Fuddlemiff said:I'd jump out of a plane and forget to pull the rip cord. I presume splatting on the ground from thousands of feet in the air means more or less instant, full proof death. Although you do hear stories.
Terminal velocity. Jumping from thousands of feet doesn't mean you will go faster than terminal velocity that is reached after around 16 seconds of free fall. The drag force is proportional to the square of the objects speed, so without some sort of thrust you can't go faster. Obviously terminal velocity is plenty speed to kill you with ease, but as you said.. you do hear stories and it is just as possible to survive falling out of a plane as it is to survive falling out of a building that has a 16 second drop to the pavement below.