Falcons
Aerial acrobatics - without an aircraft!
Hard work, a high level of skill, total trust in your equipment and team-mates, and more than your share of courage are needed to become a member of the RAF Falcons – Britain’s number one Parachute Display Team.
To be considered for the team you will need to have been a Parachute Jump Instructor (PJI) for at least 3 years, and to have amassed a minimum of 150 freefall descents, as well as completing HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) and HAHO (High Altitude High Opening) training before you are eligible for selection for the Team. Plus, you have to catch the eye of the current Falcons – 11 RAF parachutists of different ages, sexes and RAF backgrounds.
And once you make the Team, your real training begins. You’ll learn to alter your body position, move around the sky with precision and create the impressive formations the Falcons are famous for. All while freefalling at ‘terminal velocity’ – 120mph.
All this training is preparation for the big day, when you’ll perform your stunning displays to the crowd of fans below. If the jump goes to plan, it should go something like this:
Stage 1: Display Preparation
Two hours before the show and the Team Coach decides which display you’ll do. A number of factors need to be considered – from weather and wind direction to potential hazards on the drop zone (like trees or buildings). Your Team then goes through the ‘Dirt Dive’ – a mental rehearsal of the whole display.
Stage 2: Exit Strategy
It’s 10 minutes until the jump – the Hercules’s rear ramp and side parachute doors open. Your Team Coach locates the drop zone, gets their bearings and calculates when to release the Team. If there’s low cloud, you’ll all exit out of the side para doors individually. If the cloud is high, you’ll exit off the ramp as a group or in a pair.
Stage 3: Making a Hasty Exit
It’s two minutes until exit and you practise your emergency drills in the unlikely event you encounter any problems. The Team members then position themselves on the very edge of the ramp and await the light signals from the aircraft Captain. Red. Green. Go…
Stage 4: Freefalling
You immediately begin the freefall phase of the display, within seconds reaching 'terminal velocity' – 120mph, straight down. You alter your body position against the airflow, drift through the sky and create a series of spectacular formations. At your Coach’s signal, you make your way to the stacking area and deploy your chute.
Stage 5: Canopy Stacking
Within four seconds, all the Team’s parachute canopies are fully open. From the bottom up, you and your Team build the trademark non-contact canopy stack – all nine parachutists stacked with just 15ft between each of you.
Stage 6: In the Drop Zone
Now you reach the most challenging part of the display – all of you trying to land in quick succession in a small area. In order to land safely, each parachutist stays directly above another, waiting for their turn to land.
Stage 7: A Final Salute and Fly-past
Once all the Team members are down safely, your Drop Zone Safety Officer (DZSO) – one of the Falcons’ countless support staff – radios the aircraft Captain and requests a fly past. You and the Team work hard taking off all your equipment and getting your berets on. On the signal from the DZSO, the Team Coach calls for the RAF Falcons to form up. Once formed, the DZSO marches out in front of the Team and salutes the aircraft – while the crowd salutes you.
Sound exciting? Want to know more about the RAF Falcons, their history and how to join once you’re in the RAF? Visit the official Falcons site
What Aircraft do the RAF Falcons use?
To keep up with a Parachute Display Team as specialised as the Falcons, you need an aircraft to match. Take a look at some of the specialist craft the Falcons use:
Sometimes the Falcons’ usual aircraft have other operational commitments. On several occasions, the Falcons have had the great honour of being supported by the 'Mighty Dakota' – of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF). The Team needed specialist training for these jumps – and they relished the challenge. Find out more about the BBMF here.
