PARACHUTE JUMP TRAININ

[Music] so you want to be a parachutist good that means you have courage but don't think being brave makes jumping a cinch you're going to find out that there's a lot more to it than making breathtaking leaps out of flying transport you've got to learn a technique by the time you finish your parachute jump training you'll be surprised to find the accent on technique rather than on courage for a good jumper is a skilled jumper and it's the skilled jumper who lands in one unbroken piece to carry out the mission that he jumped for so now you're in for four tough weeks of concentrated training and technique your first week a stage is jam-packed with physical conditioning and begins where the usual training ends each exercise develops muscles you'll need for parachute manipulation and landings for instance if your middle is flabby this will turn it into armor plate push-ups will build sinew in your arms waist chest and shoulders and you'll need every bit you can develop Indian clubs help along with the hardening and teach coordination at the same time tumbling serves a number of purposes you not only get conditioning out of these front tumbles on either shoulder you learn to absorb landing shock and to get on your feet again in the shortest possible time even when you do a back roll games are good physical conditioning - and a mental relaxation at the same time also there are straight ordinary fun guiding a parachute through the air requires strength in your arms and shoulders and there's no better way to develop it than by rope climbing added to that rope climbing is a good thing for a parachutist to know it's a trick that often comes in handy in combat this is speed marching run until your tongue hangs out walk till it's in again finally you discover how much it strengthens your ankles and legs in the second week the stage you work on training aids that help you perfect all the details of an actual parachute jump at the same time you keep your muscles hard by workouts on a plumber's nightmare called a-train medium when you crawl and haul yourself through this maze of pipes you'll use every muscle you build up in a stage you go through the jungle headfirst and then you go through it feet first you'll also get used to doing anything you want while your high off the ground this is the mock plain an exact duplicate of the fuselage of the real one from which you'll soon be jumping it's what you learn here that counts when you jump from the real McCoy later one thing you must learn is how to put the harness on like a coat and how to fasten the breast guard first then the right leg strap and the left leg strap your reserve chute is extra life insurance the snap fasteners of the reserve are hooked to the V rings on the main harness there's a belly band to hold the reserve more firmly to your body it's like a girdle and gives you a confident feeling that you won't fall apart it slides through two grips on the reserve and is buckled with the enfolded back for quick release of the reserve upon landing you realize that pretty soon you'll be on your own and you'll have to inspect each other's equipment during the flight before the jump a big responsibility to your fellow jumper the next part of the equipment you'll learn about is the static line a piece of webbing 15 feet long that's very important to you before you jump one end of the static line must be hooked to the anchor cable by a snap fastener the line is stowed against the back of the chute and held by elastic retaining bands the other end is permanently attached to the pack cover from there a brake cord is tied to the apex of the chute when the jumper has leaked a distance of 15 feet from the plane the static line becomes taut close the pack cover off and draws the parachute out into the propeller blast the prop glass breaks the cord and you're off watch a couple of instructors on a visual aid platform go slowly through the preliminaries to jumping first notice that the static line is placed over the left shoulder always the left on the command get ready they break loose the static line snap fasteners with their right hands their left hands go under then over the static line to grasp the snap fastener stand-up they grasp the cable for balance hook up the snap fastener is hooked with the opening to the right and check to make sure the safety button is plus check your equipment each man checks his own static line and breast strap make sure his reserve parachute is securely fastened and sees that his leg straps are all ship-shape then he checks the backpack of the man in front of him to make sure no silk is showing and the pack is not injured in any way the next order is sound off for equipment check [Music] the line of men needs tightening everybody shuffles forward leading with the left foot band in the door the first man pivots so his left toe is three inches out of the plane and his weight on his right foot the next man's right foot is forward ready to pivot the rest keep their left feet advance so one step puts them in pivot position the jumpers arms are straight and his palms flat against the outside of the door halfway between his knees and his waist chin up eyes on the horizon head and shoulders well out into the prop flash he leaves the ship by swinging outward with his right leg bringing his left leg over to meet his right gives him the quarter turn to the left that faces him toward the ship's tail all right here's how you look when you try it quite a difference isn't there besides it's taking too long 15 seconds for the dick when it ought to take 8 but don't worry you'll learn you'll be doing it in 8 seconds before long and the right way too when you're acquainted with jump exit technique you move on to the Mach towers here are the lessons you've just learned get a workout and your courage gets its first test at the towers you perfect several simple fundamentals the stance at the door clearance of the ship and proper body position remember proper body position is the secret of smooth easy opening operations now there's a stance go that's how badly a novice can do it here's an instructor to show you how it ought to be done he's got a perfect stance that's tops here too you learn the three second curve listen up with normal conversational cadence after you've said 3,000 if you don't feel the shock of your chute opening pull that reserve chute and that's the battle cry of the school [Music] mrs. fended harness shows you the facts about the parachute harness it's strong and can be trusted because it's scientifically constructed from one continuous piece of webbing here you learn how to slip and this is why see that truck you wouldn't want to snag it as you land so you learn to slip as this man's doing manipulating his chute through wind currents so as to miss obstacles and still reaches objective being sure he'll miss the obstacle while still 100 feet up he assumes the normal attitude and is set for a regulation landing right on the spot slipping is done by pulling on a pair of risers a pull on any two next to each other will slip the parachutist in that direction to slip forward pull down on the front two Rises pulling down on the back