Body Position
Category B
Welcome to AFF Category B! Having passed your Category A (Awareness) jump, this stage is all about improving upon your previous jump: refining your body position and working on the canopy control needed to stay safely within your designated holding area. As you progress in freefall, building on your foundational stability, your awareness and control become increasingly important.
Section 1: Exit and Freefall
In freefall, your most important task is recognizing and acting at your assigned altitude. To maintain important awareness, stability, and control, we encourage you to use this guiding mantra:
“Heading, Altitude, Arch, Legs, Relax.”
This simple sequence helps you stay focused on the key elements of your body position and heading awareness while checking your altitude every 5 seconds. For your heading, choose a unique reference point far out on the horizon. This allows you to quickly notice if you are turning and make precise adjustments.
Introducing Basic Freefall Maneuvers (Bonus Skills!):
While your primary focus in the initial freefall portion is to demonstrate continued awareness and a solid, stable body position, you'll also begin to explore basic freefall maneuvers. All of these maneuvers are performed as a team with your instructors, requiring larger inputs than if flying solo. However, these are still exciting steps towards becoming a dynamic freefaller!
Moving Forward: To generate forward movement, smoothly extend your legs completely, keeping your toes pointed. Maintain your arms in a neutral, relaxed position. This adjustment allows you to move forward across the sky.
Making a 90° Turn: To execute a controlled 90° turn, begin by looking over your shoulder in the direction you wish to turn and find a new heading reference point. Then, smoothly lower the elbow on the side you want to turn towards, while raising the opposite elbow. As your new heading comes into view, smoothly return your body to a neutral position to stop the turn.
Important Note: These forward movement and turning skills are bonus maneuvers. Always remember, the initial phase of your freefall should not be rushed to get to these elements. Focus on stability, altitude awareness, and your practice touches first.
Section 2: Parachute Flight
Under canopy, safe and predictable flight is just as important as in freefall.
Look Before You Turn: Always look in the direction you want to turn (sweep from eye-level to just below your feet) before initiating any turns to prevent mid-air collisions. This is non-negotiable for collision avoidance.
Straight-In Final: Your final approach to landing should be a straight-in without S-turns. S-turns on final make you unpredictable to other traffic and introduce unnecessary variables at a low altitude.
Prepare for Landing: Even the most experienced skydivers have hard landings at some point. Performing a PLF (Parachute Landing Fall) is a very important skill that will help distribute the force of an unexpected hard landing and significantly reduce the risk of serious injury. Need a refresher on PLFs? Check out our detailed guide on Mastering the Parachute Landing Fall.
Understanding the Parachute Flight Cycle:
A fundamental characteristic of all parachutes is the "flight cycle" – the parachute's predictable response between an input (like pulling a toggle) and its return to stabilized full flight. To understand this, think of it like a swing coming to rest. When you push a swing, it goes forward, then slows, then swings back, slows again, and eventually settles. Your parachute behaves similarly.
Any input to a canopy, such as turning or pulling down the toggles and letting them back up, initiates this flight cycle. When a flight cycle occurs, the parachute first dives and its speed increases beyond that of its stable full flight (like the swing going forward). As this happens, the jumper swings backward relative to the parachute. The parachute then slows down as the jumper swings forward underneath it. It only takes about 4-8 seconds for a parachute to regain its normal flight characteristics and return to full, stable flight (like the swing slowing and settling back to center). While experiencing a flight cycle at higher altitudes can be fun and instructive, a flight cycle just before or during your flare is extremely dangerous. This is why the proper response to a flare initiated too high is crucial: stop and hold the toggles at that position whenever you realize it's too high, then finish the flare forcefully when closer to the ground. Remember, flaring is a one-way street; you can stop pulling down at any point during the flare stroke if you started it too high, but you cannot go back up.
Section 3: Emergency Procedures
Your emergency procedures are the most vital knowledge you possess as a skydiver. Practice these frequently, both on the ground and mentally before every jump. Knowing your pull priorities cold is paramount.
Pull Priorities: Non-Negotiable Order of Importance
We covered your Pull Priorities in detail during your First Jump Course, and it's a topic we constantly reinforce. These are the non-negotiable rules for deploying your main parachute safely and effectively. Consider this a quick, vital refresher to keep these priorities top-of-mind.
Your Pull Priorities (In Order of Importance - Review):
PULL: Above all else, you must initiate your deployment.
PULL AT THE CORRECT ALTITUDE: Altitude awareness is essential.
PULL AT THE CORRECT ALTITUDE WHILE STABLE: While stability is always the goal, remember that Pulling and Pulling at the Correct Altitude take precedence. If you find yourself at your pull altitude but momentarily unstable, you still pull without hesitation!
Section 4: Parachute Malfunction Review
After deploying your parachute, you must immediately assess its condition by asking yourself three critical questions, always in this order.
Canopy Check
Is it there (parachute fabric)?
Is it square (fully inflated and symmetrical)?
Is it controllable/steerable (turns and flares with toggle input)?
