The instructor has full control of the conditions for each jump and can pace a student’s sequence of training situations from simple and basic to difficult challenges. The instructor can choose from a variety of round and ramair parachutes, jump drop zones, wind conditions, parachute malfunctions, pre-recorded jump partners, and other parameters. During the simulated jump the instructor is in an excellent position to observe exactly where the trainees look, what they see, and what they do, as well the results of those actions. The instructor can go beyond one-way coaching to conducting a dialog with students, requiring them to verbalize their perceptions and actions, and supplying immediate feedback. Students need to follow complete equipment procedures and will immediately see the consequences of correct and incorrect actions.

Training includes situational awareness such as altitude ripcord decisions, malfunctions awareness and procedures, collision avoidance, wind magnitude and direction, stall and controllability testing, smooth steering toggle and riser controls to avoid disorientation, sight picture, and appropriate and well-timed flight and landing techniques. Training can continue with an instructor and student review and critique after the simulated jump. All runs are automatically scored for a number of factors, with a strong emphasis on safety. This score can be documented with a certificate which can include a trajectory map of the jump. Any phase of the jump can be played back for review from a number of viewpoints, including overhead and the view as seen by the jumper. Annotated runs can be stored and reloaded as a permanent record or as examples.

PARASIM® simulators are configured through selections from a number of standard options designed to meet individual customer’s needs and budgets. Further customized configurations are available as well. Some sort of hanging harness training is standard and mandatory for operational airborne paratroop training. PARASIM® simulator training is a very significant enhancement to this training by allowing the trainee to actually experience and interact with this equipment in a virtual reality environment. A minimal stand-alone configuration should consist of our basic system combined with a rigid suspension frame. For Airborne Operational training, we recommend the following configuration:

As almost all training facilities acquiring PARASIM® simulators already have hanging harness or parachute equipment, and/or access to out-of-service surplus equipment, PARASIM® systems do not include this equipment, to keep acquisition costs down. These site-provided common items include training parachute harness (bailout type with cable housings and main ripcord handle) and risers, and chairs and a table for the computer and monitors. We have found that operational airborne paratroop training sites prefer to use a minimal VR HMD and tracker configuration. If helmet compatibility is required, the Helmet-Compatible PARASIM basic system discussed under aircrew emergency applications should be specified. The installation should be in an area with normal office environmental control and at least one adjacent wall power socket. A power strip is provided with the equipment.

Developed under contract from the US Special Operations Command, this enhancement to PARASIM allows rapid planning and rehearsal of individual or group parachute insertion missions in scenes closely simulating real-word locations with forecast winds.

PARASIM® simulators can be linked in networks to plan, evaluate, practice, and rehearse group tactical missions, allowing interaction between parachutists in a shared, real-time jump simulation. PARASIM® networked systems can operate as independent simulators in stand-alone mode or as Jump Stations in networked mode for live interactive group jump simulations. Sites with large numbers of systems can also be operated in multiple configurations of large and smaller groups, an option offering several different group simulations simultaneously.

3D wind fields can be created from standard weather forecast data inputs and the simulator digital data terrain base as a table of wind directions and speeds versus altitudes. This data can also be used by the program to compute exit points using standard jump spotting computations.

A program suite of industry standard graphics tools is now available to quickly create 3-D real-world-based PARASIM® scenes from digital terrain databases, and aerial and satellite photography, maps, and other data sources for viewing and simulation.

In addition to our standard systems, PARASIM® is also available in a deployable configuration, running on a notebook PC, with a lightweight, portable frame that collapses for shipping and deployment. Take PARASIM® along wherever you go, to keep jump skills fresh!

PARASIM® includes the most commonly used military operational canopies and a variety of simulation environments, but through STI’s custom engineering services, additional chutes and new, real-world-based scenes can be added. Need a new canopy, or want your own training DZ replicated in PARASIM®? Contact us for your specific needs!

PARASIM® has also been adopted for airborne operational training all around the world, with systems in use in Spain, Canada, UK, Italy, Ireland, Egypt, Japan and Australia and many other locations.