Parachute sport – training programs
So, you have made your first parachute jump and you think you want to continue. And here you face the question of choosing a parachute sports training system. There are only two of them: the classical one and the so-called Accelerated FreeFall (AFF) system – a faster training of free fall.
Two system of parachute sport
In the classical system, you will do all jumps yourself. In this parachute sport system, all jumps are conducted with the round parachute D-1-5u, which can be opened at any position in the air.
At the beginning you will make a few jumps with the forced parachute opening, then you will learn the technique of separation from the plane and the stage of releasing the pin.
It is when the halyard does not release the whole parachute, but only opens the haversack and then the parachute is opened with the airflow. During such jumps, you can feel the free fall.
The training usually includes 2-3 jumps.
Then you make jumps with a 3-5-second delay of opening, during which you need to separate, fall, and open the parachute. Such flights can be conducted with the ensuring device, which will open the parachute if you get confused.
Next flights will have a delay of 20-30 seconds, during which you need to demonstrate: a confident separation, the task given by your instructor, the opening of the parachute on the required height, and landing in the required sector.
If you master all these skills, you will be transferred to jumps with the parachute of a wing type. Then you will have to train jumps again.
If you count the time spent on such training, you will get around 2 months. It’s not too much time to learn how to jump, but it’s also not too little.
When training by the AFF system, which was developed in the 80-s, you make all the jumps from the height of 4000 meters with the sport parachute.
All jumps are trained by a professional instructor who is ready to secure you any second. The training consists of 8 stages.
The first four stages teach you to separate from the plane, fell confident during the free fall, control the height using special devices, and open the parachute on the required height.
All these jumps are controlled by 2 instructors who secure you and can open your parachute if you fail.
These stages also include long training on the ground – you have lectures on theory, learn how to behave in different situations, train body positions that you need to use in the air.
All your parachute jumps are video-recorded and then all the mistakes are discussed. During the next 3 stages, a student must fall confidently, do all the tasks of an instructor and open the parachute himself.
If you manage to do everything properly, you go to the last stage – independent jump, during which your instructor only watches you from the ground.
If the instructor thinks that you have completed your training, you get the certificate of the AFF course and from that moment you can conduct jumps on your own.
Concluding from the above-mentioned we can say that with the AFF system you can become a skydiver in one or two weeks. The costs for both types of training are almost similar. So chose the system you prefer and go ahead to conquer the sky.
