Speed skydiving
Speed skydiving is a discipline of skydiving with the aim of achieving the highest possible free fall speed in a defined measuring range.
According to the ISSA Speed Skydiving World Cup regulations 2007 , the dropping height is 4000 m above ground. Immediately after getting out of the dropping plane, the jumper assumes the most aerodynamic posture possible - usually head-down , arms placed sideways - so that he reaches his fastest free fall speed at the beginning of the measuring range 2700 m above ground. He tries to keep this during the 1000 m long measuring section. After passing the measuring section, the speed is decelerated to the normal free fall speed.
Each competitor has six jumps available. The final result is an average of the best three.
The speed is measured by two electronic measuring devices that are attached to the left and right of the harness. If the speeds determined by the two measuring devices differ by more than 30 km / h, the jump is invalid ( OB - Out of Boundaries ).
It is not permitted to take additional weights with you. Jumping is done with standard skydiving equipment.
Since the forces acting on the jumper and equipment are extremely strong at the flown speeds, the greatest danger is an unwanted premature opening of the wing.
Due to the posture, it is not possible to read the altimeter attached to the hand. It is therefore imperative to use acoustic and / or optical height alarms.
The FAI world record is currently 601.26 km / h in a jump , held by Henrik Raimer (SWE) on September 13, 2016 in Chicago (USA).