Before making his first descent from an aircraft , the British paratrooper goes through a course in which more than 20 mediums are used to ensure perfection in two arts , jumping and landing . These pictures show British paratroops training at a school in north west England . Instructors and paratroops look up towards two men making a trial jump , suspended by steel cables , the rate of descent is regulated by an air brake , giving an impression of falling at the same rate as an actual jump from an aircraft . February 1945