In this part of our go skydiving guide we’ll give you an overview of tandem jumps.
In tandem jumping – a popular way to start skydiving – a beginner jumper and an instructor are attached together by a harness. They exit the plane and descend together, remaining attached throughout.
The two parachutists remain attached until after the landing and the instructor is in complete control of the jump, the free fall and the canopy release. He or she pilots the paired skydivers both horizontally and vertically through the entire jump, so the novice can just enjoy the skydiving experience.
This lets a beginner experience skydiving with the least possible training, risk and stress. Many people follow tandem jumping with static line or accelerated freefall training, and ultimately with solo jumping. Tandem jumping is also usually cheaper than other options as jumper need very little instruction and need not buy or hire their own equipment.
Whereas other jump programs require several hours of ground instruction, tandem jumping can be participated in on your first day. There’s still often some amount of training on the ground required for tandem jumping though, since there’s a certain amount of cooperation needed to exit the plane safely and descend properly, but this will normally take just a few hours.
When you exit the plane, the instructor will nearly immediately deploy a small chute (called a drogue) to help slow your descent to the normal free fall speed, about 120 mph (193 kph). Without it, the combined weight of you and the instructor would result in a descent speed of about 200 mph (321 kph), which is much faster than a first time skydiver should experience.
At the appropriate elevation above ground level (about 3,000 feet – 914 m), the instructor will pull a cord to deploy the main parachute canopy, shortly after which you’ll then descend at the normal rate, about 10 mph (16 kph), until you touch down on the ground.