Category F

As you progress in skydiving, mastering the nuances of exit and freefall becomes critical for both your safety and the safety of those jumping around you. This category covers crucial skills from tracking away in freefall to essential equipment checks and vital aircraft procedures.

Section 1. Freefall

Tracking: Your Key to Safe Separation

Before you begin jumping safely with others, you must learn to generate horizontal speed with minimal altitude loss. This skill is known as tracking. It's absolutely vital because it allows you to create significant horizontal separation from other jumpers before you deploy your parachute.

When tracking, heading control is of utmost concern – you need to be able to track in a straight line, precisely where you intend. Focus on establishing and maintaining your heading first; your forward pitch and speed will improve with practice.

To perform a flat track, begin by locating a fixed point on the horizon to establish your desired heading. Smoothly and fully extend both legs, pointing your toes to initiate forward motion, and use subtle body adjustments to maintain your heading. To control your pitch (make the track flatter), roll your shoulders slightly and flatten your arch. Fully extend your arms to your sides, pressing them down so they are level with your hips. Once you can consistently control your heading and pitch, you can increase your speed by extending your legs more quickly and sweeping your arms back slightly.

To stop your track, smoothly pass through a neutral body position, extending your arms forward and slightly down. Then, return to a standard neutral freefall arch.

Practice Drills: A great way to refine this skill is to practice entering and holding an on-heading, 5-second track. After each attempt, turn 180 degrees and repeat as altitude permits. When practicing this on a jump, you need to be mindful of the line of flight, or the path that the aircraft follows over the ground while on jump run dropping skydivers. As you will soon be convering quite a bit of distance while you are practicing your tracking you want to maintain the separation between yourself and those who exited before or after you, up and down the jump run. We can achieve this goal by ensuring that we are tracking perpendicular to jump run. Always plan your tracking dives with other groups in mind to ensure clear airspace.

Hop n’ Pop Jumps: Rapid Deployment Skills

The term Hop n’ Pop (synonomous with Clear-and-Pull)refers to a jump where you exit the aircraft and then deploy your parachute almost immediately. Practicing these types of jumps is critical for emergency exits and for any pre-planned low-altitude jumps. When performing a clear-and-pull, use a familiar, stable exit technique. To deploy within 5 seconds of exit, present your hips to the relative wind and execute your normal pull procedures without performing a wave-off. Expect your parachute to open in relation to the relative wind, rather than directly overhead as you typically experience.

Section 2. Canopy Control

Understanding how your canopy flies in various configurations is vital for safe and accurate landings.

Braked Turns

Braked turns, also known as flat turns, are one of the most important Canopy Emergency Procedures you can practice. Using braked turns, you can change direction under canopy while losing as little altitude as possible. A braked turn also slows your forward speed while maintaining a stable, level wing. If you find yourself landing in a tight or unfamiliar landing area and you must turn to avoid an obstacle at a low altitude, you can use a braked turn. In such an emergency, executing a braked turn instead of a turn from full flight allows you to quickly change heading and still honor the first landing priority: landing with a level wing.

To perform a braked turn, start by pulling both toggles down evenly to the half-braked position and hold for a few seconds. Then, push one toggle down slightly to initiate a 90-degree turn. Practice changing heading as quickly as possible while consistently keeping the wing level. You will practice 90-degree braked turns in this category, but in a real-world scenario, you may only need a 45-degree turn or less, followed by a braked flare, to avoid an obstacle on landing.

Half-Braked Flare

Practicing half-braked flares can help you discover the effectiveness of your flare when finishing from a partially braked position. This maneuver is useful in several situations, including:

• When you initially flare too high and need to hold in brakes for a few seconds before finishing your flare.

• After you use a braked turn to avoid an obstacle on landing.

• When you turn too close to the ground, requiring a faster, more controlled flare.

For reference, first perform a flare from full flight using your normal landing technique. Note the pitch change of your parachute and your swing forward under the parachute at the bottom of your flare stroke. To start a half-braked flare, pull the toggles to a half-braked position and hold for a few seconds. Then, from that position, flare more quickly and forcefully than you would for your normal flare stroke. Compare the flares you just practiced, paying special attention to the parachute’s pitch change and your body's swing forward. Practice another braked flare, adjusting the speed and force to most closely match the effect of your flare from full flight. Generally, braked flares need to be faster and more forceful than a flare from full flight to achieve an equivalent response.

