Skydiving (also called parachuting) is today a sport as well as a recreational activity. You may also enjoy and indulge in the sport. Many enthusiasts want an answer to the question “Can you skydive when its raining?”. If you want an answer to the question, read the article and information given below.
Can you skydive when its raining? Following the regulations issued by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), skydiving is only allowed following the VFR (Visual Flight Rules) conditions. During rain, the visual capacity of a person may not be available and therefore he/she is not permitted to skydive. To qualify for Skydiving, there should be a blue sky at least up to the exit altitude. The clouds that bring the rain may not allow normal and adequate vision that is necessary for skydiving. When the rain is coming from even above the exit altitude of skydiving, it will partly be composed of hail. The presence of hail would further escalate the discomfort and certain threats and dangers.
Skydiving When It’s Cloudy
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While skydiving during rainy times may not be allowed, the activity is also not very smooth and comfortable when done during cloudy weather. However, sometimes the clouds are dispersed or may be located above exit altitude. In these conditions, there may still be good weather conditions for skydiving. The more experienced skydivers will perform better at skydiving during cloudy conditions. However, the videos of novices and students doing the same do not reveal and depict a very pretty picture. If you have some experience, you can still try skydiving during cloudy weather if you get enough visionary inputs.
That being said, you should not skydive when it is full-on dreaming. Skydiving during the light drizzle can also be an unpleasant experience. You get wet and it is also quite cold at that elevation.
It May Hurt
When you skydive and it’s raining, you may have to face the hail and the pellets, when you are up there. These water formations may hurt you at a terminal velocity, and that too on your face. You may certainly not like that experience. It may also cause certain disturbances that may affect the safety of skydiving adversely.
It Gets Wet and Chilled
Skydiving during rain is like getting wet under a water hose and then going inside a refrigerator with the fan blowing at a high speed. The rains will get you entirely wet and you will face chilly wind that may blow at 120 mph when you skydive during rain. It may cause discomfort. At that height, you should not try to experiment with such conditions.
Delay in Your Skydiving Schedule
Rainy and cloudy conditions can be a cause of “weather holds” and delays in the skydiving schedule. The responsible Skydiving Organizers and the drop zones always follow the instructions issued by the FAA. The skydivers and the planes have to wait on the ground if it is a rainy day. They can only embark on their journey and sport when there is some space available between the clouds. If you are waiting for it, the wait duration may extend to multiple hours. Also, you may not get enough time to catch and avail the opportunity as another cloud may soon be moving in, and may further deteriorate your experience.
A Miserable Experience
Rainy and cloudy weather conditions may take away all the fun and excitement of your skydiving sport and experience and turn it to be miserable. When you want an answer to the question “Can I skydive in the rain?” you should know that it can be a hardship to face and endure. The experience may grow from bad to worse. You may face a hard time while you are in air and there may be problems and issues when you land.
How your Skydiving parachute Performs When it is Raining
The harder it is raining, the more dangerous it would be to skydive. Apart from yourself, your skydiving parachute may also get wet and may not fly as efficiently as it would do when it is dry. A wet parachute may not provide for crisp and accurate flight dynamics. Its speed will also reduce and it will provide for only a bad landing flare. You may not be able to land smoothly when your parachute is wet. You should also know that your skydiving parachute is not meant to perform in rainy conditions and when it is wet. It may only resist water to certain degrees and is not waterproof. There may also be certain other skydiving equipment that you may carry. These pieces of equipment may also get spoiled if they are exposed to enough water.
Wind Gusts
While all skydivers may want and enjoy the nice steady winds, the wind gusts are a big no. The more unpredictable winds can destabilize your parachute and make it unstable. In such a scenario, the canopy pilot’s safety is hampered and affected adversely. Not many organizers want their customers to pursue skydiving during rainy weather due to safety-related issues and other problems.
Parachute Failure
In the extreme of circumstances, a skydiving parachute may also fail during rainy weather conditions. Continuous rain will soak the parachute and will add to it a good amount of water and weight. The skydiving parachute may collapse when it has gathered huge amounts of moisture and faces the unpredictable wind gust. Rain may also result in stickiness in the parachute. In rainy conditions, there have been incidents when the parachute did not unfold at the landing time because it was stuck to itself.
Wet parachuting may also cause a dangerous landing. When the wind load is high, the skydiver may also slip during landing. When the landing surface has more mud and less grass, you may skid during landing and fall. Sometimes these skydivers may also be affected by water in their eyes during landing.
Other Threats
The poor visibility conditions during rainy times and seasons, or during other circumstances, may cause other kinds of threats and dangers as well. Such conditions may result in the accidents of the aircraft, or the skydiver may fall in dangerous areas including the power lines. Faltering of the parachute will result in a hard and unpleasant landing that may also be a cause of certain injuries.
The Right Weather for Skydiving
When you want to skydive and parachute, the best weather is the availability of blue and clear skies. There should be no clouds or any other kinds of obstructions during skydiving. As stated earlier, the thick clouds do not provide for good visions. The denser they are, the more dangerous your skydiving experience and activity may become. During skydiving, a skydiver needs to see the other skydivers, the plane as well, as the landing area that lies below. Not having a proper view may result in certain dangerous consequences as well, which you should avoid at all costs.
For those who are learning skydiving, the speed of wind may also be important. The students should not skydive when the wind speed is more than 14 mph. Wind can be especially gusty when it is raining.
What Needs to be Done
Winds, clouds, and rain may all abruptly end a session of skydiving, in unison or alone as well. It may not be possible to control the weather. However, you can always improve your experience and enhance your chances of skydiving on the particular day that you have chosen.
Skydivers should always try to begin with their skydiving schedule and program early in the day. If the weather is wet and cold, the conditions are not appropriate for skydiving. As said earlier, the FAA also does not approve skydiving in conditions where vision feedback is less than usual and needed. Skydiving can only be done when the weather conditions improve. Therefore, you can choose the suitable days and seasons for skydiving, when the chances of rain are less. You can also search for some regional weather analysis reports that may help you make more accurate forecasts.
If you are a customer of some skydiving organizer and company, you should try to book the earliest appointment. It is so because when the weather goes bad, the skydiving organizers may prioritize the skydivers who have made the appointment early. Making an appointment early with your commercial skydiving organizer and company would therefore ensure that you remain on top of the list. You will get the first chance of skydiving whenever the weather is fine and sunny again.
Conclusion
Skydiving during rainy weather and conditions can be a really bad and even and miserable experience. It can get extremely wet up there and you may also get hurt by the palettes and the hail. There may be no reason why the choice is not available to you. For the best skydiving and parachuting experience, you should always choose a sunnier day. It is also a safer way to skydive, enjoy the sport, and reduce the hurdles, pain, and dangers that are entirely unnecessary for you to take. Always ensure that you have engaged a reputed and experienced trainer and coach for skydiving. Also, do ensure that you dress in comfortable clothes when you undertake the sky diving sport and activity.
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