If your canopy fails any of these tests, you must be prepared to act decisively.
Note: While we've given the various names of the malfunctions, your immediate priority is not to memorize them. At this stage, it's crucial to understand how to apply the 3-question Canopy Check (Is it there? Is it square? Is it controllable?) and then decisively follow emergency procedures if any answer is "No."
Canopy Fails the First Test: IS IT THERE?
These scenarios indicate a problem with the initial deployment or the presence of the main canopy.
Hard Pull/No Pull: If you cannot locate your pilot chute handle or it doesn't budge, make no more than two additional, yet methodical attempts (roughly 2 seconds total) to locate and pull. If still unsuccessful, immediately initiate your emergency procedures (cutaway and deploy reserve).
Pilot Chute Hesitation: If you deploy your pilot chute but it appears stuck in your burble (the turbulent air behind your body), check over each shoulder to change the airflow and allow for activation to proceed. This can often resolve itself quickly.
Pilot Chute in Tow: If you can clearly see an inflated pilot chute, but your main canopy has not deployed, immediately initiate your emergency procedures.
Bag Lock: If you see the deployment bag and pilot chute but no canopy, immediately initiate your emergency procedures.
Horseshoe/Premature Deployment: If you notice your deployment bag outside your rig before you've initiated deployment, attempt to locate your pilot chute handle (two tries in 2 seconds). If you cannot locate it or deployment doesn't proceed, immediately initiate emergency procedures.
Canopy Fails the Second Test: IS IT SQUARE?
These issues affect the shape and full inflation of your canopy.
Hung Slider: The slider remains near the canopy's top, impeding full inflation. Wait no more than two seconds to see if the slider descends. If the canopy does not inflate further, immediately initiate your emergency procedures.
Line Over: Your canopy is asymmetrical, often turning on its own due to a line being over a cell. This is typically a non-recoverable malfunction. Immediately initiate emergency procedures.
Canopy Fails the Third Test: IS IT STEERABLE?
These problems relate to the functionality and control of your canopy, even if it appears otherwise inflated. Your altitude awareness is critical here.
Major Canopy Damage: After performing a controllability check (gentle toggle input), if you cannot effectively control the canopy (e.g., it doesn't respond to steering, spins uncontrollably), immediately initiate emergency procedures. Furthermore, if you observe two or more broken lines, a broken steering line, or damage to the parachute fabric larger than your head, even if the parachute appears to be controllable, you should still perform your emergency procedures in case more damage occurs during your descent.
Stuck Slider: If the slider won't come down fully and is impeding complete inflation, release your brakes and gently pump the toggles until the slider descends completely. If the slider still won't come down and you cannot establish full control of the canopy by 2500 feet, immediately initiate your emergency procedures.
End Cell Closure: If one or both end cells are not completely inflated, release your brakes and hold the toggles at hip level until they inflate. Repeat if necessary. If the canopy is still not controllable by 2500 feet, immediately initiate your emergency procedures.
Line Twists: Pull your risers apart and perform a bicycle kick motion to untwist your lines before releasing your brakes. This is a common and often recoverable problem. If you do not have a fully steerable canopy by 2500 feet, immediately initiate your emergency procedures.
Section 5: Basic Safety Requirements (BSRs)
Knowing and adhering to USPA Basic Safety Requirements (BSRs) is important for all skydivers, especially as you gain independence. These rules are in place for your safety and the safety of those around you.
Wind Limits: Students may not jump when the surface winds are greater than 14 mph. You should always check the wind conditions at the dropzone with your instructor before preparing for a jump.
Sunset Landing: All student jumps must be completed (feet on the ground) by official sunset. Safety is reduced significantly in low light conditions.
Container Open Altitude: All students and A-license holders must have their container open by 3000 feet AGL (Above Ground Level). This ensures sufficient altitude for problem-solving and reserve deployment.
Landing Area Clearances: Solo students and A-license holders should have a landing area with a minimum radial distance of 100 meters (330 feet) to the nearest hazard.
Identifying Hazards:
Common hazards to be aware of include: telephone and power lines, towers, buildings, open bodies of water, highways, vehicles, and clusters of trees covering more than 32,292 square feet (~3/4 of an acre).
Section 6: Spotting & Aircraft Safety
Aircraft Movement:
Always remember that your skydiving equipment, while incredibly reliable, contains mechanisms designed for rapid deployment. Therefore, it's important to maintain minimal, careful movement while inside the aircraft. This helps prevent any accidental or premature activation of your skydiving equipment, ensuring a safe ride to altitude for everyone. When you or another person are moving about, always keep your elbows close to your body to protect your handles from snagging.
Wind Direction:
Winds are always described by their direction of origin, stated as a compass heading:
0° or 360° = North
90° = East
180° = South
270° = West
Runway Avoidance:
Avoid landing on runways and taxiways. If you do land on a runway or taxiway, get off it as quickly as possible, as there may be departing or arriving aircraft. To improve your spotting and runway awareness, be sure to read our guide on How to Read Runway Headings.
