In this method, you will begin by attending a ground school. This ground school will begin by teaching you how to pilot your canopy (parachute) and land it safely. It will also go over emergency procedures, exiting the plane and the basics of free fall.
Once the ground school is completed, you will be brought onto a plane with a certified instructor. This instructor will supervise you during the ride and will attach your parachute’s extractor to a static line which is then attached to the plane. Once you jump off the plane, the static line will pull your canopy out of the container and you will be free to fly the canopy towards the drop zone. (You will be guided by a coach who is watching you from the ground and speaking to you by radio).
After successfully completing your first jump, you will be given more leeway by the ground coach who will stop guiding you on the radio unless needed.
When you are able to land safely, your instructor will then start bringing you into controlled free fall, where you will start off by getting 10-15 seconds of free fall before releasing your pilot chute. The next will give you 15-20 seconds, then 20-25 seconds and so on.
The static line course will bring you straight to your A license in most cases as you will require many more jumps before you are given the opportunity to be in free fall for the entire skydive. The course however doesn’t need to be done in 1 weekend, it’s usually done over a longer period of time.
At the end of this course, you will do your A license exam. After successful completion of this exam you will obtain your A license and owe beer. The A license will allow you to jump alone anywhere in the world, you could jump in formation with a skydiver who has a B license and a minimum of 100 jumps or with a coach/instructor.
IAD and static line aren’t offered at many drop zones in Canada anymore as they have been replaced by AFF/PFF at most places.
For more information about the different licenses, you can check out the CSPA website or contact me here