Skydiving Jargon Explained
As a newcomer to skydiving you will hear an assortment of baffling phrases around the dropzone. Hopefully this should explain a few of the more common ones. Click on an item of obscure terminology below and you'll get some sort of explanation.
3 Ring Release a.k.a. 3 Ring Circus.
Accuracy
Altimeter
AFF
Base
BASE
Brake Lines
Bridle Line
Canopy
Canopy Contact
Category Eight
Cell
Centre-Float
CF, Canopy Formation
CoA
Competition
Control Lines
CRW
Cumulo Nimbus
Cutaway, Cut Away
Dirt-diving
Dock, Docking
Downwind
Drop Zone, DZ
Exit Point
Fall-Rate
Flare
Float, floating
FS, Formation Skydiving
Freefall Drift
Freeflying
Freestyle
Front-and-back
Hold
Lift
Manifest
Nose
Opening Point
Overshoot
Pilot chute
Pin
PLF, Parachute Landing Fall
Parachute
Piggyback
Ram-Air
Rear-float
Reserve Static Line
Rig
Ripcord
Risers
RSL
Run, Running
RW, Relative Work
Sensory Overload
Sit Flying
Skydivers
Skydiving
Skysurfing
Slider
Small Circle
Spot, Spotting
Square
Stable, Stability
Stall
Stall point
Stall turn
Steering lines
Steering Toggles
Stevens Lanyard
Style
Suspension lines
Tail
Tandem
Throwaway
Undershoot
Upwind
WDI
Wind shear
Windline
3 Ring Release a.k.a. 3 Ring Circus.
The method of attachment of the main risers to the harness. Allows the main canopy to be released in the event of a malfunction.
Accuracy.
A 'Classical' parachuting competition discipline, involving accurately landing on an electronic scoring pad. See Style.
Altimeter.
A device which tells Skydivers how low they are!
AFF.
Pronounced 'Ay Eff Eff'. Accelerated Free Fall - the intensive method of learning to skydive and parachute.
Base.
The centre-person on a Formation Skydive, around whom the formation is built. See Pin.
BASE.
Standing for Buildings, Antennae, Spans and Earth, BASE is a vaguely related sport involving dispensing with the 'perfectly serviceable aircraft' and jumping from (scarily) low ground-based fixtures. Not generally considered part of the sport of skydiving - although the equipment and techniques are similar, there are significant differences.
Brake lines.
See Steering Lines.
Bridle line.
This connects the pilot chute to the canopy.
Canopy.
The parachute-thingy itself, the big colourful bit at the top!
Canopy Contact.
See CRW.
Category Eight.
The qualification you are awarded upon successful completion of the Level 8 skydive - a qualified solo skydiver.
Cell.
Modern canopies are composed of a series of tapered tubes called 'cells'. Each cell runs from the nose to the tail of the canopy and is divided into two half-cells. Typical canopies have either seven or nine cells.
Centre-float.
An aircraft exit position involving climbing outside backwards with hands and feet braced on the top and bottom of the door. Yep, we cling onto the outside of aircraft.
CF, Canopy Formation.
See CRW
Circle of Awareness.
A set of actions undertaken during AFF training jumps to maintain your awareness, and communicate with your instructors, involving checking your ground heading, then your altitude, shouting the altitude to each instructor in turn, and acting on any hand signals they may show you. See Small Circle.
Competition.
Skydiving/Parachuting competitions are held in team Formation Skydiving, team Canopy Formations, individual and team Style and Accuracy, and Freestyle. Teams include various numbers of people, and are usually judged by use of video footage.
Control lines.
See Steering Lines.
CRW, Canopy Relative Work.
Building formations using open square canopies, which is immense fun and fraught with the possibility of horrendous entanglements. This being the case, the CReW Dog (as they are known) looks at his main canopy as a disposable toy, and his reserve as a route out of inconvenient trouble. The average skydiver, by contrast, considers his main parachute to be his primary life-saving device and the reserve parachute to be an emergency item. You get wimps everywhere.
Cumulo Nimbus.
Thunder clouds. Cu-Nims have very turbulent air for many miles around them, and so jumping will stop when they are around. We assess the weather conditions very simply: if it's black and big out there, we'll avoid jumping.
Cutaway, Cut Away.
