Frequently Asked Questions About Sky Diving
 

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.