Group Skills
Category G
Congratulations on advancing to Category G! This stage introduces exciting new challenges in freefall as you begin to develop the fundamental skills for relative work (RW) – jumping safely with others. This means understanding not just your own movements, but how to interact safely within a group.
You'll complete three specifically designed coached jumps in this category, each building on your abilities to navigate the sky with finesse.
Section 1. Exit and Freefall
Understanding Floater Exits
A floater exit is an exit where a skydiver climbs out of the airplane and sets up for exit. These types of exits are commonly used when a group of people are jumping together.
Category G Coached Jumps
Each coached jump focuses on distinct yet interconnected skills:
Jump 1: Rear Float & Forward Movement Your first jump in Category G introduces the rear floating exit. You'll practice exiting the aircraft by maintaining a controlled rear float, then learn how to smoothly move forward in freefall to achieve a soft, controlled dock on your coach.
Jump 2: Front Float & Fall Rate Control The second jump focuses on the front floating exit. A key objective on this jump is to master fall rate control in freefall. You'll learn techniques to either speed up or slow down your descent rate, a fundamental skill for matching other skydivers in a formation.
Jump 3: Combining Skills & Dynamic Adjustments Your final Category G jump is all about integration and adaptability. You'll get to practice whichever exit (rear or front float) you feel needs more refinement. The main goal of this jump is to effectively adjust your fall rate as needed, and then seamlessly move forward to take a dock. This jump combines the skills from G1 and G2, solidifying your ability to dynamically position yourself relative to other jumpers.
Launch Dynamics & Funnel Avoidance
To ensure a smooth, simultaneous exit during group jumps:
Rear floaters execute a "lazy" exit, staying close to the fuselage.
Front floaters create assertive space from the fuselage for clear air.
A clear, smoothly cadenced exit count is essential for coordination.
Your initial flyaway should be in the direction of the line of flight to maintain separation from the aircraft and other groups.
An inherent risk in group exits is a funnel, where a formation collapses post-exit. If a funnel begins, immediately release any grips and recover stability to regain control and create separation.
You'll practice three key elements for stable group exits, just like solo jumps: setup, launch, and flyaway.
Setup: Know your assigned exit position, including specific foot and hand placements. Maintain a good presentation to the relative wind in a neutral body position, whether taking grips or exiting without.
Launch: Respond to a pronounced, smooth count. Launch with a neutral body position, consistently presenting to the relative wind.
Flyaway: Maintain eye contact across the center of the group. This helps keep you close and supports a stable flyaway, actively preventing funnels.
Forward Movement to Dock
Just as you learned for turns in Category D, you'll apply the concept of start-coast-stop when performing forward movement in freefall towards a target.
Start: Initiate forward movement by extending both legs. This action will gently tilt your body slightly head-low and begin your horizontal trajectory. Use your legs primarily for forward movement, keeping your arms neutral to maintain stability. You'll maintain your heading by subtly steering with your arms or legs.
Coast: To control your approach, coast by returning to a neutral body position before your desired stopping point. Your momentum from the start movement will continue to carry you forward, much like a car continues to roll after you remove your foot from the accelerator. During the coast phase, continuously assess your speed and distance to your target to determine precisely when you should begin your stop movement.
Stop: To stop your forward movement, briefly extend both arms and push down slightly. This action produces a controlled backward movement. Keep your legs neutral during the stop phase. The goal is to fly on level all the way to the grips. If you stop prematurely, simply extend your legs slightly again to close the gap and take the grip.
"Docking" is the term for taking grips, which you’ll do on your coach at the end of your forward movement. Take the grip on your coach’s wrist. After your stop movement, check that your elbows are back to a neutral position. Extend your feet slightly to maintain positive pressure and counter any tension you feel in the grips, and always check your altitude. Once you feel no tension on the grip, you can loosen your grips and open your palms, maintaining a soft connection.
Fall Rate Control and Levels
Your fall rate is the speed at which you are falling. On your Category G2 jump, you will practice going up and down to match the level of your coach. When jumping with others, you need to get perfectly level with the formation prior to docking. Getting level before docking allows for a smooth approach and prevents vertical collisions with other jumpers.
