What Is A Static Line Parachute Jump?

A static line student smiles while hanging from the strut of a plane at 3,500 feet at Skydive Mossel Bay near Cape Town South Africa

Learning to become a skydiver requires knowledge & training in several key areas. You need to learn about the equipment you need, but also the various stages of the jump process such as preparing mentally, getting into the plane correctly, exiting at altitude, the freefall part, deploying your parachute, flying back to the landing area, & touching down in the correct way. If you’ve done a tandem skydive or two, you are off to a great start & can venture to the next step in getting a skydiving license & flying solo!

There are two main ways to learn to skydive – Static Line Training & Accelerated Freefall (AFF) – both with a different approach to the order & cadence of things you need to learn. Each has certain qualities that may make it more appealing than the other. Let’s have a look here at the original way of learning to become a parachutist – static line training.

What is Static Line Skydive Training?

A static line parachute jump is the opening mechanism of your parachute is connected to the aircraft itself, & the act of falling away from the door is what releases your parachute from its container – using the ‘static line’ (about six feet of it) to do so. If you have ever seen footage of paratroopers jumping quickly one after another, this is what they are doing. You can easily notice how fast their parachutes are open after leaving the plane.

How Does Static Line Training Differ From Accelerated Freefall (AFF)?

Learning to become a skydiver via static line progression is a tried & tested method used for many, many decades. More recent times have seen the development & adoption of Accelerated Freefall (AFF) courses as a popular way to get licensed, but this has not replaced static line courses as both have certain advantages. AFF is a more intensive program that includes a freefall element from the very start but is more resource-heavy as you need two instructors to be in the sky with each student for at least the first few jumps. Static line training has you building up to longer & longer freefall durations as you progress through the course – all the while learning the other vital elements like exiting smoothly & flying your parachute.

Advantages of Static Line Training

Static line training has some advantages that mean it has been, is, & will remain a great way to get started in skydiving. Skydiving is a weather-dependent sport where static line progress can be a bit more forgiving when you need certain conditions. As you are starting out, primarily learning to exit properly & fly a parachute, you go from a bit lower, which means there are more jumpable days when you need to see the ground & can jump from underneath the clouds.

When you jump via static line you do so by yourself. Your instructor helps you to exit but they stay in the plane. This means that instead of two instructors per student for AFF training, you can have one instructor for multiple students. This makes static line parachuting a more affordable program.

Also, while both AFF & static line courses get you to the same place – an ‘A’ license – some prefer the steady curve of the static line course over the deep-end start of AFF. Both are great courses & it is not about which is best. They simply represent different options depending on what you feel is right for you. If you are wondering, yes, there is a system by which you can transfer between them at certain points.