Sky Diving

Planes And The Fear Of Flying

February 10, 2011 By admin

Travel by air has become very common for people from all backgrounds. People travel in planes for all kinds of reasons. There are a large number of commercial airlines in the world today, covering all possible destinations in all countries. In addition, several aircraft charter companies have also appeared on the scene to provide customized services to specific clients. It is now customary for all business tycoons to have their own private planes. Some people fly small planes as a hobby, while some do it to get flying lessons to get a pilot’s license. Some people even fly small planes to avoid the long journey to work and back home by road. Many industrial and business groups have their own fleet of planes. Major courier companies have a fleet of cargo planes. The armed forces in all countries have a fleet of their own planes.
There is a network of airports in all countries, and each airport has all the facilities to handle arrival, departure, and storage of all kinds of planes. Some large planes need special landing facilities, which may not be available at all airports. Many planes are now equipped with the capability to take off and land even in dense fog. All planes are equipped with all the safety features which are meant to safeguard human lives and property. Flying in a plane is no more a cause of worry. Millions of people fly in all kinds of planes each year. They travel to all destinations in the world.
Thousands of planes take off and land each hour in all countries. All commercial airports have the facility to handle the required traffic of people and planes. Safety at all stages is a critical issue for the aviation industry. Passenger safety and security at all stages is made possible by deploying fully trained people at all stages of operations, both inside the planes, as well as before and after the flight. People with special needs, like the elderly or sick, are provided special care till they are safely handed over to their friends.

Filed Under: Equipment, Sky Diving Tagged With: Air safety, Cargo aircraft, Travel

Overcome Fear With Skydiving

February 8, 2011 By admin

We got up early on the weekend to get to the skydiving club before the sun came up. I checked the battery levels of my camera, put on some tight fitting clothes, and off we went to the club. I wanted some great shots from higher up with the sun just coming up through the clear blue morning sky, as we soared down through the air. This was also my first experience with skydiving, and I was advised by the veteran next door to see that my stomach stays empty for a few hours before the dive. I went a step further and skipped the complete dinner the night before, and managed with some scraps of fruits. The stomach was empty for sure. The camera was ready to shoot. And here we were at the entrance to the club.
There was silence all around. as we were greeted at the entrance and escorted to the changing room. Geared and strapped, instructions fully read and understood, declarations signed, mock demonstration witnessed, and we walked to the small aircraft parked near the runway. As we got airborne, I realized that it was now too late for me to back out. I had no choice except to go through the whole process and walk out smiling at the other end of this adventure. Well, I wasn’t the first person doing this, and the instructor does it with people every day.

A bit of soaring around in a circle, and the aircraft must have reached the proper height, the instructor strapped himself at my back, and off we were in a backward dive out of the aircraft. The free fall was something right out of this world. Arms and legs spread out, it felt as if we can remain suspended in air for ever. But soon our free fall was interrupted, the instructor must have opened the chute. Ah yes, there it was above us. It was time now for taking the pictures. So I started clicking in all directions that I could possible turn the camera.

Filed Under: Equipment, Sky Diving Tagged With: Free fall, Parachuting, Skydiving

Flying Like Birds

February 3, 2011 By admin

People have always been fascinated by the flying skills of birds, since as humans, they could only walk or swim, but flying was not possible. The wish to be able to fly has lingered in the human mind from prehistoric times. People could jump alright, but flying was only for the birds. Jumping higher or longer was not the equivalent of flying. If flying by humans was not possible, perhaps they could create other things that could fly. Thus, humans created several flying objects like balloons and aircraft.
Somewhere along the way, people also created kites that could fly at the end of a long string. This really kicked in a good deal of excitement among people of all ages, and particularly the young. Flying a kite was an inexpensive affair. The kite itself was an inexpensive toy, and all one required was a roll of string and some wind for the kite to fly. As the craze for flying kites spread among various regions, a number of kite manufacturers also appeared on the scene. These people would make kites out of sheets of paper and some supporting structure usually thin and lightweight bamboo or cane splits. The supporting structure needed to be flexible to withstand the force of winds. Adhesive was used to paste the paper to the supporting structure in a certain geometrical shape, and after drying of the adhesive, the kite was ready to fly.
Afternoons were the busy hours for business, since kids would quickly change and grab a bite after school, and rush to the kite shop for their stock of kites for the day. Since kites were quite cheap, they could buy several each day out of their pocket money. Back home and a scramble to the roof saw them eagerly spinning the thread out while the kite caught the wind and soared to greater heights. Since the material of the kite was paper, it could tear from contact with any hard surface. This was no problem, since there was another kite waiting, ready to catch the winds and soar high.

