PhD, Associate Professor I.V. Yerkomayshvili¹
PhD, Associate Professor G.I. Semenova¹
PhD, Associate Professor V.V. Gail^1
1 Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg

Keywords: physical education and sports, parachuting course, parachute layout and deployment, maiden skydive, parachute system.

Background. Presently both the mass parachuting sport and its combat versions are in progress and gaining popularity, including the special parachute courses in airborne troops, marines, special operations units in the key intelligence services, military intelligence, etc., with both amateurs and professionals trained for the sports and service at standard parachuting courses. Having analyzed the national research literature on the subject, we found that the parachuting course related issues have been lately addressed by only eight dissertations, with only four of them (V.M. Krupin, T.M. Klimova, S.K. Borodin and A.M. Burkova) considering both the amateur and competitive parachuting courses [1, 5, 3, 4].

Objective of the study was to offer theoretical and practical provisions for and test benefits of a new parachuting course for the 16-18 year-old males at Paramilitary Patriotic Club ‘Omega’.

Methods and structure of the study. The study was run at Paramilitary Patriotic Club Omega in the city of Revda (Sverdlovsk Oblast) in 2017 to 2019 using the following methods: research literature analyzing and generalizing; questionnaire survey; expert analysis; field studies; experiment; and mathematical statistical data processing tools.

Results and discussion. Presently there are a few most popular parachuting course including: classical course; accelerated (progressive) free fall method; Static-Line course and the A.M. Burkova parachuting course; with the accelerated free fall and Static-line courses most popular in the Russian Federation [1-4], while in Kazakhstan, for instance, a priority is given to the classical parachuting courses. It is only natural that every of these parachuting courses has its benefits and drawbacks. We made a comparative analysis of the existing parachuting courses (see Table 1) based on the following criteria: training period; type of parachute; number of skydives; group number; parachute system technicalities mastering time (hours); instructor service; and skydive height.

Table 1. Parachuting courses: comparative analysis

Having analyzed the pros and cons of the existing parachuting courses, we developed a new parachuting course for 16-18 year-old males to cater for the practical needs of the Paramilitary Patriotic Club ‘Omega’. It should be mentioned that the new parachuting course was intended to replace the training course used by the Club since 2009. The new parachuting course, different in the theoretical and practical provisions, was piloted in the Club since September 2018 and complemented by an excursion to Byngi Air Field prior to a maiden jump.

Practical training component of the parachuting course included special movement coordination training exercises and skydive simulation practices borrowed from the A.M. Burkova parachuting course [1, 2]. Theoretical classes offered the following topics: “Parachute/ parachute system invention and development history”; “Personal parachutes: purpose, design and operation concept”; and “Parachute system deployment procedure and rules”. We designed a special theoretical progress scoring system to timely and comprehensively analyze progress of every trainee in every parachuting course topic with a special priority to the parachuting technique safety standards. Prior to and after the experimental training year, the trainees’ knowledge and skills were tested in every topic. The tests found the pre-experimental knowledge relatively mean, with only 45% of the sample scored excellent. A good progress of the sample in the parachute system deployment classes made it possible to save the time required for this operation: see Table 2.

Table 2. Parachute system deployment time, s

As demonstrated by the above, the new parachuting course helped make the parachute system deployment operation significantly (p<0.05) faster, particularly in case of parachute system З-5.

Conclusion. Analysis of the available study reports on the subject found the parachuting training service being still in need of sound theoretical and practical provisions, i.e. the relevant research is needed. Based on a comparative analysis of the existing parachuting course and taking advantage of their best elements, we designed a new parachuting course for the 16-18 year-old paramilitary patriotic groups and tested it at Paramilitary Patriotic Club ‘Omega’. The new parachuting course was tested beneficial in the theoretical and practical aspects as verified by the progress of the sample in every theoretical topic, significant improvement in the parachute system deployment time and improved quality of the skydives.

References

1. Burkova A.M. Methods of training for introductory parachute jump in aviation-sports clubs of Russian Army, Air Force and Navy Volunteer Society. PhD diss. abstract. Tyumen, 2011. 24 p.
2. Ground testing of parachute jump elements [Electronic resource]. Available at: http://sodpm.ru/img/book/c11/vdp/glava7.pdf . (21.07.2019).
3. Parachute training program AFF [Electronic resource]. Available at: http://azov-sky.com.ua/aff/. (24.07.2019).
4. Parachute training program "Static-line" [Electronic resource]. Available at: http://azov-sky.com.ua/statik-line/. (18.07.2019).
5. Collection of parachute and parachute rescue training aviation programs of USSR Army, Air Force and Navy Volunteer Society. 1989, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2010. 143 p.

Corresponding author: i.v.erkomaishvili@urfu.ru

Abstract

Objective of the study was to offer theoretical and practical provisions for and test benefits of a new parachuting course for the 16-18 year-old males at Paramilitary Patriotic Club ‘Omega’.
Methods and structure of the study. The study was run at Paramilitary Patriotic Club Omega in the city of Revda (Sverdlovsk Oblast) in 2017 to 2019 using the following methods: research literature analyzing and generalizing; questionnaire survey; expert analysis; field studies; experiment; and mathematical statistical data processing tools.

Study results and conclusions. The authors studied the current parachute training programs for both athletes and amateurs who want to skydive for the first time. Based on the analysis of the existing programs, an author's method of parachute training of young males aged 16-18 years was developed. The novelty of the author's program consists in the optimal combination of the theoretical and practical parts of the parachute training program, as well as the introduction into the training program of exercises for coordination and simulation of a parachute jump. These innovations enable young males to reduce the number of motor errors when skydiving. The point theoretical knowledge assessment system helps make a complex and fast estimation of the level of training for parachute jumping and ensure safety of parachute trainings. The study was conducted at the premises of the military-patriotic club "Omega" in Revda, Sverdlovsk region, in the period from 2017 through 2019. The implementation of the developed program led to positive changes. The analysis of the point system of evaluation of the academic training results showed that at the beginning of training only 45% of students received the highest score. Upon following the coach's recommendations for better assimilation of the material, all young males received the maximum score at the end of the academic year - 5 and were admitted to the introductory parachute jump.

Better assimilation of the theoretical material on parachute packing enabled to reduce the time spent to pack a parachute. During the year of training, there was observed a significant improvement in the time of parachute packing (p<0.05), especially, reserve parachute system Z-5.