The History of Skydiving

Skydiving has an interesting history that can take up a whole volume, but this article will attempt to give a brief synopsis of that history. Most people consider skydiving a product of the twentieth century, but its history actually goes further back than that. The Chinese attempted parachuting in the 10th century, a thousand years before we did. Of course, there were no airplanes, so the Chinese did what we would today call base diving; that is, they jumped off outcroppings or other formations that would allow them to float from a height to the ground. And then, of course, we have the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci, who illustrated a pyramid shaped parachute on a wood frame.

As an active sport, however, parachuting is much more recent. The first person to attempt to parachute was Frenchman Jacques Garnerin, who jumped from his air balloon at the end of the 18th Century and did tricks on the way down and stupefy the crowds by landing safely on the ground. In the 19th century, an intrepid woman, Kathie Paulus became famous for skydiving in Germany at the end of the 19th Century and is now famous for these feats and her demonstrated skills.

Once the airplane was invented, skydiving took on a whole new form. The airplane made it possible to dive from greater heights at greater speeds, allowing for more range in the movements in the air. A woman named Tiny Broadwick became the first woman to jump from a plane (in 1913) and to dive free fall (in 1914).

Skydiving was not called skydiving until the middle of the 1950s, when Ronald Young coined the phrase. It had been called parachuting prior to this and was primarily used by the military to land troops in inland locations, or for pilots to bail out of their planes when necessary. This was first done successfully in 1922, and has now become a standard for small plane pilots. Once World War I was over, parachuting became a sport, which we now call skydiving.

After World War II, this form became more and more of a hobby and less and less of a military maneuver. Soldiers were now trained in parachuting and enjoyed the thrill so much they continued on for fun. From this, teams and competitions were formed. Skydiving schools started popping up in the late 1950s and now it is a recognized extreme sport enjoyed by many.

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Tips for Choosing the Best Skydiving School

Make sure you take this basic skydiving information with you if you decide take skydiving lessons. It will make a big difference in how much enjoyment you will get out of the sport.

The most important thing to do is to take skydiving lessons from the best school for you. This will involve doing a bit of research about the quality of the school, the location, how they conduct their classes, their class schedules, etc.

Next, be aware of your own personal health concerns. There are some conditions that make it at best uncomfortable, and at worst, dangerous to skydive. Make sure you are honest with yourself and your skydive center about your health issues. Some centers will actually have requirements that you have to meet, but others will not and will rely upon you to be honest on the health form that you have to sign for them.

For the ones that require a physical before you can skydive with them, you have to take into consideration the cost of the physical. If your health is good, passing it should be easy, but if you have certain conditions, you may need the doctor to sign off that you are fit to skydive. Be honest with the skydiving school or center; you don't want to have any surprises if a medication you are taking does not function well when you are up in the air. If you were recently a blood donor, or if you have been scuba diving, make sure you tell your instructor. It may make a difference in whether or not you should skydive right now.

Many countries and states have requirements regarding the minimum age to skydive, so make sure you know what that is before you waste your time and money. For example, in the United States, you must be at least 16 in order to skydive, but you can get a waiver if a parent or guardian consents to it. In this case, the parent or guardian will have to observe the instructions for the skydive.

Most schools, however, regardless of more lenient federal requirements, will require that a client be at least 18 in order to skydive.

There may also be certain tests, including oral and written tests to demonstrate knowledge and a practical test to show you are capable of the skydive. Typically, these tests are administered after detailed ground training, so as long as you have been paying attention in the on the ground skydiving lesson, you should have no problem. Just passing the test is not the important thing, understanding everything you need to know in order to make a safe dive is much more important.

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