NSM-2012_Walk-of-History_pgs 25-31.cdr

1110s
There is evidence the Chinese amused themselves by jumping from high places with rigid
umbrella‐like structures. Early accounts are impossible to verify and it should be noted that most
parachutes were one of a kind; there was no standardization until World War I.
1495
Leonardo da Vinci sketched a design in the margin of a notebook with the notation: “If a man is
provided with a length of gummed linen cloth with a length of 12 yards on each side and 12 yards
high, he can jump from any great height whatsoever without injury.” The sketch shows
the cloth stretched over a rigid, pyramid-shaped framework. There is no evidence that
he constructed any working models, but modern engineers consider that it
would have worked. Through ensuing centuries, as parachutes came into
existence and da Vinci’s effort was reviewed, he came to be credited with being
“the father of the parachute.” It was not until long past his death that the term
“parachute” was coined. Five hundred years later, in the year 2000, British
skydiver Adrian Nicholas resolved to put da Vinci’s idea to the test. Nicholas and
the da Vinci parachute successfully flew on June 26, 2000.
1595
A Croatian living in Venice, Faust Vrancic, developed a simpler design, basically a large square of
cloth stretched over a wooden framework. He claimed to have made several jumps from a tower;
there is no evidence proving this statement.
1783
It is generally agreed that in 1783 Sebastian Lenormand of France did make a successful jump from a
tower of some height using a fourteen‐foot‐diameter canopy in an effort to develop a way to escape
buildings on fire. The de Montgolfier brothers, Joseph and Étienne, tested a
variety of parachute designs. It is said that in one of their experiments they
dropped a sheep on a seven‐foot canopy without injury to the befuddled animal.
1793
Frenchman J.P. Blanchard claims to have escaped from an exploded hot air balloon with a parachute.
However, this was an unwitnessed event. Blanchard, it should be noted, did develop the first foldable
parachute made from silk; up until that point all parachutes were made with rigid frames.
1797
In October 1797, Jacques-André Garnerin was credited with being the first genuine parachutist by
jumping with a parachute without a rigid frame from a hydrogen balloon over London, England. One
of Garnerin’s balloon jumps was from 8,000 feet, a very high altitude for the time. As the parachute
descended, severe oscillations in the canopy made Garnerin airsick. One of Garnerin’s jumps was
observed by a noted French astronomer, Joseph de Lalandes who suggested putting a hole in the top
of the canopy to equal air pressure inside it. This modification is now known as the vent and does
indeed dramatically reduce canopy oscillations. Garnerin actually crossed the English Channel in
1802 in a balloon and landed in England by parachute.
to
1836
Garnerin made a living by giving exhibitions of balloon ascents and parachute descents throughout
France and England. His wife, Genevieve Labrosse, became the first woman parachutist in 1798 and
his niece, Elisa, eventually got into the act, making about 40 parachute jumps from 1815 to 1836.
1808
The first recorded emergency parachute descent was made safely by the Polish aeronaut, Jordaki
Kuparento, from his burning balloon over the city of Warsaw.
1837
Robert Cocking distinguished himself by becoming parachuting’s first fatality when he released his
inverted cone parachute over Lea Green in England and fell to his death.
1838
Confidence in the parachute as a safety device grew, and in 1838 American John
Wise intentionally exploded his balloon nearly 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) above
ground and parachuted to safety.
1887
Captain Tom Baldwin, an American, developed a self-contained silk parachute. Baldwin wore a
harness that could be fastened to the parachute. He would then jump from the balloon’s gondola,
pulling the canopy and its lines out, and the parachute would fill with air.
1890
German circus performers Paul Letterman and Käthe Paulus are credited with being the first to use
the remote automatic sack type parachute. The design is still used for cargo drops today. Käthe
Paulus of Germany was the first parachutist billed as a “professional.” Her rig was a
parachute described as a “folded exhibition attached‐type,” commonly used by early
balloon jumpers. Suspension lines from the canopy were attached to a concentric
wooden ring with a mesh‐like center similar in appearance to that of a tennis racket.
