Skydiving Speed Freaks
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
Anyone who is prepared to try skydiving has to be aware of the kind of speed they will be travelling as soon as they leave the aeroplane. The typical skydiving speed reached is just one of the reasons many people find this extreme sport so breathtaking.
And it is breathtaking in more ways than one. It’s quite common to gasp for breath as you leave the plane and the wind takes it away from you, but after that you will be fine, and the fact that the skydiving speed is usually around a hundred and twenty miles an hour doesn’t put many people off from doing the jump in the first place!
What Does That Kind Of Skydiving Speed Feel Like?
Ask any skydiver this question and you’ll get a similar answer – it doesn’t actually feel as though you are falling at all. You can feel the wind rushing past you, and the whole process is actually quite noisy because of this, but it feels more like the notion of flight than falling.
It’s the premise of wind resistance that actually prevents you from falling much faster than a hundred and twenty miles an hour, and although different people will fall at slightly different speeds depending on weight and build, the feeling they will all get is the same.
Can Skydiving Speed Be Faster Than This?
The short answer is yes. The traditional and safest position to adopt during a skydive is that of laying flat on your stomach with your arms and legs outstretched, and your legs bent at the knees.
This slows you down somewhat by creating more wind resistance. Some expert skydivers have managed to fall at speeds of over a hundred and sixty miles an hour by adopting a standing up position.
Conversely, you can also slow yourself down by wearing a winged suit, which allows you to enjoy the feeling of freefall for a little longer than normal.
If You Jump From Higher Up, Can You Fall Faster?
While most skydivers jump from a height of around fourteen thousand feet, a world record breaker in 1960 jumped from a height of nineteen miles above the earth’s surface. Special equipment was needed to protect him during the fall, where he reached speeds of up to a thousand miles an hour.
Normal skydiving speed is nowhere near this though, and once your parachute is opened you will slow down considerably to prepare for a smooth landing – before going back up and doing it all again.
