Skydiving, parachuting, freefall: what’s the difference?

Mark Pawlak    skydiveworldwide     freefall, parachuting, skydiving

Yep, there’s a little confusion here, so let’s set about clearing it up.

Pilots practice with a 'chute'

Skydiving is parachuting. There you go! Freefall is a type of parachuting (you are in free fall after you jump and before you open your parachute) , as is ‘static line’. Another way to think about it is: skydiving is the sport, freefall is the fall!

A brief look at the history of parachuting also helps sort things out.

Leonard da Vinci sketched the first chute, although parachutes were seen in China way back in the 12th century – mainly as gimmicks to help with stunts and entertainment.

It’s the French who can accurately claim to have pioneered the first parachute. Jean Pierre Blanchard trialled it on his dog before giving it a go himself!

Pilots in the First World War soon found the parachute had a life-saving function, as they bailed out of their stricken craft.

The first ever freefall jump was by an American, Leslie Irvin, in 1919. From here, in the civilian world at least, there are now two clear roles for the parachute: safety and sport.

Static line parachuting

This is where you jump from a plane and the chute is pulled automatically as you exit. The pilot chute is joined to the inside of the plane, and is pulled when you exit the aircraft.

Your first jump is likely to be on a static line – if you’ve seen images of paratroopers leaving an aircraft en masse, they are jumping using a static line.

Freefall

Gets its name as you fall ‘free’ before you deploy your chute (you are also free from the aircraft as there is no static line). You pull your own chute, and after professional training and practice, can freefall for 20, 30, 40 seconds, often even longer.

And the longest freefall jump ever? That has to go to Joseph Kittinger who jumped from the edge of space!

About the author

Mark Pawlak wrote 192 articles on this blog.

Editor at Adventure Sports Holidays, Mark's love affair with travel and the challenges of adventure sports continues... "You could save all year for a two-week, all-inclusive, doss by the pool, booze and buffet binge. Or, with a little planning and some good equipment, get off your arse and plan an adventure!"

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