For stowage during ascent the wooden ring was secured close to the bottom of the
canopy by two “tie lines” and the slack suspension lines were loosely accordion folded
on the mesh surface. The apex of the canopy was securely attached to the balloon by
means of a “break cord” and when the hot‐air lifting device reached a desired altitude,
Käthe used a knife to cut the connecting break cord. The canopy easily and quickly
inflated as she dropped and landed to admiring, rousing cheers.
Early
Traveling carnivals often included balloon and parachute exhibitions. Typically the
parachutist would hang from a trapeze suspended beneath a parachute, which in turn
was suspended beneath a balloon. When the balloon reached a suitable altitude, the parachute
would be cut loose. Many parachutists performed circus‐like trapeze stunts during the descent.
1900s
1901
One of these performers, Charles Broadwick, designed a parachute pack called a
coatpack. A tear‐off panel on the back of the pack was attached to the trapeze by a
line of rope or cable. When Broadwick jumped, the line would pull the panel off
the pack, allowing the parachute canopy to deploy and fill with air.
1908
Another performer, Leo Stevens, in 1908 designed a parachute pack that could be manually
opened with a ripcord. Using Stevens’ design, Arthur Lapham and Frederick Law made many well
publicized jumps from planes, bridges, and even the Statue of Liberty.
1908
Originally named Georgia Ann Thompson, Tiny Broadwick was fascinated when shortly after her
15th birthday she saw Charles Broadwick parachute from a balloon during a carnival’s visit to
Raleigh, N.C. With her mother’s permission, she joined the act and Broadwick later adopted her.
She was known as Tiny because she was only four feet tall and weighed less than 90 pounds.
to
1922
Her first jump from a plane was on June 21, 1913, when Glenn Martin (who
went on to become a renowned aircraft designer and manufacturer) piloted
her over Los Angeles. The following year, she demonstrated Charles
Broadwick’s parachute pack for the U. S. Army’s Aviation Bureau. The experts
were reportedly impressed by her performance, but they saw little practical
value in the parachute.
On one of her demonstration jumps for the Army, the chute’s static line got
entangled in the plane’s tail section. On the last demonstration jump, she cut
the static line and pulled it herself, performing the world’s first free‐fall with a
manually operated parachute. In all, Tiny made 1,100 parachute jumps, the
last one in 1922; she lived into her eighties.
1911
Stunt man Grant Morton was probably the first to jump from an airplane. In a
demonstration over Venice Beach, Calif., he climbed out onto the wing of the
plane carrying the folded parachute, and then released the canopy. As it filled
with air, it pulled him off the plane and into his descent.
1912
Capt. Albert Berry made a different kind of jump over St. Louis on March 1. He sat on a trapeze bar
between the wheels of the plane, wearing a belt attached to the parachute which was packed into a
cone riding below the plane’s fuselage. At 2,500 feet he dropped from the trapeze, pulling the
parachute out of its container, and landed safely.
Juseke Fuji of Stanton, N.M., filed a patent on a manually-operated parachute. And late
in the year, J. Floyd Smith wore a manually-operated parachute of his own design while
flying. In 1918, Smith filed for a patent on the Smith Aerial Lift Pack which was the
first of the modern manually-operated parachutes, and the first with ripcord deployment.
1919
Leslie “Sky-Hi Irvin” a balloonist, parachutist, and circus high-dive performer, demonstrated a free-fall parachute of his own design. Once the jumper was clear of the plane,
J. Floyd Smith he opened the pack containing the parachute by pulling a ripcord. Despite a vent at the
top, the parachute oscillated badly and Irvin broke an ankle when he landed. Nevertheless, the
demonstration was considered a success. Irvin and Floyd Smith worked together to create a different
design with a series of smaller vents arranged in a circle below the large top vent, which became the
Army’s standard parachute.
1922
A parachute saved a life for the first time in October of 1922, when test pilot Harold R. Harris had to
abandon his uncontrollable plane over Dayton. Jumping from 2,500 feet, he had a problem finding
the ripcord. When he finally located it, the chute opened just 500 feet above ground, and he landed
safely. Harris went on to become a brigadier general during World War II. One
month later the Caterpillar club was established. Those who were saved by a
parachute after bailing from a disabled aircraft were awarded a pin depicting a
silk-spinning caterpillar.
1918
to
1926
General William (Billy) Mitchell, Commander of the U.S. Air Force in France, was primarily instrumental in getting an organized parachute test and development program started in the United States.
