DropZone

He smiled. He had a feeling it was going to be the easiest decision he’d ever made. Still, it was a big one…

‘Don’t go all silent on me,’ said Joh

Ethan looked back up into the sky. More skydivers were coming in. He was itching for a jump himself.

‘You’re dangerous people to know,’ he said. ‘That was some serious shit we went through. I wasn’t exactly prepared for it.’

‘Isn’t that half the fun, though?’ said Joh

‘Your jokes really are crap,’ said Ethan. ‘We were almost killed.’

They were both silent for a moment, thinking about that.

‘I keep getting flashbacks,’ he went on. ‘To those x-rays who walked into the Claymores on the beach. That guy we were fighting when Sam appeared and shot him. That other guy I kicked off the boat…’

‘They knew what they were getting into,’ said Joh

‘Still,’ said Ethan, ‘it’s difficult to get it out of my head.’

‘I know, Eth,’ Joh

Ethan looked at Joh

Joh

‘I know,’ said Ethan.

‘But what I will say is that we all want you on the team, including Sam. And that’s a big deal.’

For a few moments neither of them said anything.

‘Well?’ said Joh

‘You said you wouldn’t force it.’

‘I lied.’ Joh

In spite of everything, Ethan couldn’t stop gri

GLOSSARY

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AAD - Automatic Activation Device: senses rate of descent and altitude – mechanically activates reserve parachute if a skydiver passes below a set altitude at a high rate of descent.

A/C - Aircraft.

Accuracy - Also known as ‘precision landing’. Competition discipline in which the skydiver tries to land on a target three centimetres in diameter.

AFF - Accelerated Freefall training, comprising freefall jumps of forty seconds or longer, accompanied by a qualified jumpmaster.

AGL - Above Ground Level. Altitudes are in reference either to Ground Level or Sea Level (MSL). Skydivers always use AGL when referring to altitude.

Airspeed - Speed of a flying object through the air.

Altimeter - Device indicating altitude.

Base - Core around which a formation skydive is built. Can be a single person or a group.

Body position - Freefall body posture.

Boogie - Gathering of skydivers.

Bounce - To land at unsurvivable speed. Also to frap, or go in.

Box man - A neutral, face-to-earth body position in which the arms form right angles at shoulder and elbow, and the legs are spread at about forty-five degrees from the long axis and bent forty-five degrees at the knees. Generally considered the ideal position for formation skydiving.

Brakes - The brake lines of the canopy are also steering lines. Used together, they slow the parachute. Used independently, they result in a turn.

Break off - To cease formation skydiving by tracking away from the formation prior to deploying the canopy.

Burble - An area of low air pressure above a descending skydiver caused either by them in freefall or by their canopy in flight.

Call - Time remaining until you are to board the aircraft or jump out of it.

Canopy - Another name for parachute.

Crabbing - Canopy flown at an angle sideways to the ambient wind, resulting in a path across the ground that is sideways as well as forwards.

Creep - Practising formation skydiving sequences while lying on a creeper.

Creeper - A board with wheels on which a skydiver lies to simulate freefall manoeuvres.

Cut away - To release the main parachute. Standard emergency procedure prior to deploying the reserve.

Dirt dive - Skydive rehearsed on the ground.

Drogue - In a tandem jump, a drogue parachute is released shortly after exiting the aircraft to reduce the speed of descent. It is later used to deploy the main canopy.

Dropzone/ DZ - Skydiving landing zone.

Exit weight - Total weight of jumper, equipment and clothing.

Fall rate - Speed at which a skydiver falls. Matching fall rate is essential to successful formation skydiving. This is done with jumpsuits, weights and body position.

Flare - To pull down the brakes of the canopy, thus increasing the angle of attack and reducing the descent rate.

Floater - Skydivers who leave the plane before the base are called floaters since they must use a slow fall rate to get up to the base. Floating also refers to an exit position outside the plane.

Formation -1) A freefall skydiving formation of more than one jumper.

-2) A flight of more than one jump plane.

Freestyle - Acrobatic individual skydiving.

FS - Formation Skydiving. Skydivers attempt to go through a predetermined sequence of freefall formations.

GPS - Global Positioning System.

Grippers - Handholds built onto formation skydiving jumpsuits to make the suits easier to hold onto.

Hand deploy - To activate a canopy manually by deploying the pilot chute as opposed to pulling a ripcord.

Harness/ container - Webbing/fabric holding main and reserve canopies to the skydiver.

Heading - Direction in which the aircraft, skydiver or parachute is facing.

Hook knife - Small knife carried in jumpsuit or on rig to cut lines or webbing.

Jump run - Flight path taken by the jump plane.