumping from an aeroplane. The aeroplane ride up is typically
where most students feel the most anxiety, but few jumpers report
feeling anything but exhilaration once they have left the aircraft.
If your nervous, tell your instructor and you can work together to
work through the fear and decide if skydiving is for you.
I'M
AFRAID OF HEIGHTS, CAN I SKYDIVE ?
Humans
instinctively are afraid of heights. Most people experience some form
of vertigo on the edge of a high building, but will not experience
the same fear from 10,000ft.
HOW LONG
WILL I FALL FOR ?
A static
line first jump student who is jumping from 3,500ft will only fall
for a second or two before the static line deploys their parachute,
but a tandem or aff student will fall for anywhere between 30-60
seconds based on the altitude of the plane when they jump.
WHEN THE
PARACHUTE OPENS, DOES IT GO BACK UP ?
This is an
illusion. When a skydiver is being filmed deploying their parachute,
the skydiver filming the jump continues to fall as the parachute is
opening, thus giving the illusion that the parachute jumper is going
up, he is mealy slowing down.
IS
SKYDIVING SAFE ?
Like most
sports, skydiving can be made safer by following recommended
procedures, not trying to do stunts and manoeuvres before you have
enough experience, and by regularly reviewing your emergency
procedures. Accidents and fatalities often fall in to the category of
"this could have been prevented" For more information on
statistics and safety, please contact the BPA
IS
INSURANCE NEEDED ?
You are
covered by third party liability insurance through the BPA
membership, which is inclusive in the course price. This does not
cover you for injury to yourself, only the damage you may cause
during your jump such as landing on someone's car. Should you require
personal cover then please contact us.