Filed Under: Equipment, Sky Diving Tagged With: Bird, Recreation, Sports & Recreation

Sports For Health

February 1, 2011 By admin

From time immemorial, humans have always indulged in sports. Prehistoric humans were hunters and gatherers, and the lifestyle used to be highly dangerous, and survival was a major issue. Hunting involved killing wild beasts for food. Often the wild beasts would seriously injure or kill the human hunter. This made it necessary for the humans to keep themselves fit, so that they can better face the challenges of finding food for survival. Study of the habits of wild beasts and their fighting skills was also keenly done by humans, so that they could develop counter-skills to overpower the animal during conflict. Any lapse on the part of the humans would mean certain death, and it was therefore important that the fighting skills were of the topmost quality.

As time passed, humans started growing crops for food, and the need for hunting reduced. The needs of fighting directly with animals also reduced with the reduced need for hunting. It then became necessary for humans to keep themselves fit so that in the eventuality where they have to face some wild beast, they could still survive because of the regular practice to keep their fighting skills in top form. The regular practice to keep themselves fit was done with other humans.
The focus also shifted to rivalry between humans, and combat between humans was also quite common, which again resulted in issues of survival. This again made humans regularly practice their fighting skills to ensure that they survive in any combat with humans as well as animals. This is how the concept of sports was created.

As times further changed, further development happened, communities grew across the world, countries were formed, and interaction among countries and communities across the world became a regular affair. The need to indulge in physical fights for survival became negligible since society provided enough protection to all humans. The concept of sports was kept alive under these conditions more as a means to display specific skills rather than a means for survival. Today people indulge in sports more for physical fitness and to maintain good health.

Filed Under: Equipment, Sky Diving Tagged With: Food, Sport, Survival skills

Gyroplanes vs. Helicopters

January 29, 2011 By admin

Gyroplanes are able to fly by using freely turning rotor blades that tilt to catch the air. Lift is achieved by the air rushing through the spinning blades, while forward movement is accomplished by an engine-driven propeller. This airflow through the rotor process that creates lift is called “autorotation.”

With helicopters both lift and thrust are created by a powered rotor which can be tilted forward. This design, by comparison to the gyroplane, allows for helicopters to hover: a maneuver a gyroplane can’t duplicate.

Though unable to hover, gyroplanes can both fly slower than airplane without stalling, and faster than a helicopter. Gyroplanes also have not need of a tail rotor which provides helicopters with anti-torque to compensate for the torque they experience. Autorotation powers the gyroplane much like a windmill is powered by wind. Helicopters’ powerful rotor blades pull air down. This allows them to hover, but also makes them more expensive to use.

The gyroplane’s relatively simple design results in greater safety, lower maintenance, higher performance and it is more economical to utilize than a helicopter.

Another rather amazing safety feature of autorotation is that should the power fail, the air continues to pass through the blades causing the craft to come down slowly to the ground no matter what altitude it began at. So, gyroplanes end up being safer for high or low flying when compared to airplanes or helicopters. It is really a hybrid of both technologies since it uses the best parts of the other two forms of aircraft. It can fly faster than a helicopter, but slower than an airplane.

Gyroplanes, however, lose out to helicopters for practical purposes, particularly in military applications. The helicopters ability to hover gives it a significant advantage in certain circumstances. When a rescue operation is underway, this ability is imperative.