Braked Landing Pattern

Knowing how your canopy flies in different modes of flight is incredibly useful for adjusting your descent. This allows you to keep a safe vertical distance from other canopies and to flatten your glide to conserve altitude on the downwind leg of your pattern.

Practice flying the downwind and base legs of your landing pattern in at least half brakes to determine the effect on your glide path. Expect a different glide path than what you normally experience, and plan for a longer final approach to avoid overshooting your target. Once you turn onto your final approach, transition into full flight and land as usual.

Accuracy

As part of your progression, you must accumulate two unassisted landings within 82 feet (25 meters) of the planned target. This demonstrates your increasing control and predictability under canopy.

Section 3. Emergency Review

Power Lines

Power lines are a significant hazard for skydivers and can be exceptionally difficult to see under canopy. You can typically expect to find them running along roads, between buildings, and through clear-cut passages for utilities in forested areas. Always keep these potential obstacles in mind as you assess your landing area.

If you find yourself in a situation where you are landing in power lines:

• Try to land parallel to the lines to minimize contact points.

• Drop anything metal from your hands (like an altimeter or camera) before making contact.

• Touch no more than one wire at a time if you are able.

• If you become suspended in the wires, it is critical to remember that your parachute can conduct electricity. Do not attempt to climb down or make contact with anyone or anything on the ground until the power has been confirmed to be off by emergency responders. Wait patiently for assistance.

Section 4. Equipment

Thorough equipment checks are paramount to your safety.

Packing Your Main

You will pack at least one parachute with assistance from a qualified packer or instructor. Remember the most important points of packing:

• The lines are straight and properly in place in the center of the completed pack job.

• The slider is quartered and securely at the slider stops at the top of the lines.

• The line stows are tight to prevent premature line deployment, which could lead to complications.

Pre-Jump Equipment Check

Before each jump, you will perform a pre-jump equipment check on another jumper who is in full gear, applying the principles you learned in Category D. This process involves:

• “Check of Threes” (in the front):

  • Verify the three-ring assembly and reserve static line (where applicable).

  • Confirm the three points of harness attachment (leg straps and chest strap) are snapped correctly, routed properly, adjusted, and excess webbing is stowed.

  • Check for the presence and accessibility of the three operation handles (main activation, cutaway, reserve).

• Pin Check (back of system, top to bottom):

  • Confirm the AAD is on and armed.

  • Verify the reserve pin is securely in place.

  • Check the main pin is securely in place.

  • Inspect the ripcord cable movement or ensure correct bridle routing.

• Personal Equipment Check (“SHAGG”): Don't forget your personal accessories!

  • S (Shoes)—tied and no hooks.

  • H (Helmet)—proper fit and adjustment, securely buckled.

  • A (Altimeter)—set to zero and clearly visible.

  • G (Goggles)—tight and clean for clear vision.

  • G (Gloves)—lightweight and proper size (especially important below 40 degrees F).

Section 5. Standard Operating Procedures

For skydives made from higher than 15,000 feet MSL, having supplementary oxygen available on the aircraft is mandatory. Your drop zone's specific SOPs will outline all necessary procedures.

Aircraft Weight and Balance

An aircraft needs to maintain proper weight and balance for the pilot to safely control its flight. Each aircraft has a specified maximum weight it can carry, and that weight must be distributed properly for it to remain in balance. Jumpers moving around the aircraft improperly can place the load out of balance, affecting stability and control. For example, in aircraft with a rear door, some jumpers must remain forward as groups gather near the exit. Large groups planning to exit together should always inform the pilot in advance. Y

Winds on Jump Run and Exit Separation

Winds at altitude can significantly affect jump run. Remember that airspeed is the speed the aircraft is flying relative to the air, while its ground speed is how fast it's actually traveling across the ground. Flying into or with the wind will change its ground speed. For instance, you can determine the ground speed by subtracting the speed of a headwind on jump run from the aircraft's airspeed.

To maintain a horizontal ground separation of approximately 1,000 feet between groups, you must know how long of a delay to give between exiting groups. As a general rule, slower-falling jumpers and groups should exit before faster-falling jumpers and groups if jump run is flying into the wind (which is usually the case). Once your parachute has opened, you should delay flying significantly up or down the line of flight until the groups who exited before and after you have also deployed their parachutes. This helps maintain clear air and prevents potential canopy conflicts.