Skydive Livermore

Tandem Training generally takes less than 30 minutes, and depending on a number of variables, a student may spend only half a day for the training and the jump. Parachuting is an activity involving a preplanned drop from a height using a deployable parachute. In the US and in most of the western world skydivers are required to carry a second, reserve parachute which has been inspected and packed by a certificated parachute rigger (in the US, an FAA certificated parachute rigger). Many skydivers use an automatic activation device (AAD) that opens the reserve parachute at a safe altitude in the event of failing to activate the main canopy themselves. Surveys indicate that most people jumping for the first time choose the tandem method. The three most common tandem skydiving systems in use are the Strong Dual Hawk and United Parachute Technologies Sigma Tandem. When tandem jumping, one parachute system is used by two skydivers. The student jumps together with the instructor after some ground training has beed completed. The jump will usually be between 8,200 and 14,000 ft. Students practice the jumps by steering the parachute, when jumping in tandem with their instructor. Tandem Skydiving parachute jumps are the most popular first jumps. Tiny Broadwick, another professional parachutist in the U.S., became the first woman to jump from an airplane in 1913 and the first to make a freefall in 1914. Some Tandem skydiving training programs instruct first-time jumpers on how and when to deploy the main canopy themselves. In these programs, about half of the first-jump students succeed. However, the tandem master remains primarily responsible for safe and timely parachute deployment. During World War I, parachutes were introduced as rescue devices for observation balloon pilots, but airplane pilots were instructed to land with their aircraft. The Tandem skydiving instructor controls the whole jump from exit through freefall, piloting the canopy, and landing.