Filed Under: Sky Diving Tagged With: Helicopter, Helicopter rotor

Parachuting Backup

January 26, 2011 By admin

Image via Wikipedia

Despite that on the face of it jumping from an airplane seems like it would have a high mortality rate, parachuting fatalities are actually fairly rare. The biggest reason for this is that skydivers in most countries are required to carry a reserve chute. This second, backup chute is packed and inspected by a professional parachute rigger. In addition to this safety feature, many skydivers have an automatic activation device (AAD) which is sensitive to altitude. This device activates the back-up parachute if the skydiver doesn’t do it on his own.

Keep in mind that most of today’s practicing skydivers have been parachuting for years and have never experience a serious injury. When an injury does happen it is due to either improper response or inattention by the parachutist. Many such incidents result in the parachute becoming entangled and not opening as designed to slow down the rate of descent. But these situations don’t occur very often. Another incident occurs when the wind changes and forces the parachutist to make a hard landing. These do, although, almost never happen. Today, some of the biggest causes of injury occur when the parachutist misuses his chute in an effort to please a crowd, does a dangerous stunt and makes a mistake, particularly on landing. Though these close to the ground high speed stunts are exciting, it is usually due to the fact that the danger involved is very real.

In America and other developed nations, reserve parachutes are packed by professional riggers to ensure that they will always open correctly. These riggers are trained, tested and certified using highest level of standards. Generally the primary parachute is packed by the skydiver him/herself who has been trained in how to do it.

Most poorly packed chutes open in streamers with twisted lines that keep it from deploying all the way. If the parachutist can’t shake it free, his reserve chute saves his life.

Filed Under: Paragliding, Sky Diving Tagged With: Parachuting

Gotta Fly Now!

January 25, 2011 By admin

If you’ve ever wanted to fly – really fly, on your own, then hang gliding is the sport for you. The experience is the closest thing to having wings ever invented.

You start with a rigid aluminum frame and instead of feathers it’s covered by mylar or rip-stop nylon. And when you fly, you hang in a prone position beneath the wing by a harness. This is where “hang gliding” got its name. If you want to turn, simply shifts your weight. You alter your center of gravity by moving side to side or from front to back piloting your craft like a bird drifting on an updraft. And it’s possible to soar through the sky for hours on end at 15,000 feet or higher.

The longest anyone has ever stayed aloft is just over 11 hours, and the distance record is 300 kilometers. However, if you decide to start, you will probably keep it just above the ground. But over time as your skills increase along with your confidence you’re going to want to get up there, which is what hang gliding is all about: soaring!

If you can run with 60 pounds on your shoulders, and launch yourself from a hill, you can defy gravity and take in the awesome sights. And you don’t need to be some muscle bound brute. Hang gliding take balance and endurance – two qualities that make this an equally great activity for women or men.

It costs a bit to get started, somewhere in the neighborhood of $4,000 for your glider, harness and reserve chute. (You may also want a two-way radio and perhaps a variometer - which will tell you if you’re going up or down and at what speed -but they can run you an extra $500).

But lessons are too bad and you can literally be out flying on your own in 2 days! Let’s go fly!

Filed Under: Paragliding, Sky Diving Tagged With: Aviation, Hang gliding

To Dive or Not to Die

January 23, 2011 By admin

On the surface, jumping out of a perfectly good airplane doesn’t seem too safe. Nevertheless thousands enjoy the experience of free fall every year by doing exactly that – of course they are wearing a parachute. But, just how safe is the wacky sport?

One study that explored this question compared the risk when someone skydives to that a mother takes during childbirth, giving it an approximate 1 out of 100,000 chance of mortality. Of course skydivers increase the numerical probability by performing several jumps in a single day.

One of the main problems that led to death was failure to correct instability during early free fall. Most often this is a problem for beginners who panic, lose control and start to tumble wildly out of control. When this happens, their parachute can get tangled, or they may even fail to activate their chutes. Those with more experience realize they can stabilize their fall by keeping their legs spread.

