10 Skydiving myths and facts
1. Talking while falling?
So, unlike many blockbuster films like Point Break, you cannot hear anything while in free fall. During a tandem skydive the wind travelling past you at over 100mph makes it pretty much impossible for you to hear your buddy!
2. Parachute deployment
What happens when you deploy your chute? Do you go back up? No. No you do not. What you are seeing in many skydiving videos, is all an illusion. What actually happens is the cameraman continues falling when the other opens their chute, giving the impression that you go back up.
3. Most skydives in a single day
The current record stands at 640 jumps. Jay Stokes of Greensburg jumped on average every 2.25 minutes, using 3 planes to get up to the right height quicker.
4. Youngest ever skydiver
The youngest person to have skydived is four year old Toni Stadler from South Africa. Toni was strapped to Tandem Master Paul Lutge's chest as they leaped out of their single-engine plane 10,000 feet above the earth, free falling for half a minute before opening the parachute.
5. Oldest ever skydiver
Frank Moody has the record for the oldest skydiver, at age 101, he made a tandem jump on 6 June 2004 in Australia.
6. Will opening the parachute hurt?Skydiving myths facts
Many people think that when they open a parachute that the sudden 'jolt' from falling at 120mph to just 5mph will cause some kind of injury. However, modern parachute designs mean that the canopy opens gradually and the fall in speed is also gradual meaning you experience little or no jolt at all.
7. Fastest ever free-fall
Felix Baumgartner holds this record from his Red Bull Stratos space jump. He reached a speed of Mach 1.24 or 834mph, breaking the sound barrier!
8. Most skydives
Don Kellner Has jumped over 41,000 times in his life! Making him the most experienced skydiver, EVER.
9. Biggest formation skydive
The current world record for the largest formation skydive is 400 people, set in Thailand in 2006. They held the formation for just over 4 seconds.
10. Skydiving is safe!
Approximately 3.1 million skydives occur annually. Out of this, the average number of fatalities is around 55 which is less than 1% of the jumps that take place!
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