Langdon looked on in amazement. One of the free fallers, an obese woman, maneuvered toward the window. She was being buffeted by the air currents but grinned and flashed Langdon the thumbs-up sign. Langdon smiled weakly and returned the gesture, wondering if she knew it was the ancient phallic symbol for masculine virility.
The heavyset woman, Langdon noticed, was the only one wearing what appeared to be a miniature parachute. The swathe of fabric billowed over her like a toy. “What’s her little chute for?” Langdon asked Kohler. “It can’t be more than a yard in diameter.” “Friction,” Kohler said. “Decreases her aerodynamics so the fan can lift her.” He started down the the corridor again. “One square yard of drag will slow a falling body almost twenty percent.” Langdon nodded blankly.
He never suspected that later that night, in a country hundreds of miles away, the information would save his life.
1. What does maneuver mean?
2. What does swathe and billow mean here?
3. What is diameter as I looked up in Google but didn't get this word?
4. What does "One square yard of drag" mean?
5. What does start mean here?