5 Skydiving Facts That Will Surprise You!
5 Skydiving Facts That Will Surprise You!
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
We’re taking you into the heart of the most surprising anecdotes from the world of skydiving! Perfect for spicing up any conversation!
Skydiving is, by its nature, a sport surrounded by mystery and it generates great curiosity! Imagine the extent of this when we gather the most fascinating facts and statistics from the field. Follow us, it’s this way!
- Round parachutes are very rare nowadays!
Although round parachutes are common in cartoons, only the military still use the round (hemispherical) shape, and even then, only for certain airborne operations. For the rest, rectangular and elliptical parachutes have now taken over due to their maneuverability and smooth landings!
- The smallest parachute ever jumped by a human was 34 square feet (3.15 square meters)! While our tandem jump parachutes measure 340 square feet, Luigi Cani holds the record for jumping and landing the smallest parachute in the world, made of only 34 square feet of material!
Before him, Ernesto Gainza held the record with a 35-square-foot parachute. To give you a comparison, this is approximately the size of a standard double bed sheet! Note that this Venezuelan measures 5 feet 4 inches and weighed 114 pounds at the time of the record in 2014. Despite being light, it took him a year of methodical preparation and several tests to achieve this feat!
- It wasn’t Red Bull that recorded the highest skydive in history! Although the Red Bull Stratos jump left a lasting impression and received massive media attention, it’s the jump by a computer engineer, Robert Alan Eustace, that compiles the most incredible statistics in the world of skydiving. In 2014, he jumped from a balloon nearly 137,280 feet (42 kilometers) above the ground and free-fell for 15 minutes. He is one of the few men to have broken the sound barrier, reaching a peak speed of 1,287 kilometers per hour! He thus set two new world records: the longest freefall and the greatest distance from the earth!
- You can’t talk during freefall.
Even though some filmmakers have made this artistic choice in their movie scripts, it is impossible to have a conversation during freefall; it’s simply too noisy! At nearly 230 kilometers per hour, the omnipresent wind makes it impossible! Skydivers’ language relies on hand signals; needless to say, we stick to the essentials!
That said, once the parachute is open, you can talk to your tandem instructor without raising your voice – it will be so calm! Skydiving is definitely a sport of contrasts!
Also, some skydiving sport disciplines such as “wingsuiting” and “Flock” (synchronized parachute flying) can be practiced with headphones and microphones in the participants’ helmets. Most of the time, it’s the leader who speaks to give precise instructions to the group!
- The largest freefall formation involved 400 people!
What a fascinating experience it must have been in 2006 for these 400 people from all over the world, including Canada, to participate in this record in Thailand. All participants had to link up simultaneously and in their specific place (determined before the jump) for the record to be validated. The giant mandala formed in the sky was held for 4.3 seconds, and it took 5 Hercules planes (photo above) to bring everyone to an altitude of 25,400 feet! Let’s remember that the skydivers must then separate safely, open their parachutes, and land, all within seconds of each other! Imagine the logistics required!
Did you enjoy that?! Discover Canadian skydiving records by browsing other articles in our blog section!
