|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
skydiving
skydiving sport of descending partly by parachute from an airplane or similar craft. Engaged in for both recreational and competitive purposes, skydiving involves three phases of activity: the free fall, the descent with open parachute, and the landing. In competitive skydiving, participants are judged according to their style in free fall and their accuracy in landing near a designated point. During the descent, divers can control the accuracy of their landing by manipulating the open parachute as a type of sail; skilled parachutists with good equipment can travel horizontally up to 10 mi (16 km) per hr during a normal fall. For reasons of safety, skydivers are required to open their parachutes at about 2,200 ft (670 m). Skydiving became a competitive sport after World War II. In 1951 the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (founded 1905), the world organizing body for most aeronautic sports, sponsored the first world championship of skydiving. In the United States the U.S. Parachute Association (USPA; founded 1957) sponsors an annual national championship. By the early 21st cent. interest in traditional skydiving waned as membership in the USPA fell. At the same time, however, interest in canopy piloting, or swooping, grew. Begun in the late 1990s, canopy piloting is the only kind of skydiving in which most of its movements can be seen from the ground. Swooping, which offers greater speed and danger than traditional skydiving, consists of maneuvers performed close to the earth or water, sometimes just inches away, and is enabled by jumping at lower altitudes and the use of smaller, more agile parachutes. |
|
|
Cite this article
"skydiving." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "skydiving." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-skydivin.html "skydiving." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-skydivin.html |
|
skydiving
skydiving Sport in which parachutists jump from 3500m (12,000ft) and free-fall to c.650m (2000ft) before opening their parachutes. Competition skydiving has events based on accuracy, in which the parachutist aims for a target area, and events based on style, in which a series of manoeuvres are performed by one or more parachutists.
|
|
|
Cite this article
"skydiving." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "skydiving." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-skydiving.html "skydiving." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-skydiving.html |
|
skydiving
sky·div·ing / ˈskīˌdīving/ • n. the sport of jumping from an aircraft and performing acrobatic maneuvers in the air during free fall before landing by parachute. DERIVATIVES: sky·dive v. sky·div·er n. |
|
|
Cite this article
"skydiving." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "skydiving." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-skydiving.html "skydiving." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-skydiving.html |
|
skydiving
skydiving n.the sport of jumping from an aircraft and performing acrobatic maneuvers in the air under free fall before landing by parachute.
skydive v. skydiver n. |
|
|
Cite this article
"skydiving." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "skydiving." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-skydiving.html "skydiving." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-skydiving.html |
|
skydiving
skydiving
•pennyfarthing • plaything
•silversmithing • anything
•everything • northing • nothing
•something • rebirthing • farthing
•scathing • sheathing
•tithing, writhing
•southing • clothing • underclothing
•Worthing • carving • woodcarving
•delving
•craving, engraving, paving, raving, saving, shaving
•self-deceiving, unbelieving, weaving
•living, misgiving, thanksgiving, unforgiving
•skydiving • piledriving • coving
•approving, reproving, unmoving
•unloving
•Irving, serving, unswerving
•time-serving • lapwing • waxwing
•batwing • redwing • lacewing
•beeswing • forewing • downswing
•outswing • viewing • upswing
•underwing • phrasing • stargazing
•trailblazing • hellraising • unpleasing
•rising, surprising
•self-aggrandizing • uncompromising
•unpatronizing • uprising
•enterprising • appetizing
•Dowsing, housing
•unimposing
•amusing, confusing, musing
|
|
|
Cite this article
"skydiving." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "skydiving." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-skydiving.html "skydiving." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-skydiving.html |
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
