Airborne Soldier Illustrating a Jump from a Plane during Training

Ideal conditions on D-Day were to jump at 600 feet while traveling 90 mph. However, with anti-aircraft fire forcing pilots into a scramble, paratroopers dropped anywhere from 300 feet to 2,000 feet, with many pilots accelerating to 150 mph.  Most of the men on D-Day would not have experienced as smooth a jump as illustrated in these training images.