How much time does it take to reach the ground after jumping from a height of so many meters?
Skydiving is a sport where parachutists jump from high altitudes (usually around 2500 m) and free fall at speeds of up to 120 km/h. The objective is to reach the ground safely.
But how long are you in the air? In this article, we look at how long you are in the air when skydiving and look at how you can calculate time in freefall.
What Is Skydiving?
The sport of skydiving involves jumping off an aircraft into the sky. The jumper will free fall for a while, and then, at an appropriate altitude, they, or a licensed instructor will release a parachute. This allows the jumper to descend slowly towards the earth.
People who enjoy skydiving do it for fun. It’s not just about jumping off planes but also having some adrenaline-pumping adventure.
There are many reasons why people choose to jump off planes. Some may want to experience the thrill of jumping off a plane and others may be interested in experiencing what it feels like to fly through the air. Some people love watching other people jump off planes.
Others enjoy doing stunts such as somersaults or backflips during their descent. Jumpers often use a video camera on their helmet to record their jump. These videos are then uploaded onto social media sites such as YouTube.
It’s also popular to skydive for charity and raise money for good causes. For example, the Red Cross has been known to organize skydives for fundraising purposes.
How Does Skydiving Work?
Jumpers usually wear a harness that holds them together during the flight. The harness is attached to a cable that connects the harness to the plane.
Jumpers hold onto the cable with one hand while holding onto the plane with the other.
When it gets to their turn, the jumper then jumps out of the plane, and once they reach the desired altitude, releases the parachute by pulling the ripcord. This causes the parachute to inflate and slow down the jumper’s speed.
When the jumper lands, he will land safely because the parachute slowed him down enough to avoid injury, although you will often hit the ground with quite a bit of speed.
The parachute slows the jumper down by creating drag force. Drag force acts against the direction of motion.
Drag force is the force acting on an object moving through a fluid medium. In the case of skydivers, the medium is the atmosphere which consists mainly of nitrogen and oxygen gases.
Drag force depends on several factors including:
- The mass of the jumper
- The velocity of the jumper
- The density of the atmosphere
- The size of the jumper
- How close the jumper gets to the surface of the Earth
If the jumper is closer to the ground, he will feel less drag force. This means that if he jumps from a higher altitude he will fall a little slower than if he jumps from a lower altitude, but they will, of course, experience less drag once they reach the lower altitudes.
This is because the density of the atmosphere decreases as you get closer to the surface of the earth.
If the jumper jumps at a high velocity, he will feel less resistance when he descends. This is because the air molecules collide with each other faster.
How Long Are You In The Air?
In freefall, on average when skydiving, you fall 200 feet per second and from heights of up to 10,000 feet. This simply means you’ll be in freefall for around 30 seconds. Not long right?
A person falls at a constant rate until he reaches terminal velocity. When you reach terminal velocity, this is the fastest speed at which you will fall during a jump and will be around 120 mph.
Often, you will reach this speed a couple of seconds into your jump, and so for those few moments out the plane door, you’ll be falling slightly more slowly and covering less distance.
It is good practice to estimate around 10 seconds for the first 1000 feet and then 5 seconds for every extra 1000 feet you fall following on from this.
What About From Different Altitudes?
Skydivers often jump from around 10,000 to 14,000 feet, which equals around 2 miles. From 10,000 feet, you would be in freefall for 30 seconds and from 14,000 feet, this turns into around 60 seconds.
At some skydiving places, people can experience the thrill of skydiving by jumping from 17,500 feet up. This means you would get around 85 seconds in freefall and it is one of the highest tandem skydives recorded.
What Is Freefall And Why Does Freefall Time Matter?
There are no words to describe that moment of leaving an aircraft, and what proceeds is what we call freefall.
Skydivers feel pure bliss while falling through the air. And before they reach the ground, they can move around freely using the basics of aerodynamics. You can tilt your body to turn around and put your legs straight out to propel forward.
You may have seen competitive skydivers building formations together in the air or flying in a different orientation, and all of this is possible in freefall.
Freefalling is great to play around with and have fun with, so why not stay in freefall a little longer next time you are skydiving. The decision is up to you timewise, but we promise it can be an amazing experience.
Final Thoughts
We hope after reading this article you understand what freefalling is, why skydiving is such a popular sport, and most importantly, how long you are in the air.
Skydiving can be a thrilling and adrenaline-packed activity, and though it’s not for everyone, if you’re up for the challenge, it should be something you try once in your life and get ticked off that bucket list!
I decided to create this source of knowledge from my own experiences, in the hopes of helping budding pilots to get through their training.
So, if you’re thinking about becoming a pilot or are in the middle of your training, I hope that this website and my knowledge comes of some benefit to you. I’d love to think that my website made your experience a little less stressful and a lot more fun!
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