As a result of his pleas for more and better parachutes for his pilots, a parachute facility was established at McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio, and began functioning in the summer of 1918. In December of
1918, Major E.L. Hoffman was put in charge of the project, which had now become of considerable
importance. Major changes in parachute design can be attributed to the collective and individual
efforts of the members of this group which included Leslie Irwin and Floyd Smith.
In 1928, General Mitchell had six military men jump from a Martin bomber at Kelly Field, Texas, and
set up a machine gun. This was the first demonstration of the usefulness of paratroops. After considerable development effort and experimental testing, the first parachute standardized by the U.S.
Army Air Corps was of the seat type for use by pilots and crew members. It consisted of a pack
containing a flat circular solid-cloth canopy, 24-feet in diameter, incorporating a three-point harness
release. It was given the designation S-1, and became standard in 1926.
1928
The “inventor” of modern skydiving was Spud Manning, who began his career as a barnstorming
parachutist in 1928 when he was 18. Manning specialized in long free-falls, dropping from as high as
14,000 feet to 500 feet before opening his parachute. He discovered that the spread eagle position
would not only slow his descent but also allow him to steer his flight. Other barnstormers also
developed techniques for free falling. During the 1930s, they often took part in informal spot landing
competitions. Since steering was very primitive, landing within 100 feet of the target was often good
enough to win. Manning and his fellow barnstorming parachutists tended to be very secretive about
their methods, however, so their knowledge didn't get passed along to others.
1930
The Russians staged the first parachute meet at the Sports Festival. Amateurs
competed to see who could land nearest a specified target.
1932
Forty parachutists competed at the National Air Races at Roosevelt Field, New York. The organizational
work is credited to Joe Crane who persuaded the National Aeronautic Association to formally sanction
sport parachuting competition. Later he formed the National Parachute Jumpers Association, a predecessor of the U.S.P.A.
1941
In the U.S., self-described “aerial maniac” Arthur H. Starnes made a record free-fall from 30,800 feet to
1,500 feet. Carefully monitored by doctors, he proved that properly equipped aviators could survive
long free-falls from high altitudes.
1944
Frank Derry applied his Derry Slots to some 28-foot military reject canopies to bolster the dwindling
U.S. Forest Service inventory. This was a significant action, as he was modifying
surplus canopies for steerability for the first time.
1946
The National Parachute Jumpers Association changed its name to the National
Parachute Jumpers Riggers, Inc.
1948
A Frenchman, Leo “Birdman” Valentin developed the spread, face‐to‐earth free-fall
position and later the method of using arms and legs to make controlled turns and
barrel rolls. Valentin’s life-long ambition was to fly and in 1954 he attempted his first
“wing jump” using wings made of canvas, but he failed to achieve any forward speed. He then tried
rigid wings to prevent them from collapsing. In 1954, with the help of rigid wooden wings, he finally
managed some kind of stability. In 1956, when exiting the plane, one of his wings made contact and a
piece broke away. He activated both parachutes but they tangled around him and he was killed.
1952
In the U.S., Lew Sanborn was issued parachuting license A‐1, A.R. Garrison B‐1,
and Joe Crane C‐1.
1954
American Raymond Young’s article about parachuting entitled “The Free-Fall French” in the April
issue of Flying Magazine was very likely one of the first to describe free-falling as “diving, a perfectly
controlled descent…”
1956
The term “sky diving” had come into popular use by the time Jacques Andre Istel wrote about it in
Flying Magazine’s April issue: “Sky diving refers to the technique of maintaining absolute control of
one’s body during free fall before the parachute is opened. …[it is] an entirely new sport by which
man, using only his own body, can for the first time navigate in air.”
In July, the U.S. fielded its first team at the World Parachuting Championships (the Third) in Moscow,
finishing sixth out of ten countries entered. Events were style and accuracy.
In September of the same year, the world's first baton pass (relay stick) by two freefalling parachutists was reported in France. It was, Joe Crane said: “…about the most
accurate parachute jumping ever made.” Thus began use of the term “Travail
Relatif” to describe two or more jumpers exiting in close sequence and working
together to perform aerial maneuvers in free-fall—because the French were the
first to do it, and it was an effort to do it without colliding.
