1.1 Qualifications of parachutists
Description
This article is from the Skydiving FAQ, by Barry Brumitt with numerous contributions by others.
1.1 Qualifications of parachutists
There are two systems in force, the old blue licence and
the new red licence which came into force in April 1988.
At the same time the category system and qualifications
was revised. Reference to the old system will be made
where it is significant.
Students may train using the progression system, or the
accelerated free fall system up to what is still referred
to as Cat 8, that is a level at which the parachutists
may jump without intsructor supervision, and may begin to
learn other disciplines. The additional disciplines are
Individual Canopy (IC), Formation Skydiving (FS), Canopy
Formation (CF), Individual Style (IS), Freeflying and
Freestyle (FF), and Skysurfing (SS). For some of these
disciplines there are prerequisite disciplines, for
example to be trained in FF, the parachutist must first
obtain the qualifications FS1 or IS1. (FS1 is identical
to the old Cat 10 qualification)
FAI licences are granted to Cat 8 ('A' licence), 'A'
licence with IC1 and 50 jumps ('B' licence), 'B' licence
with one other level 1 qualification and 200 jumps ('C'
licence), 'C' licence and 1000 jumps ('D' licence). For
those with blue FAI licences, a 'C' licence is roughly
equivalent to a red 'B', and the blue 'D' licence, held
by the majority of experienced UK skydivers, is
equivalent to the red 'C'. Endorsements (stickers) for
the qualifictations are mandatory in red licences and
optional in blue ones.
Continue to:
My Books
