Skydiving

Alex Soncrant

Mr. Anderson

English 1A

6/1/11

Would You Ever Jump?

Have you ever wanted to jump out of a plane and live to tell the tale? Skydiving is an amazingly fun and safe thing to do. But only when the jumper is properly trained by a qualified professionals. Sky diving has been around for quite awhile. In 1797,  Andrew Garnerin jumped from the balloon using a parachute. Some interesting facts about skydiving are the steps before you make your first jump, the safety of skydiving, why and why not you should jump out of a plane, and Andrew J.Garnerin.

First off, skydiving is a rush! But before you jump, you have to learn a few things. First, choose you’re drop zone, which in the US there are more then 220 affiliated skydiving school, clubs and centers. Second, choose a jump, a few common jumps for first time jumpers like the Tandem jump, Accelerated Freefall (AFF) jump, static-line, and instructor-assisted deployment.("How to Start Skydiving.") While you’re going through the training, you will be on the ground learning the basics of skydiving. Includes how to exit a plane, freefall through the sky, how to land, and other things you need to know before jumping. After you go through the training process you’re ready to jump, but with an instructor. If you really like skydiving you can do it as a sport. You can also learn to do cool tricks while you’re freefalling. ("How to Start Skydiving.")
Secondly, the first crazy person to jump out of the sky using a parachutes was Andrew Jacques Garnerin. (Gunston, Bill) Andrew was born on Jan. 31, 1769 and died Aug. 18, 1823. He became interested about parachutes in 1793 while he was a prisoner of war. When he returned to Paris, after the war Garnerin made an umbrella like parachute with a basket and attached it to a hydrogen-filled balloon. Then Oct. 22, 1797, at a  height of about 3,000 ft he cut the parachute loose from the balloon and flowed down safely to the ground. (Hallion, Richard P.)
Thirdly, do you want to know if skydiving is safe? On average, about 35 skydivers out of two million parachute jumpers, die each year. ‘"If you do everything you're supposed to do during that exhilarating 60-second drop to the ground, you'll be fine," according to soyouwanna.com.’ Most injuries happen during the landing. While falling, before you reach the ground, the parachute can get tangled, which means you might fall to the ground to fast and get hurt or die. Wind changes and not using the equipment right can also can be fatal. ("Safe Skydiving.") Before you going skydiving you should see a doctor to make sure you’re fit. ‘"Although skydiving is not a strenuous sport, people who are in reasonably good shape enjoy it more and are less likely to suffer an injury," according to Skydiving Magazine.’("Safe Skydiving.") The sport of skydiving is getting safer, the 1970s, the sports average skydiving fatalities per year was 42.5 and in 2010 USPA recorded only 21 fatal skydiving accidents in the U.S.
Lastly, would you ever jump? Each year, approximately 400,000 people in the U.S. for the first, time try skydiving. On average, first-time jumpers and experienced skydivers make about 3 million jumps yearly! Today, more than 4 million people throughout the country can say they’ve jumped out of a plane. Skydiving can be fun, safe, and life-changing. But it can also cost a lot of money. Such as Tandem jumps usually range from $150 to $250, Accelerated Freefall jumps generally range from $250-$350 each, and the static-line and instructor-assisted deployment typically range from $100-$200 per jump. Also on average, out of two million parachute jumps about 35 are fatal. Skydiving has it’s ups and downs but it can be life-changing. ("How to Start Skydiving.")
Skydiving can be an exciting thing! Here are some cool facts about it, the steps before you make your first jump, the safety of skydiving, why and why not you should jump out of a plane, and Garnerin, Andrew J. It’s important to listen to your instructor and do what they say. Skydive is mostly safe. Jumping our of a plane can be exciting! If you’re healthy you’ll be alright. Andrew Garnerin was the first nut-head to jump with a parachute. So, will you jump our of a plane? Or  will chicken out?

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