By the 1960s “Vol Relatif” had become a better descriptor but around the world,
those who were doing advanced free-fall maneuvers were called “relative workers.”
1957
The National Parachute Jumpers-Riggers Association, which ex-military parachutist Joe Crane began in his Long Island, N.Y., basement in 1946, evolved officially
into the Parachute Club of America.
Joe Crane
1958
The first baton pass recorded over North America was reported by
Americans Lyle Hoffman and James Pearson of the Seattle Skydivers over
Vancouver, B.C., Canada. A month later, Steve Snyder and Charlie Hillard
claimed they made the first in the United States at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Four Americans—Jacques Istel, Lew Sanborn, Dana Smith and
Charlie Hillard—won the French Coupe du Monde, a prestigious invitational meet that symbolized air supremacy.
Photo by Jerry Irwin
The U.S. Army began to encourage sport parachuting for the first time, and military sport
clubs proliferated nationwide. For the first time, the U.S. team was picked at an elimination meet and the winners competed in the World
Championships (the Fourth) in Czechoslovakia, finishing sixth out of
fourteen.
1959
1960
Jacques Istel opened the first commercial parachuting center in the U.S.
at Orange, Mass. At Fort Bragg, N.C., the Strategic Army Corps Parachute
Team formed. Two years later they were renamed the Army Parachute
Team and soon after that they adopted the nickname “Golden Knights.”
(L-R) Lew Sanborn (D-1), Jacques-André Istel (D-2),
Nate Pond (D-69), and George Flynn (pilot)
A feature article by Loy Brydon and Bob Miller in the August
issue of Lyle Cameron’s Skydiver Magazine described techniques for interacting with
each other in freefall, whether for a baton pass or physical contact.
This was the first known use of the words “relative work” to describe
proximity flying on a delayed freefall.
1960-continued
U.S. team member Dick Fortenberry made the first “dead center” target landing ever
recorded in world competition at the Fifth World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria,
and stylist Jim Arender took the gold in his event—the first world parachuting championship medal ever won by the U.S. For the first time, the U.S. team had two female
members—Barbara Gray of North Carolina and Sherrie Buck of California.
On August 16, Captain Joseph Kittinger, Jr., jumped 102,800 feet above
the earth from a high‐altitude balloon, setting a world record. His drop included a
free-fall lasting more than four min., 36 seconds, during which he
reached a falling speed of 614 mph before opening his parachute
at 18,000 feet.
A relay (baton) pass first appeared as a competitive RW event at the Mojave Meet
in California.
Bud Sellick published his book “Skydiving: the art and science
of sport parachuting” which became a must-have reference,
with some of the first illustrations and photographs showing
correct freefall and landing technique. Foretelling future freefly and backflying
moves, he wrote: “One of the easiest free-fall positions is the back-to-earth…” and
“…probably the easiest to accomplish. Just jump out and relax – you’ll almost
certainly find yourself sitting in space in the rocking chair
position… Another back-to-earth position which is used
considerably is the tear-drop.” (pps 174-175.)
1961
Team accuracy in 1961
1962
The World Parachuting Championships (the Sixth) were held for the first time in the
United States and not in an Iron Curtain country. U.S. Army Sgt. Jim Arender won the
World Champion title, a source of national pride in those days of the Cold War. The event,
held in Orange, Mass., was filmed for TV by Lew Sanborn and was at that time the largest
aeronautical event ever held in America.
1963
The Parachute Club of America added an individual “free-form” event to the traditional style and
accuracy format of its national competition. Competitors submitted solo routines they intended to
perform, and judges on the ground used telemeters to view them. Points were deducted for deviations such as off-heading turns or over-rotation on front or back loops. The winner did a very slow,
very precise figure-eight.
1964
Relative Work (RW) skydiving—generally limited to two, three or four skydivers
by the use of small aircraft—continued to evolve over California, Texas, the northeastern U.S., and Canada. Linked exits, “stars” and freefall fun with hula hoops
became common as parachutists who eschewed the traditional competitive disciplines of style and accuracy latched onto other ways to get their freefall kicks.
