Skydiving 101 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pilot chute.

A pilot chute is released which acts as a mini-parachute. The pilot chute catches air and pulls out the parachute which opens and unfolds as it catches air, a 10-20 second process.

Answer: Arch at hips.

Some refer to this position as belly to earth. The most stable, and first lesson in freefalling technique, is to arch at the hips. Essentially making a U shape with your body, having the waist as the bottom of the U. Head down and sit flying are other styles of freefall, but are not practiced until one can fly stable while belly to earth.

Answer: Deploy the reserve parachute.

Although malfunctions are rare, there are inevitable times when the main parachute must be released if it cannot be landed safely. A reserve parachute should be deployed in such a case. With such great risks within the sport, redundancy is quite neccesary; hence the requirement of a second parachute.

Answer: USPA.

The United States Parachute Association oversees skydiving in the USA. Contact them or do some research, you may be surprised to see how safe it is and how many safeguards are in place to keep each skydiver out of harm's way from the "craziness" that is commonly associated with the sport.

Answer: 21.

This number is incredilby low when compared to the number of jumps made that same year was more than 2.2 million. This percentage has been relatively the same for quite some time. According to the incident reports the majority of those 21 deaths were from experienced skydivers doing things that they should not have been. More info and the incident reports can be found at USPA.org.

Answer: Any of these.

There are many types of airplanes used for skydiving. If ever given the chance, take a ride on a Super King Air. It's by far the fastest plane used in the sport and makes the ride to altitude extremely fun.

Answer: Parachute Landing Fall.

A parachute landing fall, or PLF, should be performed if landing may not go as planned. To perform a PLF, the skydiver should place their feet together, bend their knees slightly, and roll over to one side upon touching the ground. This will move the weight of the fall over most the skydiver's body.

Answer: No, but your body changes position.

Although pictures, and even some video, give that illusion, you continue to fall. Your fall rate is slowed so dramatically that your body moves to a stand up (feet down) position.

Answer: All of these.

Squares, or rectangular canopies offer the ability to fly around wherever you guide them. Depending on the wind direction and speed, you can find yourself flying sideways and even backwards, but you don't generally want to jump if the winds are too high. A soft landing is always possible with good training and a little experience.

Answer: All of them are safe and I can't wait to try one of them!

A tandem jump will have you strapped tightly to a certified instructor. Accelerated Free Fall (AFF) will have you spending some time doing classroom style training then jumping on your own with two jumpmasters holding onto you. When doing a static line jump, your parachute is opened for you as you exit the airplane. Blue Skies!