The ABC’s of Skydiving: M & O

There are no real official terms pertaining to skydiving that begin with the letter ‘N’ and so this glossary will skip that letter. Please let us know if you can think of any ‘n’ terms that we may have missed!

MSL - This is Means Sea Level. The pilot flying the jump plane will use MSL to refer to altitude. The difference is that it refers to how many feet above sea level the plane is and not how many feet above the ground.

Main - Referring to the main parachute and hopefully, the one that will be used instead of the reserve.

Manifest - This is the action of placing yourself on a list to get onto a jump plane. Each plane has a list of every jumper and these lists are kept in certain locations where you must go to get on the list.

Microline - This is a newer kind of suspension line that is much smaller than the old dacron lines that were once used.

Organizer - This is someone who coordinates formation dives. This person is usually greatly skilled at organization and is very experienced at skydiving. 

Out landing This is when a skydiver does not land on his/her target.

Out of date: If the reserve was packed more than 120 days ago at the time of the jump, it is considered to be ‘out of date’ and is illegal to use.

The ABC’s of Skydiving: K & L

Key - This is a signal that the jumpmaster or instructor will give to divers to indicate that it’s time to move on to the next step.

King Air - This is an aircraft that’s been designed by the manufacturer Beechcraft. It’s most commonly found in medium-sized drop zones.

Line of Flight - This is the imaginary line that the aircraft will use on its flight path. Knowing the line of flight is very useful when doing formation diving and when there are multiple divers, they will be dropped off along strategic points of the line of flight.

Log Book - Just as it’s common to log flights and and on ships, many skydivers will keep a log book. This is especially useful for logging your achievements and your goals. It’s also just a nice way to record your skydiving experiences.

LORAN - This is a navigational system that can be compared to today’s GPS. It works on ground transmitters and is mostly obsolete.

The ABC’s of Skydiving: J

Jump run - The path that the jump plane will take to position the skydivers over the airport.

Jumpsuit - A suit that skydivers wear for certain types of jumping, such as freestyle, FS, and accuracy.

Jumpmaster - This is someone who can train other skydivers and who has successfully passed a USPA Jumpaster Certification Course. They are different from instructors in that they cannot oversee a first jump course, oversee a student’s program without the supervision of an instructor, or sign off licenses.

The ABC’s of Skydiving: I

In Date: This term is used to describe a reserve pack that has been fully packed. If it was packed prior to 120 days before the jump, it is considered to be ‘in date.’ If it was packed over 120 days ago, it’s considered to be ‘out of date’ and it is illegal to use an out of date pack.

Instructor: To be considered an official skydiving instructor, one must have had a jumpmaster rating for at least one year and must also have completed and passed an Instructor Certification Course.

IPC - This is an abbreviation for the International Parachuting Commission, which oversees  sport parachuting. The commission is a sub-committee of the FAI.

ABC’s of Skydiving: H

Hand Deploy - To have to manually deploy the canopy as opposed to pulling the ripcord.

Harness/container - The piece of material that holds both the canopy and the reserve chute to the skydiver.

Heading - The position the aircraft, skydiver, or canopy is facing. It’s essential when group diving to be able to recognize and control one’s heading.

Holding - This is when a canopy is flying directly into ambient wind.

Hook knife - This is a small piece of equipment that’s attached to the jumper’s suit. The knife is designed so that the edge is hidden inside of a hook so that the jumper will not cut themselves when reaching for it.

Hook turn - This is a 90 degree turn that is performed close to the ground. It’s extremely dangerous and should not be done.

Hot fuel - This is when the aircraft is running while the fuel is being refilled. The aircraft should never be boarded at this time.

The ABC’s of Skydiving: G

Glide ratio - This is the ratio that refers to how much a parachute glides forward, as compared to flying down. For instance, a chute that has a 3:1 glide ratio will glide 3 feet forward for every 1 foot of gliding down towards the earth.

GPS - Global Positioning System. This is mostly used in skydiving aircraft so that the exit can be clearly marked.

Grips - This is when a diver hangs on to another diver for formation or in freefall attempts. A formation is not considered complete until all grips are in proper place.

Grippers - These specifically refer to group formation and are accessories placed onto jump suits so that gripping is made easier.

Ground speed - This refers to how fast a skydiver is moving over the ground, as opposed to through the air.

The ABC’s of Skydiving: F

F-111 - Pronounced “F-one-eleven”, this is a common type of material used in canopies.