In the event of a malfunction of the main parachute, there is a handle (the cutaway handle) which must be used to detach the main from the skydiver. Fortunately, a second parachute (the reserve) is also provided. It's a good idea to open it at this point. The reserve parachute cannot be cut away. What happens if the reserve malfunctions? Well, I bet you can work that out with a bit of thought.
Dirt-diving
Practicing for a skydive while still on the ground (dirt). Often resembles a complex ritual dance, but in fact has no observable effect on the weather. Unless you have waited all day to do your 50-person formation, in which case it will rain heavily as soon as the dirt dive is completed.
Dock, Docking
To dock is to approach and take grips on another skydiver in freefall (see Formation Skydiving) or to approach and make contact with another parachutist under canopy (see CRW).
Downwind
Any point in relation to the landing area which is in the same direction as the wind is blowing. The landing area should be downwind of the 'spot'.
Drop Zone
Also known as DZ. Broadly speaking, the landing area, although the full definition involves a column of airspace around a central point within which skydiving and parachuting take place. As we said, the landing area.
Exit Point
See spotting. The point over which you should exit the aircraft - the same as the opening point for lower-altitude descents, but often further upwind on higher altitude drops. See Freefall Drift.
Fall-rate
While terminal velocity for a human body is said to be about 120mph, in fact it varies slightly between different body-shapes, and with changes in body position. We all have to work at achieving the same fall-rate in order to skydive in formation. Head-down dives can be in excess of 300 mph. Now, before you try to remind me that everything falls at the same rate, you've forgotten the bit about 'in a vacuum'. We don't skydive in a vacuum, as it's a bit difficult to breathe.
Flare
The method of pulling both steering toggles down together, just prior to landing, for a gentle landing.
Float, Floater, Floating
To float is to climb outside the aircraft prior to exit, a floater is a person who does that, and floating is the process of doing that! See Centre Float, and Rear Float. The term 'floater' is also applied to a person who has a low fall-rate.
FS, Formation Skydiving
Holding hands in freefall! A bit more difficult than it looks!
Freefall Drift
The higher you go, the windier it gets, as a rule. So, during freefall, people can get blown along in relation to the ground, and the windier it gets the further they go. So this drift has to be taken into account when 'spotting'.
Freeflying
Skydiving any way up whatsoever, and being in control while doing it! Proponents of freeflying tend to put the emphasis on flying vertically head-downwards, but sit-flying and flying feet-first are also part of this game.
Freestyle
A skydiving discipline using both gymnastic and dance techniques, resembling mat gymnastics. Without the mat.
Front-and-back
A parachute harness/container system where the main canopy is mounted on the wearer's back, with the reserve canopy mounted on the front. How it used to be done in the days of round parachutes. At BPS Langar, we moved into the 21st century at the start of 1997, so no round parachute systems here!
Hold, Holding
Facing into wind. The direction you should be facing for landing. Your speed across the ground will be at its lowest.
Lift
(1) What you need after a bad spot.
(2) The force that keeps your canopy in the air.
Manifest
Aircraft cargo (skydivers in this case) is listed on a piece of paper known as a manifest. The desk where the Manifest sheet is handled is also known as the Manifest. So that's where to go when you want to jump!
Nose
The front of your Ram-Air canopy, into which air is rammed so that it keeps your canopy inflated.
Opening Point
The point over which your parachute should be open so you don't need a lift back to the DZ.
Overshoot
If you land past the target area, this is known as 'overshooting'. An overshoot area is a designated area in which parachutists who overshoot may land.
Pilot chute
A small parachute which is deployed first in order to initiate the opening sequence of the larger parachute.
Pin
The 'Pin' is the person who docks face-to-face with the 'base' person in a Formation Skydive. A pin is also the small item used to hold a parachute container shut until the canopy is required.
PLF, Parachute Landing Fall
A strong position which you should adopt prior to landing in order to ensure a safe landing without injury. A full PLF involves rolling around in the dirt with as much elegance as you can manage.
Parachute
See Canopy.
Piggyback
A parachute harness/container system where both main and reserve canopies are mounted on the wearer's back. The way it's done these days!
Ram-Air
A modern 'square' gliding parachute of the sort that you can expect to use. Refers to the way air is rammed into the parachute to make it wing-shaped.
Rear-float
An aircraft exit position involving climbing outside and hanging from the rear of the door (or from a specially provided handle and/or step to the rear of the door if you're very lucky).
