Parachuting-skydiving Dimitra Chrysanthou G’6

What is it? Parachuting is an individual activity that involves jumping out of aircraft usually an airplane, but sometimes a helicopter at 4000 meters far from the earth surface while using a parachute. There are many types of parachuting. One of the most common types is Skydiving ,which involves acrobatic performance during free fall.

Some historical information Despite the fact that jumping out of a plane from high above the Earth may be terryfying for some people, for some others parachuting is their whole life. Parachuting officialy started by the first successful parachute jump from a hot-air balloon performed by Andre-JacquesGarnerin in 1797. Firstly it was only used by the military to save crews from air planes on emergency but later as a way of transporting soldiers.

Special training & skills Parachuting requires complex skills that can take thousands of jumps to master, but the basics are often understood and applied during the first few jumps. There are four general areas of skill :the basic safety, the freefall, the deploying and landing.

Equipment The most important equipment is the parachute. When the parachute is opened, the jumper can control the direction and speed with cords called “steering lines” and hand grips called "toggles" - attached to the parachute, so participants can direct themselves to the landing site.

Safe training 1 Fortunately,there are ways to practise sky diving without actually jumping. Wind tunnels can be used to practice skills for free falling, while virtual reality sky diving simulators can be used to practice parachute control.

Safe training 2 A lot of people make their first jump with an experienced instructor who is trained for such jumps; this kind of skydiving is called tandem skydive. The instructor is in charge of the jump and responsible for any emergencies in the unlikely event if something will go wrong.

Dangers? Despite the probabilities of danger, serious accidents are rare, as in most countries skydivers are required to carry two parachutes. Many jumpers have died because when they realized that their parachute was tangled or stuck, they where too close to the ground for the reserve parachute to open. There is no way to guarantee that the parachute will open.

schools & competitions The first skydiving schools started to appear in late 1950s and the first parachutes competitions date back to 1930's. These days parachuters jump just for fun, or they compete in parachuting competitions,which are very interesting.

Bibliography: Google Wikipedia