Skydiving is a type of jump that is performed from the heights, where a parachute is used in this technique to be able to smooth the fall on landing. These jumps can be made from any air transport such as helicopters, airplanes, hot air balloons or from a mountain. Skydiving is done for various purposes, either for recreation or for sport. In the case of jumping from a fixed object, it is classified as a "base" type of jump. In jumping, the parachute can be opened immediately when they leave the aircraft or fixed object or the person may decide to have a mastered free fall before opening it manually.
In the case of sport or recreational skydiving, the skydiver "glides" in a concerned way during the free fall and before opening his parachutes; in this way the activity is distributed in two completely different ways: free descent and parachute flight.
Another form of skydiving is in Air Operations used by military, medical, police and firefighting schools to train their students as professionals in skydiving with the intention of establishing airborne detachments and mobilizing specialized teams or squadrons together with the rest of the squad to areas with difficult access.
In either of the two modalities, each of the paratroopers carries two parachutes, one as a main and the other as a spare. It is also advisable to use protection such as a helmet, gloves, glasses, altimeter and instant emergency system. There is a great variety of styles or ways of jumping which are:
- Free fall: freestyle, relative work, derivatives, free flight, sky surf, BASE jump, tandem jump, wingsuit, angle fly.
- Special jumps: HALO, HAHO, LALO
- In parachute flight: precision, relative canopy work, ground launching, swooping.
When we refer to sports skydiving, this profession has undergone profound evolution in everything that concerns safety since 1980, the technological advance in all its luggage and in the application of regulations and techniques to prevent any problem.
The parachutes that are used can be round or rectangular. The rectangular parachutes of the ram air model, after being opened the user can direct the orientation and descent destination.
