How Fast Is Skydiving?

How fast can a human fall? And do we hit our max falling speed when we skydive? In one way, yes, our max speed for that particular skydive is reached, but our overall max speed? Nah.

The maximum falling speed for humans is not solely determined by just the act of skydiving; it’s a combination of factors within the skydive, like body position, altitude, and air resistance. This article will dive into how fast freefall is during a typical skydive and how we can adjust it!

In freefall, a human typically reaches a terminal velocity of about 120 miles per hour (193 kilometers per hour) in a belly-to-earth position. “Belly flying” is the most common skydiving position and is the orientation that tandem skydivers use.

Our center of gravity is our pelvis area, and this position allows for our center of gravity to be lower than every other part of our body. This ensures a stable freefall, one reason why tandem students and solo students are first taught how to fly on their bellies.

Terminal velocity is the state of harmony between resistance (from the air) and gravity (pulling you down). Think of it like this, when you initially exit the plane, you’re not instantaneously falling at 120 mph. You’ll jump out, get caught in the breeze, then begin your true descent into freefall. After about 10 seconds, you’ll reach your unique terminal velocity, where the air working against you falling and the gravity pulling you toward the earth reaches an equilibrium.

Fall rate is simply how fast a skydiver falls! In the sport, when someone asks your fall rate, they’re simply asking, “How fast are you comfortable falling?” Adjustments in how fast someone falls can happen from a change of body position or orientation, and change in clothing type.

Adding more clothing and stretching out our bodies (like when we’re belly-to-earth) increases surface area and decreases fall rate. Wearing tight-fitting clothes and minimizing our surface area, perhaps by flying in a seated position (called sit-flying), will decrease our surface area and increase our fall rate. People ask this prior to a jump to know what they can expect during freefall, and to dress for success!

Fall rate is partly determined by our body weight. Someone with more body weight will naturally fall faster than someone with less. So, what about those big formation skydives? How are so many people able to fall together when they’re all on their bellies? What they’re wearing makes a difference, but jumpers can also stay on their bellies and speed up or slow down – this is a skill learned before gaining your A-license!

They do this by arching more or less; a stronger arch results in a faster fall rate, and vice versa. People of all shapes and sizes can fall together because they actively adjust their fall rate through their body position and clothing choices.

Remember earlier when we talked about adjusting fall rate with our body position? It’s sort of difficult to do that with two people strapped together – especially when one of them is skydiving for the very first time!!

So, how is this rapid acceleration of two skydivers countered? The drogue! A drogue is a small parachute deployed by the tandem instructor shortly after exit from the aircraft. The drogue is used to slow the descent of the two jumpers to a speed right around the standard terminal velocity – this allows our videographers to keep up! Along with decreasing fall rate, drogues aid in stabilization for the tandem pair and help to deploy the main parachute when it’s time. Without a drogue, the tandem pair would be hauling through the sky at speeds way too fast to allow for a normal parachute deployment.

There is a discipline in skydiving called “speed skydiving” and it’s when participants exit the aircraft and instantly assume a head-down position. They wear super tight-fitting jumpsuits to minimize drag, and have one goal: fall FAST! Higher altitudes have reduced air pressure and allow for faster fall rates, which is why Felix Baumgartner holds the world record in fastest freefall at around 843 mph during his famous Stratos Jump!! With Baumgartner’s change in body position and increase in air pressure as he got closer to the earth, he was able to have a normal parachute deployment after this wildly cool jump!

Do you feel the need, the need for speed? Book today and come fly with us! Blue skies!

Related Article: How to Calculate Time in Freefall