Skydiving can be interpreted in multiple ways. For some, skydiving is an extraordinary recreation and a way to cope with the stress caused by today’s lifestyle. Skydiving has helped thousands of people gain a fresh perspective on the world, test their limits, and learn to face their fears.
What is Tandem Skydiving? Tandem skydiving is a parachute jump in which two people take part using one parachute for a safe landing on the ground. Tandem skydiving is the most common form of skydiving and the best and safest way for your first skydiving experience as the instructor controls all aspects of the jump process.
This attractive “extreme” sport is intended for brave people, lovers of blue heights, eager for excitement, and “adrenaline” for self-affirmation and proving their courage and fearlessness.
Skydiving is the realization of an ancient human dream of flying like a bird, and it is certainly closest to the feeling of altitude and immediate flight or falling through the air, while the wind blows your face, in free fall, on its way to the ground.
Below, read more about this exciting discipline, and the answers that will present you with everything you want to know before embarking on this fantastic adventure.
Why Would You Do Tandem Skydiving?
Tandem skydiving is a parachute jump in which two people take part using one parachute for a safe landing on the ground. Most often, these are experienced parachuting instructors and a person who encounters parachuting for the first time, but it can also be an experienced instructor and a parachutist who is undergoing training as a tandem instructor.
Tandem skydiving is the most common form of skydiving and the best and safest way for your first skydiving experience. A tandem instructor takes care of safety during your jump and has everything under control.
For a parachutist to become a tandem instructor, he must have many years of experience and undergo extensive training, which ensures that you will be very confident during the jump.
How safe is tandem skydiving? Is Tandem skydiving safer than solo?
This is the most significant difference between tandem skydiving and solo. You perform the jump with an experienced instructor who has hundreds and more jumps behind him. It gives you a sense of security and confidence and allows you to experience your first skydiving experience.
In terms of training and safety, the rules and regulations are very strict.
All you need is the desire and the will to experience the feeling of satisfaction that gives you a free fall, to fly like a falcon targeting its prey in a few seconds, at a speed of more than 200 km per hour.
The safety of tandem skydiving has been brought to the point that the chances of something unwanted happening to you are almost zero.
Is it necessary to undergo training before performing tandem skydiving? Just before performing the jump, you will go through a short training session lasting 15 to 30 minutes.
During this short training, the instructor will explain to you some important rules and principles that you need to follow during the flight of the plane to the height for jumping and separation from the aircraft. You will also be informed about the exact position of the body in free fall, flight under the parachute wing, and landing.
The instructor will help you set up a system of connections that will tie you to the instructor during the jump. Don’t be afraid!
The system design can withstand ten times the weight of yours. No matter how hard they were. You will get a helmet and some sort of parachute jumpsuit. You will use a parachute large enough to land two people safely, and your tandem teacher will take care of everything else.
Tandem instructors are top professionals who will make sure to prepare you and remove all doubts and fears before the jump.
From what height are the jumps performed?
Jumps are usually performed from a height of between 2500 and 4000 meters. The height of the jump depends on the location or airport where the jumps perform and the aircraft used for the jump.
Do you choose to jump from 12000 to 7500 feet? What’s the difference?
In skydiving, the height from which the jump perform is the most important item that will affect the genuine experience of this adventure. The experiences of the candidates who performed jumps from lower heights show that they are excellent, but they lasted too short.
For a better comparison, a 12,000 foot parachute jump will allow you to fall for 60 seconds, while a 7,500 foot high jump allows you a free fall of 20 seconds. Since you probably experienced a free fall for the first time, your consciousness will need time to understand what is happening, so be sure that every extra second of free fall is more than precious.
After a free fall, you have a flight under the open parachute dome, which lasts about 10 minutes, during which you will be able to operate the parachute and experience this segment of parachuting.
At what height does the parachute open?
Paratroopers who jump on their own usually open the parachute at an altitude of 1000 meters, while in tandem skydiving this restriction moved to 1500 – 1700 meters, which allows tandem instructors more time to react in case of any problems that may arise with equipment or passenger.
Can you breathe in a free fall?
Yes, you can breathe in free fall no matter the speed. There are few passengers in tandem who have trouble breathing in free fall. If there is a problem with breathing, it is probably related to the nervousness that can occur in tandem candidates, but also in independent paratroopers who are new to this sport.
Some people, when they find themselves in a situation where they feel scared, panicked and nervous, have a habit of stopping breathing and unfortunately forget to breathe until they start to run out of breath.
The only secret is to breathe on the plane and during the jump as if you were on solid ground. Your tandem instructor will remind you to breathe during the flight on the plane.
What does a parachute landing look like?
During the short training before the tandem jump, the instructor will train you to raise your legs properly just before landing, so that he would first touch the ground with his feet during the landing. On that occasion, he will perform a standard dome maneuver that provides a “soft” landing, and then the impact on the ground is weaker than jumping from an ordinary chair.