risers guides the chute to your rear pull well down and hold on until your slip is finished pull the two Rises on the right and you slip that way and the two on the Left will steer you to the left slipping increases your rate of descent so it's dangerous to slip less than a hundred feet from the ground remember at 100 feet stop all parachute manipulation accepts the body turn body turns right or left are used to set you for a forward landing in your direction of drift starting about a hundred feet up turn whichever way will get you most quickly facing your direction of drift to make a right body turn bend your right arm behind the right to risers your left arm in front of the left to grasp the opposite risers firmly a slow steady pull swings you around now for the proper and landing attitude muscles should be neither relaxed nor tense feet should be together and on the same level the toe should be pointed slightly downward so that the balls of the feet will touch the ground before the heel the arms must be straight with the hands firmly grasping arises the head and eyes must not tilt straight down towards the feet or upward either the correct way is to look down at an angle of 45 degrees these landing trainers teach you to Lam successfully coming in with a forward drift here you get to practice what you learned on the jump platform and one step more you coordinate tumbling with forward momentum you also practice body turns here and how to protect yourself when you roll this man has learned how to protect himself watch where he puts his arm his shoulder won't be wrenched and it protects his head at the same time sometimes a jumper has to make a tree landing if you see one coming cross your legs to keep from straddling a branch protect your face and neck by putting up your arms with your palms in the opposite armpits and your face tuck behind your left elbow this way you'll hit the forest in fighting shape before going on we'd better get out with some real parachutists making a jump over real trees they're not worried they're trained lifts and each one knows how to protect yourself his tree landing position is perfect but what are you going to do if you get hung up like that it's a cinch just pull the ripcord of your reserve chute allowing the shell to fall to the ground then unhook the left snap fastener of your reserve and pull the belly band loop neck release your breast guard check to see that one leg strap is secure and unbolt the other slide your shoulders out of the harness which will still support you buy that one secured leg strap slight tangle shouldn't bother get a good strong grip on the hanging harness before you slide out of that last strap then with all your training and coming down a rope you get to the ground as easy as a fireman now you get to see stage in your training looks like the World's Fair or Coney Island but here's where you get your first taste of what the real jumps going to be like here's where you learn what it's like to come down with a canopy over your head but before you get to the free jump tower there's a ride like this back to a chair with another trainee the canopy above you is passenger cable these cables are sort of track on which the canopy slides up and down there are good reasons for this kind of training first it gets you're used to going up high second it accustoms you two fast descents under a canopy actually you come down here about twice as fast as you will on a real job after a few trips in the chair rig you get a chance to try it in harness but still on cables on the control tower well that's okay you can polish up a few points and the rest of the guys can learn from you now you can practice judging your distance from the ground you can practice body turns here's a quarter left body turn you can perfect your landing position not bad for a novice but there are some bugs to be ironed out you'll get all the chances you need to smooth your technique before you go on to the next step of C stage and here it is the free towel this is a different story you go up the same way but coming down you're free and your coat number one knock your paper so you release your paper to show the wind rip let's see a fret number one really number one let up on your rider you're okay number one if your feet together check your landing attitude number two make a bunny turn keep your hand well up on your risers good now let's have a good combo now just as soon as you've landed and collapsed the canopy you've got to get out of the harness here's how pull the belly band release the left snap fastener on your reserved swing band and shoot over to your right unbuckle the breast strap unfasten the leg straps and throw them between your legs put your hand between the left main web and your body carry your arm through roll onto your stomach it's at the free tower that you learn the seven deadly sins of landing seven don'ts here they are don't land on your heels don't land stiff-legged don't lift your legs don't bicycle don't have your feet at different levels don't keep your feet apart and finally don't try to kick or twist your body around in the last few feet before you land stage C also teaches you the tricks of collapsing your chute in a stiff wind by spilling the air on it you learn how in this wind charger area there's only one way to collapse a chute when you're under fire and that's from a prone position you pull on the lower riders one or both pull on them until the silks collapse when you're not under fire you can use a different method run in and around your shoes and spill out the air on your front or your back you can be dragged along helpless unless you know how to get to your feet in order to get up you have to be on your back bring your knees up pull the right risers with your right arm keep your left arm stiff pivot on your back to the right and face the shoot plant your heels and let the chute pull you to your feet then run in and around the silk and classic you can make this recovery from drag to the left as well as to the right still one more trick you have to learn to collapse the chute for an injured man get hold of the apex of the silk run with it and pull it around in the opposite direction and there you are at last here's your fourth week of training the payoff week b-stage when you make a regular jump for the first time and four times after that before you qualify you start off the same each time you're packing instructors check your equipment nothing's overlooked a c-47 is waiting to take you up but you'll come down on your own at each plane a jump master takes over you load and jump as one of a stick you've got plenty of company on those five jumps and here you go here's where you cash in on that tough grind that's your place you're jumpmaster Orient's himself then he gives you your instructions this will be a 12 man man jump all men to jump on their way to go get ready and uh Oh God like a problem [Music] I know for common sense everybody happy and a door are you ready [Music] then somewhere with equipment floating down around you comes the real thing a lightning quick striking force trained and truck jumping in where the defense is weak and springing the attack [Music]