Parachuting

Parachuting is also known as skydiving, which is an act of exiting an aircraft to return down to earth with the use of a parachute. A parachute is a device made of light but strong cloth used to slow down the motion of an object through the atmosphere by creating the so-called aerodynamic lift. Skydiving originated in 1797 when Frenchman Andre Jacques Garnerin made successful parachute jumps from a hot-air balloon over Paris. The military later developed the parachuting technology for air personnel on board aircrafts in flight. As a sport, parachuting began with free-falling jumps only after 1908, and it was in 1926 when parachuting contests began in the United States, and in 1951 when the first world championship was held in Yugoslavia.

Parachuting is an extreme, dangerous and demanding sport which, according to some trainers, is unfit for the faint-hearted. But some parachuting experts have allayed the fears of the faint-hearted by saying that the risks have been reduced by various parachuting innovations in many parts of the world. Parachuting schools have also emerged to teach skydivers not only about the excitement of the sport but also about the safety of certified diving in the sky. Focusing on safety, the skydivers are trained in seven levels all designed to showcase their individual solo diving ability.  Level 1 teaches one to parachute jump at the ground school, how to deploy the parachute and parachute and jump at an altitude of 14,000 feet. The teachings culminate in Level 7, the last level, when the skydiving student is allowed to exit the aircraft solo, execute an exit dive and 180-degree turns before communicating with the instructor that he is about to open the parachute’s canopy. Upon landing, the new skydiver is honored with a celebration for doing a great feat in the sky where he has showcased his solo parachuting ability.

Parachuting championships involve the use of light aircrafts that carry competitors to an altitude of about 3600 meters. They usually compete in various types of areas of competition such as the free-fall, “relative work,” canopy formation, para-ski, and canopy piloting. In the free-fall competition, the competitors are judged by how they perform a prescribed sequence during the free fall. The “relative work” contest has two or more free-falling parachutists working together while they are up in the sky. The canopy formation is an addition to world championship events where teams of parachutists work together after deploying their canopies. Para-ski consists of two events such as accuracy jumping and racing over a course. The newest discipline in parachuting sports is called canopy piloting inaugurated only in 2003 to consist such events as speed, distance and zone accuracy.

On the basis of a growing number of parachuting sports people, parachuting may no longer seem as a dangerous sport. Even women have begun to love it by competing in championships that used to be dominated by men. Canada is only one of the countries having women parachutists some of whom have already won championships and other major awards from world parachuting competitions.