When people embark on their first skydive, this jump commonly happens at a 14,000-foot altitude. This is where they’ll get that little extra free fall and experience what skydiving is genuinely all about. But how long does it take to skydive from 14000 feet?
From exiting the plane at 14000 feet to landing on the ground, it takes between 5 minutes and 55 seconds to 7 minutes and 55 seconds. The time depends highly on when you open the parachute, the weight of the jumpers, and the weather conditions for that day.
One factor that many first-time jumpers need to account for is the amount of time the entire skydiving preparation process takes. Below, I will break that down for you a bit so you can better understand how many hours you can expect your first jump will take.
How Fast Will You Free Fall When Skydiving from 14000 Feet?
When you jump from a plane at 14,000 feet in the air, you will fall a bit slower for the first thousand feet, which takes approximately 7 to 10 seconds. For the remainder of the free fall, you will fall at around 170 to 180 feet per second.
Once you hit terminal velocity, you will reach around 120 to 150 miles per hour, depending on your weight, position, and wind resistance.
How Long Will You Free Fall from 14000 Feet?
Let’s say you jumped from the plane at 14,000 feet and opened the parachute at 5,000 feet. This would give you about 55.45 seconds of free fall time. If you were to open the parachute at 4000 feet you would freefall for about 61.14 seconds.
You can expect to fall a bit slower for the first thousand feet as you hit terminal velocity. The first 1,000 feet will take around 10 seconds to fall as it takes time to gain your speed.
For the remainder of the 8,000 feet of freefalling, you can expect to hit about 120 miles per hour (176 feet per second). For the 8,000 feet, it will take around 45 seconds to fall to your parachute opening height of 5,000 feet.
After Opening the Parachute How Long Until You Reach the Ground?
Once you open your parachute, the drag force will slow you down considerably. This also means that your fall back to earth for the remainder of the 5,000 feet will be much slower than the freefall.
Your parachute ride will last between 5 to 7 minutes, depending on your instructor. However, that time can differ depending on the size of the parachute too. For example, a larger parachute will descend much slower than a smaller one.
Or another example is if a heavier person uses a smaller parachute, they will descend much quicker than a lighter person on a large parachute.
For experienced solo skydivers, this process can take under 3 minutes. It depends on the person, their formation, the goals, the equipment, and the weather.
A typical tandem parachute ride takes about about 1 minute per 1000 feet, it can take longer.
What’s the Difference Between Skydiving at 14000 feet and 10000 feet?
When you skydive from 14,000 feet, you can expect just a little under a minute of free fall time, while a 10,000-foot jump allows you around 32.72 seconds to 38.41 seconds of free fall. This amount nearly doubles at 14,000 feet.
What’s the Difference Between Skydiving at 14000 feet and 18000 feet?
Again, the higher you jump from, the more free fall time you get. From 18,000 feet, you will get about an extra 20 seconds of free fall, totaling around 78.18 seconds to 83.86 seconds. This allows you to get as much out of the experience as possible.
However, because you are jumping from 18,000 feet, the air is much thinner, which may require everyone to use supplemental oxygen.
You can see my full free fall comparison chart in my How Long Does It Take to Skydive from 10000 Feet? article here.
How Long Does It Take to Skydive Tandem at 14000 Feet? (Is it Faster than Solo?)
Tandem skydiving can be much quicker than a solo dive since the team is most likely heavier. However, that’s only sometimes true.
If the solo skydiver takes a headfirst-vertical falling position, they may reach 150 to 180 miles per hour. Depending on the weight of the tandem team, their speeds could match up, though.
However, for the parachute descent, the solo jumper is most likely to make it to the ground first because the parachute is smaller. And with a smaller parachute, the descent is much quicker than with a larger one.
For a tandem team, you can expect the entire jump to still take between 5 minutes and 55 seconds to 7 minutes and 55 seconds. The parachute size, when its opened, skydivers weight, and the weather to impact the time.
Can Beginners Skydive from 14000 Feet?