Another problem that leads to fatalities is when a parachutist accidentally landed in water – particularly when they don’t have a life jacket, or their life jacket doesn’t work correctly. In addition to these incidents, water landings sometimes see a reserve chute activate while in the water, causing increased risk for drowning.

Given these statistics, specifics show that the parachute deployed at some point in one third of these fatalities. And, interestingly enough, a fourth of those who hit the ground survived the initial impact only to die later en route to the hospital. However, no one who hits the ground traveling at terminal velocity (125 mph or higher) ever survives.

Mortality rates were much higher in the early days of parachuting. Now, however, the sport is much safer. In 2007 there were just over 820 injuries due to skydiving and 18 deaths. But these figures come from over 2.2 million reported jumps.

Filed Under: Sky Diving Tagged With: Parachuting, Skydiving

Frequently Asked Questions About Skydiving

January 20, 2011 By admin

Here is some basic FAQ about skydiving

What is skydiving?

Skydiving is an extreme sport in which a person jumps out of an aircraft. Following the jump, they perform acrobatics as they descend. Once at a safe altitude the jumper deploys their parachute and glide to the ground.

Is skydiving safe?

Skydiving is extremely safe. This is in large part due to the many safety measures that the government has put in place to regulate ultimate safety in the sport. Fatalities during skydiving occur 0.1% of the time, however, injuries such as broken bones and sprains are a little more common, especially amongst inexperienced jumpers.

How much does skydiving cost?

The cost of skydiving ranges anywhere from $25 for licensed skydivers who have their own gear to a few hundred dollars for AAF and tandem jumps.

How old do you have to be to skydive?

In most states, in order to skydive, divers must be the age of legal majority in their state. This usually represents an age of 18.

What is a tandem dive?

A tandem skydive is when two people are harnessed together during the dive.

Do you need to have a certification to skydive?

A certification is not required to skydive, but to skydive without an instructor, a Class A license is required. In order to obtain this license, a diver must successfully complete 25 jumps with an instructor.

What type of equipment is used for skydiving?

The equipment needed to skydive includes a helmet, jumpsuit, altimeter, parachute, harness container, and an automatic activation device.

What if the parachute doesn’t open?

If the parachute does not open, there is no need to panic because each skydiver is equipped with two parachutes. The reserve parachute, which is rarely used, is inspected often by a FAA certified parachute rigger to make sure that it works properly.

Filed Under: Sky Diving Tagged With: Parachuting, Skydiving

Skydiving Costs

January 19, 2011 By admin

There are some experiences in life that can have no monetary value because the experience in itself is priceless. For many people, skydiving provides that priceless experience. However, as invaluable as the experience may be, skydiving still cost some real money. Here are some basic costs for skydiving.

Skydiving School

At skydiving school, newcomers to the sport can learn all of the basics that are required to have a successful first jump. This includes lessons on safety, emergency procedures, and landing. Also included during a basic lesson at skydiving school are a tandem jump (a jump with a certified supervisor) as well as the equipment for the jump. The cost of all of this varies, but, can cost anywhere from $125 upwards.

Equipment

People who only skydive occasionally will not see the need to purchase equipment because equipment rental is usually included within the price of the jump. Passionate skydivers who skydive more often may opt to invest in their experience by purchasing their own equipment. So, with a helmet, harness, parachutes, altimeter, jumpsuit, automatic activation device, it can cost anywhere from $3000 for basic gear up to $7000 for higher end gear.

Jumps

The cost per jump to skydive depends on many different factors. For example, a person who has their own gear and a skydiving license will usually pay no more than $25 per jump while a person who needs to rent gear can easily spend $200 for a tandem jump and their equipment. Solo jumps through the AAF program can cost $300 or more. Also, most places will also sell a tape of the skydive, which can cost around $50-$100.

The monetary costs of skydiving may add up, but, the experience is priceless, so people who skydive will often find that for all the money that they put into the sport, it is money well spent.

Filed Under: Sky Diving Tagged With: Parachuting, Tandem skydiving