You will practice getting level by going up or down relative to your coach, using the start-coast-stop method:
Start downward movement: To temporarily increase your vertical freefall speed, think of arching harder.
Start upward movement: To temporarily decrease your vertical freefall speed, think of flattening out like a plank.
When jumping with others, you will likely have to combine the skills of moving up or down with moving forward to dock. First, ensure you are on level, then move forward into your designated "slot" (your specific position within the formation), and finally, take your dock.
Breakoff
Breaking off is the crucial maneuver of tracking away from other jumpers in your group to create sufficient horizontal separation before deploying your canopy. This assures you have clear airspace when you open, avoiding a collision with another jumper.
Breakoff occurs at a pre-planned altitude on every skydive. This should be at least 1,500 feet (457 meters) above the planned deployment altitude.
At the breakoff altitude, turn 180 degrees from the center of the group, track away, stop, and deploy. This sequence should take approximately 8 seconds from the time you turn and start your track to the time you stop and pull.
Always perform your wave off and deploy at the planned altitude, whether or not you have successfully turned and tracked perfectly. Follow your pull priorities diligently. You are always responsible for breaking off and opening at the planned altitude on jumps both with your coach and, later, with others once you receive your license.
Section 2. Canopy Control
Extending Glide
Extending the glide of your canopy allows you to cover a greater distance than full flight. This is important when you are coming back from a long spot.
You can use your brakes or rear risers to extend your glide. Many other variables, such as wind strength, wind direction, and canopy design and size, also affect your glide path. In this category, you will practice using your toggles to extend your glide path. (You will learn more about using your rear risers in your B-license canopy proficiency training.)
To find your projected landing point:
Pick a point in front of you on the ground (approximately 45 degrees from you) and fly toward it for several seconds.
If that point starts moving towards your toes, you will fly past it and overshoot the point.
If that point rises up towards your head, you will not make it there and you will undershoot the point.
If the point stays stationary in your field of view, this is your project landing point. You will land there.
To adjust your glide path:
Find your projected landing point in full flight.
Then pull the toggles down slightly and find the new projected landing point for your new glide path.
If the new projected landing point rises or appears to move farther relative to the original projected landing point then your glide path has flattened, and the canopy will cover more distance. If not, your glide path is steeper, and the canopy will cover less distance.
Canopy Emergency Procedure—Turn Reversals with Max Rate of Turn
A turn reversal is when you make a toggle turn in one direction then immediately in the opposite direction, with the goal of maintaining line tension and stability under the canopy throughout the turns. Turn reversal is another canopy-flight emergency procedure used for collision avoidance during canopy flight.
Risk: Unexpected line twists can occur if you switch too aggressively or rapidly between left and right toggle inputs. Practicing turn reversals will help you discover how far and how fast you can do so without creating line twists.
Safety: Knowing your maximum safe rate of turn can help you avoid line twists when reacting to avoid an imminent canopy collision. A canopy collision can happen anytime during a canopy descent or in the landing pattern. The potential for collision with other jumpers increases when in the holding area and pattern because other jumpers may be focused more on the target than on traffic.
Altitude: Line twists at landing-pattern altitude may be unrecoverable in time for a safe landing, particularly with a higher wing loading. For these reasons, you must practice all turn reversals above your decision altitude, just in case you induce a line twist.
To practice: Make a smooth but deep turn at least 90 degrees to the left, then reverse toggle positions smoothly but quickly for a 180-degree turn to the right. Enter a turn only as quickly as the canopy can maintain balance and line tension during the turn. Surging, lurching, or line twists indicate a turn entered too quickly. The canopy dives sharply after a maximum-performance turn.
Accuracy
You should always have a particular point in your landing area (that you choose before boarding the plane) so that you can work on accuracy on every jump.
Section 3. Emergency Review
Rear-Riser Steering
Know where other nearby jumpers are during opening and steer with the back risers to avoid them. If a head-on collision is pending, both jumpers should turn right. For expanded collision-avoidance training, look up the USPA-recommended procedures in Chapter 4-1 of the Skydiver's Information Manual (SIM).
