For US personnel stationed in Germany
Static line airborne course — three solo jumps, three hours from Grafenwöhr
A complete basic airborne course on a military round canopy: ground school, then three solo static line jumps of your own. Run in English by Czech army veterans, on an airfield you can reach from Bavaria on a Friday evening.
Why drive to the Czech Republic for this
Round canopy static line training for civilians has all but disappeared in Western Europe, and where it still runs it is priced as an expedition. Here it is a normal course on a normal airfield: €500 for the basic course, three solo jumps included, no membership to join and no package to buy on top.
From Grafenwöhr and Vilseck it is about 3 hours by car to Mladá Boleslav Airfield, from Hohenfels about 3.5 hours and from Ansbach about 4. That is a weekend, not a deployment. Some dates run from Hořovice Airfield instead — the airfield is always listed with the date in the calendar, so check it before you book.
What the course actually is
Ground school comes first and it is not a formality: the regulation sets a minimum of nine training hours. You will practise the exit, hang in the harness, work through malfunctions and drill parachute landing falls until they are automatic. Only then do you jump.
- Three solo jumps. Your own canopy, your own exit, your own landing — not a tandem ride.
- MC1-1D. The US military steerable round canopy from the T-10 family, deployed by static line. The same type airborne units use.
- A reserve day. The course runs over three days with a fourth held in reserve, because weather decides and we would rather wait than push a bad jump.
- English throughout. Ground school, briefings and jump commands. We also teach in German and Czech.
Who runs it
The airborne instructor goes by the call sign Lima: over 9,400 jumps and more than 25 years in airborne operations — static line and free fall, water and night jumps, jumps with equipment, weapons and cargo containers, high-altitude jumps with oxygen and test jumps. His qualifications D, H, H-T and jumpmaster are issued by the Czech Civil Aviation Authority (ÚCL).
If you need paperwork before your command will sign off on attendance, everything is on one page: Safety and credentials — the organisation, the equipment, the reserve canopy and repack interval, the aircraft and operators, medical requirements. On request we will put together a commander's information sheet in English or German.
What you need to bring
- A Class 2 medical certificate, issued by an aviation medical examiner. You bring the paper original with the doctor's stamp; we check it, we do not keep a copy.
- Age 15 or over on the day of the first jump. Under 18 needs a parent's officially verified consent.
- Nothing else. Parachutes, helmets and the rest of the equipment are ours.
What you get at the end
A certificate of training completed and of the number of jumps you made, issued for each participant by name. If your unit needs it in a particular form, ask before the course and we will prepare it.
FAQ
What people ask us
Is this a tandem jump?
No. You jump alone under your own canopy from the first jump. A tandem passenger is strapped to an instructor and needs no training; here you are trained to jump on your own, which is why ground school comes first. Full comparison: tandem, AFF or airborne course?
Do I need any previous experience?
No. The course is built for complete beginners. If you already jump and only want the jumps, ask about the solo jump and refresher options.
How hard is the landing?
A round canopy comes down more vertically than a ram-air canopy, so the touchdown is firmer. That is what the parachute landing fall is for, and you will have drilled it before you get in the aircraft. The MC1-1D descends at about 4.5 m/s on average.
What if the weather is bad?
The instructor decides whether a jump goes ahead. That is what the fourth, reserve day is for. Jumps you do not use can be completed on another date.
Can a group of us come together?
Yes, and it is the usual way this course fills. Write to lima@dstactics.com with how many you are and which dates suit you — capacity per course is limited, so a group is worth agreeing in advance.
Do you speak English on the ground and in the air?
Yes. Ground school, briefings and jump commands all run in English.