The Florida National Guard trains for a water parachute jump on a regular basis. Because Florida is the regular recipient of tropical storms, hurricanes, and other water disasters, guard members must be ready to make a water parachute jump at all times. They must always wait for training, though, until the water levels in their practice drop zones are just right to avoid the dangers of landing in shallow water. Before any jump, they take a refresher type training course. Then they are loaded into a plane, typically a C-23, and they make their jump. These jumps provide service personnel members with confidence in case they are ever required to make an actual water parachute jump in the line of duty.

Danger Equals A Water Powered Parachutes Jump In An Extreme Situation is a post from: Sports Blogs | The People's Sports Network | Eyeball-online.com

The first thing to do if you would like to learn to skydive is to read all of the information you can about the sport.

The next thing you must do to learn to skydive is locate a company with fully certified instructors. This can typically be done through the world wide web or your copy of your local yellow pages or a nearby city’s business pages. It is also possible to call the United States Parachute Association, and they can recommend a good company in your area to help you learn to skydive. You must also decide on which type of training you want to engage in. One way to learn to skydive is to take a tandem jump. During a tandem jump, you will be strapped to an instructor who will guide you step-by-step through the jump. While you are required to take a brief training session, you will also get to jump the same day.

Learning to parachute jump is both fun and challenging

Another way to learn to skydive is to take static line lessons. During a static line lesson, the student undergoes four to six hours of serious training before the jump. The final jump takes place with a static line attached to the aircraft. The line deploys the chute for the jumper, thus eliminating concerns that the inexperienced jumper will not open his chute at the correct time. A final way to learn to skydive is to take free fall lessons. During this type of instruction, students undergo several hours of training. They make their actual jump with two instructors, but get the opportunity to experience a fifty second free fall by themselves.

While learning to skydive, it is important to ask any questions you have of your instructor. Skydiving is a very dangerous sport, but it can be very fun if proper safety precautions are taken. Lessons by certified instructors can help one learn to skydive.

Become Part Of The Clouds When You Learn To Skydive is a post from: Sports Blogs | The People's Sports Network | Eyeball-online.com

The Basics

First, you will need to find a skydiving school with a good reputation.This is a fairly easy thing to do.The internet, phone book, and local airports are full of them.Next, you will need to check your pocket book.Skydiving is one of the more expensive sports to learn.Then, you will need to decide how you want to learn.There are three methods of training: tandem, static line, and Accelerated Free Fall (AFF).All of these methods have their benefits and drawbacks, but we will touch more on those a little later.

What’s First?

Health and Safety.
First, you must consider health and safety.Know the risks involved before you get involved.Skydiving is not chess; you will not be sitting on an uncomfortable concrete bench moving your pieces around a game board.You are going to step out of an airplane and, in freefall, will reach speeds of up to 250 feet per second… that is 110 miles per hour!!If you have a bad ticker, unregulated high blood pressure, or any number of other health problems, speak to an instructor and discuss your options in detail.Also keep in mind, even the best of the best in this sport sometimes hit the ground a little harder then they intend to.So, bad knees may also be a consideration.DO NOT be afraid or embarrassed to discuss these things with your instructor before making that first jump. It is always preferable to hit the ground safely then to plant yourself in it.Truthfully though, with the proper preparations and instruction you would be more likely to develop cataracts from reading this article then suffer a serious injury from skydiving.Listen to your instructors, know your equipment, and never assume you know how to do something just because you saw it in a movie.

Which Training Method To Use?

Training Methods
As I researched information, I discovered that there are three approved methods of training to become a licensed skydiver, the Tandem jump, the Static jump, and the Accelerated Free Fall (AFF).

Tandem
The tandem jump is the easiest and quickest method to get into the air.With ground training typically lasting about 30 minutes, you will then jump out of an airplane while strapped to the chest of a professional Tandem Instructor. After three or four of these jumps and completion of the approved First Jump Course (ground school), a student may then move on to the next level.

Tandem jumping, however, does provide an opportunity for the adventurous spirit who may not quite meet the physical or proficiency requirements for the static line or accelerated free fall jumps. By relying on tandem instructor’s skills, it may still be possible to experience the extreme thrill of skydiving.

Static Line
Static line skydiving was developed by the military as a safety measure for paratroopers.It is used for instant and reliable deployment of parachutes at a relatively low altitude, about 2000 – 3000 feet.Basically what happens is a specially designed cord is attached to the plane and to your parachute. As you step away from the plane, the cord immediately deploys your parachute for you. No fuss – no muss. After about two of these jumps the student begins demonstrating mock-pulls of a dummy ripcord.After about three of these jumps the student is then ready for their first free fall.

Accelerated Free Fall
This is the way to go for the adrenalin junky out there. Why?You get to free fall from jump one!!Of course this method is a little more expensive due to the fact that you will have two instructors jumping with you, and, although you will be in free fall, the instructors will maintain hands-on contact at all times during free fall.After a few jumps like this, you will begin doing it on your own with a single instructor giving more advice and training.This method will get you your class a license a little faster.

Training Completed!!Really?

After Class
After you have completed 4 to 5 hours of ground school training and have made 25 jumps, you are qualified for a license and can keep going all the way to your D license, requiring 500 jumps.But once you have your license, are you really done?The answer to that question is no.As with any skill, you never learn everything.There is always going to be that next skill level to work towards.New equipment and techniques are being developed every day.So the only thing left to do now is to get started!Have fun and good jumping!

All You Need To Know About Skydiving is a post from: Sports Blogs | The People's Sports Network | Eyeball-online.com