What is the maximum recommended weight of a candidate?
The maximum weight of passengers is not defined, but candidates weighing more than 100 kg should additionally consult to check the possibility of performing the jump. The difference is between 100 kg athletic candidates and candidates who are not so physically active.
Is there an age limit for tandem skydiving?
A person who intends to perform a tandem jump cannot be younger than 18 years. There is no maximum age for and all people who are ready for such an activity can jump.
Preparations before performing a tandem jump
It is necessary to bring comfortable sneakers because performing jumps is not recommended or allowed in sandals, slippers, heels, and similar footwear. Bring comfortable clothes (we recommend sports).
To perform the jump, you also need a jumpsuit that you can wear over clothes if the weather is colder, goggles – gloves, and a helmet. You will also put parachute jump goggles, under which you can wear your prescription goggles or contact lenses.
It is recommended that you consume a lighter meal before the jump to maintain your blood sugar level and normal fluid intake so that you do not become dehydrated.
Impact of weather on tandem skydiving
Skydiving is a sport that depends on the weather. If it is windy and covered with clouds, it will not jump until the weather calms down and improves.
You will not be cold during the flight on the plane. After opening the door of the plane at the height of the jump, you will feel a rush of colder air, but then the excitement will be at such a level that you will not think of the cold, especially after you separate from the plane and experience a free fall.
What if the parachute doesn’t open?
You need to be careful, parachuting is a dangerous sport if the necessary measures and procedures not take during the preparation and implementation of jumps. You should always be careful about what you do, eliminate potential risk factors, need to be aware that dangers can arise as well in every sport and activity.
But, with you are trained and experienced coaches who know very well what to do in case of unforeseen circumstances, which are very rare.
Parachute failure is very rare, but in case it happens, it’s good to know that every tandem parachute in tandem also contains a spare parachute. If a parachute failure occurs, you are safe. The tandem instructor will perform the procedure of discarding the main parachute and opening the reserve.
How safe are the equipment and the tandem parachute?
The production of parachute equipment is carried out according to the strictest production standards and thoroughly tested before use. Parachute maintenance and packaging performed by trained persons licensed for such activities.
Spare parachutes must be repackaged and checked once a year, regardless of whether they are open or not. Also, the complete parachute must have an annual technical inspection.
How is the candidate attached to the tandem of instructors?
When performing tandem skydiving, the passenger wears a system of connections using which he is firmly tied to the tandem of the instructor at four points (two shoulder buttons and two side buttons).
Before the jump, the tandem instructor will make sure that the entire system set up correctly and that you feel safe and comfortable in it. Each shoulder girth can withstand a weight of 2500 kilograms (5000 kg together), and each side 1800 kilograms.
Are there health restrictions for tandem skydiving?
There are no special medical examinations that you must perform. Keep in mind that if you have a cold or toothache, you may feel pain and discomfort due to the rapid change in air pressure during the jump, so in that case, consider changing the date of your jump. If you suffer from chronic diseases or take medication, consult a doctor before jumping.
What if you are afraid of heights?
Most fears of heights, acrophobia, have to do with relativity. But not with Einstein’s relativity, but with the perception of objects that stand or move relatively about each other. At 3000 meters, the ground is far away and you can’t be said to be above anything.
The view is completely different from the one you have when you climb the ladder from which you can see things below you and estimate the distance to them. At about 700 meters, the ground becomes too far away and the problem with acrophobia disappears.
Therefore, the fear of heights that some people have, when they are at the top of a skyscraper, looking out the window of a tall building, or down a cliff, is significantly different from skydiving. The perception of height in tandem skydiving is completely different from “ordinary” and cannot compare.
Tandem skydiving allows you to enter the world of parachuting in the fastest, easiest, and safest way possible – through a tandem jump! You will feel everything that experienced parachutists feel during their jump: acceleration and engine noise as the plane takes off, a rush of cold when the door opens and you sit on their edge knowing you are leaving the plane in the next few seconds.
You will feel a rush of adrenaline as you fall to the ground at terminal speed and absolute peace when the parachute opens above you. And when you land, you will realize that you have come to the right flight as close as one person can approach.
Will you have a good time?
You will have the best and most exciting experience in your life so far! Nothing compares to this. It is very likely that immediately after landing you will want to jump another jump in tandem or even enter this sport as an independent parachutist.
Final Thoughts on Tandem Skydiving
Choosing to go skydiving is a heart racing decision and many may chicken out before they ever get up into the air, for those who make it into the air and jump it will change their life and allow you to know sheer exhilaration.
Tandem jumps are something people worry about but the benefit is that you get to jump and enjoy the jump without having to think of when to pull the chute or all the management of the jump, you just get the thrills!
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