Reserve Static Line
See RSL.
Rig
A term used to describe your parachute harness and container system.
Ripcord
The handle on a student freefall parachute system that must be pulled to ensure that your parachute will open. Pulling the ripcord allows the container to open, allowing a spring loaded pilot chute to launch itself into the airstream.
Risers
Four straps of webbing that attach the canopy's suspension lines to the harness.
RSL
Reserve Static Line - opens the reserve when you cut away from a partially (or fully) deployed main canopy.
Run, Running
Facing the same way as the wind is blowing. Your speed across the ground could be high.
RW, Relative Work
An out-of-date term for FS (Formation Skydiving).
Sensory Overload
A phenomenon involving a brief mental shut-down occurring in situations where too many new stimuli are received by one's brain - e.g. just after exit on your very first skydive!
Sit Flying
Skydiving bum-downwards, as if seated in a chair. Difficult and fun! This is the first thing to learn in your free-flying career.
Skydivers
The nutters who jump from serviceable aircraft in order to Skydive.
Skydiving
Freefall parachuting.
Skysurfing
Skydiving on what appears to be a specially modified snowboard. A wild extension of Freestyle.
Slider
A small rectangle of material having the effect of slowing the opening of a square parachute down to make it comfortable. It slides down the suspension lines and sits just over your head after it has done its job.
Small Circle
A set of actions undertaken during freefall to maintain awareness during AFF training jumps, involving checking your altitude, your ground heading and your own body position.
Spot, Spotting
The art/science of placing the aircraft from which you exit into a position in the sky (the spot) such that once you have landed you can pack and jump again, without having to first hitch a lift back to the DZ.
Square
The (actually rectangular) shape of a gliding parachute. As opposed to a Round.
Stable, Stability
The term used to describe being the 'right' way up, and maintaining a heading during a skydive. During training, the right way up is 'belly to earth' like you generally see skydivers in formation. Later, 'stable' has the wider meaning of being in control, regardless of the orientation of your body.
Stall
When a wing (canopy) slows down enough, it stops flying and simply falls out of the sky. Something to avoid when landing a parachute, of course, so student equipment is set up so it won't do this. Experienced canopies will allow a stall, due to their finer tuning for greater performance.
Stall point
The place where you bring the toggles down to which will put the canopy into a stall
.
Stall turn
A method of turning the canopy by stalling one side of it. Not for the faint-hearted, nor to be attempted close to the ground.
Steering lines
Brake lines or Control lines. The parachute canopy has a left one and a right one - you pull left to turn left, right to turn right and both to slow down and/or stop. Simple. In theory, at least!
Steering Toggles
The handles on the end of the steering lines.
Stevens Lanyard
See RSL. Steven invented it, but we're ignoring him now, as RSL sounds so much more techie, doesn't it?
Style
One of the 'Classical' skydiving competition disciplines, involving a set sequence of precise turns and backloops in minimum time.
Suspension lines
The canopy is attached to the parachute harness via a number of bits of high-tech string - the suspension lines.
Tail
The trailing edge of your Ram-Air canopy, to which your brake lines attach, allowing you to steer and flare your canopy.
Tandem
(1) the method of skydiving where the student is harnessed to an experienced instructor who wears a parachute built for two;
(2) also used interchangeably with the term 'piggyback'.
Throwaway
A method of deploying a main parachute by means of a small 'pilot chute' being extracted from a pocket by hand and dropped ('thrown away') into the airstream. Used by experienced jumpers, it dispenses with the inconvenience of a ripcord and the associated sprung pilot chute.
Undershoot
If you land short of the target area, this is known as 'undershooting'. An undershoot area is a designated area in which parachutists who undershoot may land.
Upwind
Any point in relation to the landing area which is in the opposite direction to that in which the wind is blowing. You need to be upwind to make it back to the landing area. See Downwind.
WDI
Wind Drift Indicator. A six metre crepe paper streamer weighted at one end and thrown from the aircraft in order to determine which way and how fast the wind is blowing - an aid to spotting.
Wind shear
Turbulence caused by differences in wind direction at varying altitudes.
Windline
An imaginary line along the ground, across the drop zone, calculated by the use of the WDI, along which you should be exiting the aircraft to allow you the luxury of 'playing around' under canopy, and still land on the drop zone