Yes! Most beginners experience their first jump at 14,000 feet. This includes just under one full minute of free fall time, enough for them to truly understand what skydiving is all about.
However, some facilities will offer jumps from lower altitudes for those who are a bit more nervous about the free fall. (There’s no need to be! I promise it’s not like being on an actual rollercoaster, and you don’t even feel like you’re falling.)
How Long Is a Full Day of Skydiving from 14000 Feet?
Skydiving from 14000 feet will take about 4 to 6 hours, so make sure you show up to the facility on time! The experience has many different stages, so it’s best to plan for a full day.
Here is what you can expect:
Check In To The Facility: 15 to 20 minutes
Ensure you arrive at the facility when advised after purchasing your ticket. This is vital, as times across the board can vary due to other jumpers, random delays, and more.
For the check-in, you will need to sign your waiver and choose any video or photo packages you want to add to your trip. If you still need to pay, this is the time when you would pay for your jump and any add-ons.
Safety Training: 1 hour
During the training, an instructor will go through the gear, how to wear it properly, what to do in rare circumstances, and more.
They will also explain formations and how to hold your body when jumping, falling, and landing. You must pay attention during this time, as you will be an active member of your tandem team.
This session can run from 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how many questions people have. Sometimes it might run shorter.
Waiting For The Plane: 20 minutes to 4 hours
After you are finished with your safety course, you will wait. This waiting period could be very brief, about 20 minutes, or longer, such as a few hours. However, you will rarely have to wait for a few hours.
Sometimes, things happen, such as parachute malfunction, flat tires, illnesses, bad landings, and other problems. This can delay your jump time a bit, but don’t worry; you will get to jump unless the staff tells you otherwise.
Gear Up: 15 minutes
Before you embark on your plane ride, you will need to gear up. This process takes anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes. Your instructor will double and triple-check as they strap you in to ensure you’re properly secured.
Flight To Altitude: 20 minutes
From the time you get on the plane until the time you reach 14,000 feet will take about 20 to 25 minutes. The plane needs to be loaded with everyone for your time window and cleared to take off on the runway.
Freefall: 60 seconds
When you are at altitude, it’s time to jump! From 14,000 feet, you can expect to fall between 55.45 and 61.14 seconds, depending on the parachute opening weight, formations, weather, and other variables.
Parachuting To Earth: 5 to 7 minutes
Once your parachute is deployed, it will slow you down to around 17 miles per hour, considerably slower than the 120 to 150 miles per hour you were falling.
This is when your instructor will glide you down to the drop zone. If the parachute were pulled around 5,000 feet, this ride would take between 5 to 7 minutes. This is the time to take in the views, as you will be able to see everything!
Time To Check Out: 45 minutes to 60 minutes
After your landing, you will de-gear and head back to the facility. The facility may be right next door to the drop zone or a few miles away. You will walk around or ride in the company vehicle back to the facility, waiting for any packages you purchased.
The videos and photos are typically available about 30 to 45 minutes after the photographer or videographer returns to the office.
Also, you will get your personalized flight certificate, stating that you finished your safety course and embarked on your skydive!
Final Thoughts
While skydiving is a fun adventure, it’s also a lengthy process, so keep that in mind. There’s more to it than just jumping out of a plane. You must check-in, do your safety course, gear up, get to altitude, and everything else!
And remember that unfortunate events happen, so your jump may be delayed depending on what’s happening. So, it’s best to be prepared to stay there longer than your intended time.
Jamie is the founder of Action Sporter. He is the chief zipline writer and the lead editor. He has 5 years of zipline experience being a tour guide in Newfoundland. Most of the time you can find Jamie adventure traveling, hiking, skiing, skateboarding, or anything action related!
I wear thick glasses or I can’t see anything. Is that a problem if I wanted to try?
Hi Troy, you can wear glasses while skydiving, but you should wear goggles over them to keep them in place. I recommend reading our guide about skydiving with glasses here https://actionsporter.com/can-you-wear-glasses-while-skydiving/.