Ever wonder how many people go skydiving? Each year, about 500,000 people—or roughly 0.15% of the U.S. population—make a tandem jump.
That percentage shrinks dramatically when we look at those who continue on to earn a license and skydive regularly. Only about 41,000 people nationwide, or 0.012% of the population, hold an official skydiving license.
In 2024 alone, the United States Parachute Association drop zones recorded 3.88 million jumps. That’s a lot of jumps when you consider it’s people volunteering to jump out of a plane!
Have you ever been skydiving? If so, would you go again? If not, would you ever try it?
If you say you’d never try it, would you really never try it or would you try it if someone offered you a certain amount of money? Say, $1,000? $5,000? $20,000? Or would you only go skydiving if you were offered one million dollars? (Wow!)
After you vote, please leave a comment. We’re curious to hear about your answer. Thanks!
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RVDT2741
They haven’t printed that much money on a global scale just yet for me to do something this silly.
Been there, done that — Twice. That’s enough.
Why would anyone jump out of a perfectly good airplane.
They say because the door was open.
1.) No such thing as a “perfectly good airplane” is a jumpers mantra.
2.) Also, (from a pilot friend): “all plane landings are nothing more than controlled crashes.”
Thus, we revert back to point 1. 🙂
Someone once asked me “how would you describe skydiving?” My reply was you can’t describe the undescribable.
Go at least once, put it on your bucket list. You’ll be doing a tandem with someone else in control; you’ll get the best ride of your life!
For my 80th birthday, last July, my wife bought me a skydiving lesson. Our entire family shows up, we drive to the airport where a plane awaits. After signing a lot of papers (on an iPad) my instructor shows up, tells me what we are going to do and we board the airplane and we are off with a plane loaded with skydivers. The owners tells me because it’s my birthday we are going to 15k feet rather than the normal 13K. It was a hoot.
I was in the 82 air borne division in the army made 100’s of jump .. There was no option for that,,
Thank you for your service! I was at Benning, Bragg, and Campbell.
My wife would have to have passed away first. And, I’m getting older and stiffer in the joints. So, pretty unlikely.
I grew up very near the Orange, MA airport that has a jump club. Saw them jumping most weekends during the warmer months of the year. I never had the urge to try. I loved to fly and did get my pilot license. Had friends that did and instructed.
I’ll jump when the plane catches fire or the pilot dies or jumps first.
Used to skydive and loved it! When I asked my wife if she would do it she said, “As far as she was concerned, only two things fall out of the sky – bird poop and fools – and she was neither!”
I think it would be neat to try. But at 70, not sure I will. Then again for the money……sure!
I wasn’t strapped to an instructor.. I did it solo. Only hard part is remembering to pull the rip cord. And I didn’t pay to do it. I did it as part of my job at the time — newbie reporter in 1964, $50/week salary.
Thank you for tbe question, RV Travel! Deposit $1,000,000 into our bank account and I will parachute from a perfectly good airplane as a buddy-jump (or whatever the pictured technique is termed). We have several projects that we can get done with that large an infusion into our bank account. Have a great week and safe travels!
I am 80, have been in the military, flown in multiple types of helicopters and thousands of miles in single-engine planes, and even flown with engine trouble. But I have never been in a plane crash and don’t intend to ever be in one. And jumping out of a perfectly good plane is the same as crashing in one for me. No thanks!
In my younger years,(50’s) in the Calif ANG and living in Calif we had a parachute packer who also was a member of a jumper club. I was invited and had planned on going – however moved to Anchorage AK so didn’t jump. Too late now with the aging process (Man, I hate to admit that – but it is what it is!). I had three uncles in WWII – A B-29 bombardier, a tank driver and one in the 101st Airborne who made many jumps; all sounded interesting to a very young lad (me!) at the time. Also, one my Eagle Scout troops is now in a local jump club.
I jumped with the Ft Campbell Sports Parachute club for free while stationed there.
Spent Basic at Ft Campbell in ’66 WATCHING the Screaming Eagles jump off towers and out of airplanes. WATCHED!