How High Do You Skydive From?

Every year, Skydive Cincinnati helps men and women from across Ohio to reach new heights. How high exactly? Great question. How high you skydive from will depend, in part, on the type of skydiving you are doing.

Typical Skydiving Height

At Skydive Cincinnati, the average skydiving height is between 10,000-10,500 feet. For reference, that is an impressive two miles above the earth. The height for skydiving determines how much time in freefall you will get. The average skydiving height at Skydive Cincinnati guarantees you will get right around 45 glorious seconds of freefall.

Low Altitude Jumps

Sometimes, licensed skydivers will choose a lower height for skydiving. These low-altitude jumps are used by skydivers who want to focus primarily on their canopy skills rather than their freefall skills. Nicknamed "hop-n-pops" because jumpers hop from the plane and deploy their parachute, these low altitude jumps occur between 3,500 feet and 5,500 feet.

Static Line Skydiving

Static line skydiving has an average skydiving height of 3,500 feet. On a static line skydive, a lanyard is packed into the main parachute. As the jumper exits the aircraft, the lanyard extends and aids in the opening of the main parachute. From this height, jumpers experience a freefall of about 7 seconds.

What determines skydiving altitude?

Aside from the type of skydiving that an individual is participating in, there are a couple of additional factors that affect the height of skydiving. One of these factors is the aircraft that a skydiving facility uses.

Different types of aircraft have different altitude limitations. After exceeding a certain altitude, an aircraft's functionality deteriorates. This is because as altitude increases, air density decreases. Sometimes, this is referred to as "thin air". The decrease in air density reduces engine performance, and thus, the aircraft is unable to perform as efficiently. For the workhorse of the industry, the Cessna 182, the maximum altitude that can be reached efficiently is around 10,500 feet.

The other factor that affects the height for skydiving is the weather. While a few puffy white clouds can really enhance your skydiving experience, too many of them can prevent you from reaching the normal skydiving height.

Skydiving aircraft must operate under something called visual flight rules and observe cloud clearances. At 10,000 feet and above, the rules require that there must be at least 5 miles of visibility, with one mile horizontal, and 1,000 feet below and above clear of clouds. If there happens to be a thick cloud layer at say, 10,000 feet, you would have to exit from an altitude below 10,000 feet but above the minimum exit altitude for a tandem skydive.

Minimum Height For Skydiving

Because the basic safety requirements issued by the United States Parachute Association state that the minimum container opening altitude for tandem skydives is 5,000 feet, the minimum height for skydiving for a tandem skydive is between 7,000 feet and 8,000 feet. However, it should be noted that a skydive from this height is not ideal as it leaves very little time for freefall. Because the parachute needs a certain amount of time to open, tandem skydives cannot be completed safely from altitudes lower than this height.

Interested in putting your knowledge to use? Check out the height for skydiving first-hand, and schedule your first skydive with Skydive Cincinnati today!