Tree-Landing Avoidance
As a review, your coach or instructor will ask you to describe the tree-landing emergency procedure that you learned in the Category A first-jump course.
Section 4. Equipment
Packing Your Main
By the end of this category, you should be able to pack at least one main parachute without assistance.
Inspecting Gear
You should be able to inspect your gear to identify areas susceptible to high wear. If you find items requiring maintenance, you should alert your coach or instructor. Remember, many of these items must be addressed only by an FAA rigger.
Here are key components to inspect:
Pilot chute, bridle, and deployment handle
Look for broken stitching around the apex and the seam where the pilot chute’s fabric and mesh meet.
Check for security at the bridle’s attachment point.
Look for damage to the fabric and mesh.
Deployment bag
Look for distortion in the grommets, especially at the bridle, and fabric damage around their edges.
Check the loops that hold the line-stow rubber bands.
Closing pin
Check for nicks or corrosion on the pin.
Pilot-chute attachment
Look for wear where the bridle attaches to the canopy.
Look for broken stitching on the canopy itself where it is reinforced for the bridle-attachment loop or ring.
Parachute fabric
Check for small holes on the top skin where the bridle attaches to the parachute.
Look for wear on the top skin and end cells caused by contact with sharp objects or corrosive materials.
Look for wear in and around the reinforcements in the stabilizers that contain the slider stops.
Look for broken or missing stitching along the seams.
Slider
Inspect for nicks or sharp edges in the slider grommets and fabric pulling out of the grommets.
Look at the fabric for damage.
Lines
Look for wear anywhere along the lines, but especially where the slider grommets contact metal connector links.
Look for signs of line shrinkage that cause unequal lengths.
Slider bumpers and links
Look for damage to slider bumpers.
Check that the slider bumpers are tight on the link or secured with tack cord to prevent them from sliding up the lines and stopping the slider.
Check accessible links for nicks and sharp edges. Ensure they are closed and tightened.
Check soft links for wear.
Brake system
Look for wear on the lower steering lines.
Examine the toggle locking loops on the brake lines for damage and wear.
Inspect toggle keepers and brake-line-excess keepers.
Ensure that the toggle keepers hold the toggles securely.
Three-ring release system
Look for wear in the loops holding the rings and the white retaining loop.
Check the cutaway-cable housings for wear or damage and broken or loose tacking.
Look for kinks in the cutaway cable where it contacts the white retaining loop.
Check the front and back of the riser webbing for fraying or warping around the edges of the grommets.
Check that riser-housing inserts are secure and excess cutaway cable is stowed in the riser housing.
Riser covers
Confirm tuck tabs fit properly and stay in their pockets.
Check that the stiffener in the tuck tab is not cracked or bent.
Main-container closing grommets
Inspect for distortion, sharp edges or nicks, and fabric damage around the edges.
Check for severe distortion or breakage of the plastic stiffener inside the fabric where the grommet is set.
Main- and reserve-pin covers
Check the plastic stiffeners for distortion.
Reserve loop and pin
Check that there is no fraying of the reserve loop.
Check that the thread on the seal is not broken.
Look at the condition of the reserve pin and grommet.
Equipment Storage
Always store your parachute in a cool, dry, dark place.
In the summer, cars are too hot for safe prolonged storage, as heat weakens AAD batteries and rubber bands.
The sun’s ultraviolet rays degrade nylon.
Moisture corrodes hardware, which is very dangerous, since rust degrades nylon. Moisture also promotes mildew, which is harmful to nylon.
Many chemicals and acids damage parachute materials.
Section 5. Standard Operating Procedures
Rigger Maintenance
Only an FAA Senior or Master Rigger may maintain and repair a parachute system, but only an FAA Master Rigger may make major repairs and alterations (FAR 65.125).
AAD Maintenance
AADs, if installed, must be maintained according to the manufacturer’s instructions (FAR 105.43.c).
Weather Conditions
You should always be aware of the weather conditions that are unique to the area that you are jumping. In particular, dust devils and thunderstorms can be particularly hazardous to skydivers. Approaching fronts and storms can cause significant changes in both wind speed and wind direction.