FAA - This is a US agency that skydivers should familiarize themselves with. The Federal Aviation Administration oversees all aviation activity, and this includes skydiving.

FAI - This is another organization that skydivers should become familiar with. The Federation Aeronautique International is the organization that oversees all air sports.

FARs - These are the Federal Aviation Regulations and these are the laws that any people partaking in aviation activity must adhere to.

Fall rate - This is how fast a diver falls before their chute opens and it’s most important when referring to formations as each diver must have the same fall rate to execute formation properly.

Finger trap - This is a type of loop that can be installed into the loop so that it provides another method of positioning the brakes without creating rough spots in the line.

Flare - This is a way to slow down by pulling the ends of the canopy forward.

Floaters - Floaters are divers that jump out of the plane well before the base point. They are referred to as floaters because they need to descend at a much slower pace to ensure that they don’t touch down before the base point. The term floating can also be used to describe an exit position outside of the plane.

Freestyle - This type of skydiving looks very much like gymnastics being performed in the air.

FS - This means formation sequence. In this type of skydiving, a number of jumpers exit the plane at the same time and perform predetermined freefall sequences.

Formation - This can refer to either: more than one jumper leaving the plane to perform a formation or; more than one jump plane carrying divers.

Funnel - When one skydiver in a formation becomes unstable in the air and fall out of formation, the other divers tend to fall out of formation as well and this is known as a funnel.

The ABC’s of Skydiving: E

Elliptical - This is a term used to describe the shape of a wing. With this shape, the ends taper off so that the middle is much broader than the sides. This shape can be found in most higher-end canopies.

End cell - The cell that is at the outermost part of the canopy.

Exit weight - The combined weight of the jumper, clothing, and equipment.

The ABC’s of Skydiving: D

DC-3: A type of aircraft that can hold 40 skydivers.

De-arch: This is accomplished by placing the body in the opposite position of the standard arched box man. The result is a decrease in falling speed.

Dacron: This is the material that suspension lines are made from. They are stronger than microlines.

Data card: This can be found within any parachute and it contains information regarding the reserve chute such as when it was last packed, the type, and serial number.

Dead spider: Another name for a de-arch.

Decision altitude: This is the altitude at which the skydiver must determine that it is time to begin emergency procedures.

Deployment system: This is the system that deploys the parachute and it includes the pilot chute, bridle, and bag.

Dirt dive: This is a skydiving trick or position that is practiced on the ground.

Dive floater: This position is only in large formations and it’s the diver in the airplane who is in the exit lineup but is jumping before the base.

Dive loops: These are loops (sometimes called ‘blocks’) that are located on the front risers to make it easier to grab the risers and steer. Generally only advanced skydivers use these.

Diver: A skydiver that is leaving the plane for a large formation.

Door jam: This is practicing leaving the airplane door before it’s actually done.

Down plane: This is when two canopies are in the air and are both pointed down. Although this is usually reserved for group formations, a single jumper can also do this with both their main chute and the reserve chute.

Drop zone: This is what a skydiving center is called in skydiving lingo.

Dytter: A type of audible altimeter.

The ABC’s of Skydiving: C

Call - This is the amount of time you have until you board the airplane.

Canopy - Parachute. More commonly used to specifically refer to the rectangular-shaped chutes made from small pockets of air.

Cascade - This is where two lines meet and form one line. You can cascade the suspension lines to decrease the amount of drag in your chute.

Cell - This is the complex ‘pocket of air’ that canopies are made of.

Center point - The actual center point in movement. With group formations it refers to the center of the formation and with an individual, it usually refers to the torso.

Cessna - Aircraft manufacturer.

Chute assis - A French term which refers to sit flying.

Closing loop - After the container has been closed and the pin has been guided through the loops, the closing loop holds the container closed.

Coach - An experienced skydiver that can assist and instruct during freefall.

Container - The part of the parachute that holds the canopy.

Crabbing - This can be done by flying the canopy across the ground sideways as well as forward.

Creep - A technique used when practicing formation skydiving.

Creeper - This is the board that skydivers use when creeping. It has wheels and is used as a stimulator for freefalling.

Cross ports - Small holes at the sides of the cells in a canopy that allow air to be passed from one cell to another.

Current - This is the status of a skydiver. They are ‘current’ if they have recently jumped.

Cut away - This is an emergency procedure that relies on breaking free from your parachute and relying on the reserve.

CRW - Canopy Relative Work. Essentially, it’s the formation of canopies.

Cypres - A type of AAD.

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