What Are Air Sports?

Added: 11/29/2007

When someone says to you that they like to get involved in air sports do you find yourself scratching your head and wondering what they are talking about? I have to admit that it sounds kind of strange to say the term air sports but if you really think about it then it actually makes a lot of sense and even though it makes sense it doesn't make it any crazier to play them. These people are crazy.

What does the term air sports mean to you? No it isn't referring to a spectacular Michael Jordan dunk that starts at the free throw line and ends up in the net. Air sports are the kinds of competitions and activities that people do while flying through the air. Many of them involve nothing more than a piece of nylon between you and the hard ground below while other air sports involved the roaring of massive engines as people race around suspended race barriers. However you do your air sports you need a special kind of crazy to do some of these activities and it is usually the extreme thrill seekers that get involved in these air sports. To watch them is to watch someone taking their life into their own hands just for the thrill of flying through the air while you are safely anchored to the ground. But even watching air sports is sometimes not as safe as it may sound.

The most popular air sport is sky diving and sky diving can be done for fun or competition. The most popular type of sky diving competition lately is group formations made in the air by a team of divers as they plummet towards the earth. These people will attempt to lock hands and create the most impressive formation they can while judges below judge them on their technique and their ability to not go splat on the ground below. It can be exciting to watch but if someone's chute doesn't open then it goes from a fun spectator sport to a potentially horrifying event.

Most people find things like air shows to be the most exciting type of air sport to watch and in the last few years they have added something a little more than just planes doing formations to air shows to make things even more exciting. Lately they have had airplane races around a course of suspended race course indicators at top speeds. These daredevils not only have to try and stay within the confines of the course they have to do so while not running into the person flying next to them also at top speeds. It can get quite dangerous and more than once a person has been injured or killed while pursing this most exciting and perilous of air sports.

An air sport that is a little more relaxing and not quite as dangerous is the air sport of hot air ballooning. Of course if the heat source explodes, which happens from time to time, then the idea of it not being dangerous goes out the window. But for the most part hot air ballooning is one of the more colorful and easiest to watch of the air sports. There are also hot air balloon races which, while not very exciting, can be fun to watch for the colorful displays on the balloons and the colorful advertising that you will inevitably see on the balloons as they slowly sail towards the finish line. If you have never been up in a hot air balloon you may want to give a try once in your life because it is an experience you will never forget as that balloon slowly lifts from the ground and takes up towards oblivion. But don't worry, all hot air balloon operators know what they are doing and the only thing that can make a problem for you in a hot air balloon is high winds. If there is high winds while you are in your balloon then you may want to hang on.

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