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Information > WARP / FS1 Levels

WARP stands for World Approved Relative System and is the main method of training used for formation skydiving. The aim is to gradually introduce anyone who has just qualified to jump solo (Cat8) to be able to jump safely with other skydivers. This involves controlling fall rate and back to front or side to side movement in order to stay with others in the air. After building up these techniques jumpers move on to putting them to use in 3 and 4 way formations.

The describtions below are a brief guide to the requirements of each level and are not to be used in place of a proper brief from an instructor. Instead they are here as a reference for the approximate techniques associated with each level so students know what to expect. .

Levels

	Level 1 - Fast Fall Slow Fall In this level a skydiver learns how to alter their body position in order to fall faster to get down to another person in the air or fall slower to get back up to someone above them. Falling faster is done by pulling both arms and legs close into the body and arching as hard as possible. Slow falling is done by pushing arms and legs out to create a larger surface area and dearching, this captures more air and slows a skydivers fall rate.
	Level 2 - Forward Pin In this level the instructor will move backwards away from the student and stop. At this point the student will have to close the distance between them by pushing their legs out creating forward drive and as they approach slow down to safely dock by taking up grips.
	Level 3 - Side Ins Side ins are when you student turns 90 degrees to the instructor and slides in sideways allowing the instructor to take up grips on the side of the student. This is done by pulsing forward with the students legs like in forward pins, then initiating a 90 degree turn. At this point the arm and knee on the side adjacent to the insturctor should be dropped slightly, this causes the body to tilt down on that side and the air will push the student in towards the insturctor in a side slip manouvre.
	Level 4 - Back Ins Much like side ins the student first pulses forward to stay in close to the instructor, then initiates a 180 degree turn. The aim is to stay close to the instructor to allow them to pick up leg grips. This is helped by dropping the students feet back and pushing their arms out near the end of the 180 turn causing the student to backslide towards the instructor.
	Level 5 - 360s The student must let go of grips on the instructor, then do a 360 degree turn and pick up grips again. The aim is for the student to show they can do turns while staying in a relatively fixed position close to the instructor. Using drop knee turns rather than the arms to turn can help as the pivot point during knee turns is closer to the centre of the body while using arms only causes more of an arcing turn.
	Level 6 - 5 Point 2 Way The student must make 5 different points. A point counts as each time a grip is released and the grips of the next designated formation taken up. These can consist of side ins, back ins or 360s.
	Level 7 - Swoop to Pin In some cases there is too much seperation between a target and a skydiver for a fast fall position to be useful. Instead a swoop manouvre can be used. Here the insturctor will leave 2-3 seconds before the student and the student will follow and initially go into position similar to a track then drop their head and shoulders to tilt into a nosedive. They must pull out of the dive and bleed off speed by going into a slowfall position before gently docking with the instuctor after closing the gap.
	Level 8 - 3 Point 3 Way A third person is introduced into the formation. This adds an extra degree of difficulty as before the instuctor may have been able to compensate slightly for any movement of the student, now the student must fly relative to 2 other skydivers who will not be able to chase the student if they start backsliding or are unable to control their fallrate. One outfacing formation is required.
	Level 9 - 4 Point 3 Way Like WARP 8 only 4 points are required instead of 3. An outfacer where the student must turn 180 away from the instructor is also required.
	Level 10 - 4 Point 4 Way The FS1 licence qualification jump. This involves 4 skydivers and means the student must be very controlled in flying relative to other skydivers as 3 skydivers linked cannot come after a student sinking out or backsliding. 4 points with 1 outfacer are required to be completed in a controlled safe dive.