The world’s first four-man star was photographed
over Arvin, Calif., in March by Bob Buquor, a rising
star in Southern California freefall photography who also captured the
first six-man star on film in September, just after returning from
Germany where ABC-TV had sent him to cover the
World Parachuting Championships.
First photographed 4-man star.
1964 continued
Even as some skydivers perfected round star formations for Buquor’s camera,
others experimented with “no-contact” RW—flying close to each other without
taking grips—a precursor to what became known as “skydancing.”
1965
On October 17—more than a year after achieving the
six-man star—Arvin skydivers put together the world’s first eight-man
for Bob Buquor’s camera. The jump required two airplanes, a Howard
and a Cessna 195; participants were Gary Young, Al Paradowski, Bill
Newell, Mitch Poteet, Bill Stage, Jim Dann, Don Henderson and Brian
Williams (in order of exit and entry.)
New parachute designs, improvements over the military-issue 28-ft. round canopies that most
skydivers used, began to appear. They included the more maneuverable Para-Commander sport
canopy—first publicly demonstrated in 1962—and a gliding wing-type known as the Barish
Sailwing which was test-jumped by Lee Guilfoyle at Lakewood Sport Parachuting Center, N.J. The
following year, Linda Chapman was the first woman to jump the Barish Sailwing.
1966
1967
In February, New Jersey skydiver Nick Piantanida’s third attempt to break Joseph Kittinger’s 1960
record for the highest, longest free fall in history failed when his face mask depressurized at 57,500
feet, leaving him brain-damaged and in a coma from which he never recovered. In his previous
attempt, just over three months prior, he had achieved a high altitude world record of 123,500
feet—over 21 miles above the earth—but was unable to jump from that height.
The Parachute Club of America renamed itself the United States
Parachute Association.
1967-continued
California skydiver Bill Newell founded the Bob Buquor Memorial Star Crest
skydiving awards as a tribute to his friend and mentor, Robert H. Buquor, who
had drowned while filming for Hollywood. Newell’s original intention was to
preserve for parachuting history Buquor’s accomplishments and recognize the
20 or so skydivers who had built the first 8-way stars. He began issuing SCR
numbers to those who had been part of an 8-way or larger formation. For early
relative workers, earning an SCR award proved you had good skydiving skills.
The BBMSC is one of the sport’s oldest traditions.
The world’s first 10-man over Arvin, Calif., was duplicated a month later
by a group jumping over Elsinore, Calif. It didn’t take long for the
competitive spirit to strike, leading to the first of many annual
“Rumbleseat” (or 10-Man Star Championship) Meets. Three teams
entered that first contest; the winners were the Arvin Good Guys with back-to-back
10-ways.
1968
1969
Bob Sinclair’s buddy jump from 12,500 ft. with TV host Johnny Carson was a publicity coup for the
sport. Film of the jump, a harness-held side-by-side freefall that Bob had perfected for training U.S.
Air Force pilots, was shown many times over the years on the Tonight Show.
The first 16-man was organized by Jerry Bird at Elsinore, Calif. The feat boosted
California’s reputation as a big-star mecca. Single-file exits from
small-door D-18 Beechcraft were slow; the last people out had to
follow the divers in front of them to find the star building far below
them.
1969-continued
Skydivers in Hinckley, Ill., made the first eight-way outside of California, bringing Newell’s SCR
numbers to 167.
The first 10-way meet outside of California began an annual tradition in
Zephyrhills, Fla., over Thanksgiving Weekend. Three teams competed; the
winners were “The Family” from Hinckley, Ill.
“The Family” jumping at
Rainbow Airport, Franklin, Wisc.
1970
Steve Snyder began to market a ram-air canopy called the Para-Plane and
filed for the patent on a pilot-chute-controlled reefing system for softer
openings.
The first four-way sequential RW team event was introduced at the
U.S. Nationals, held in New York that year. Jim West of Greene County
Sport Parachute Center in Xenia, Ohio, USPA’s Mid-East Conference
Director Ken Glover, Competition Committee Chairman Mike Schultz
and Ken Heisman, asked Skratch Garrison of California to help draft
rules calling for a no-contact exit and two formations completed in
time. The event was won by a team from Nebraska.
Photo by Carl Boenish
Four-way sequental RW team jumping circa early 1970s
Photo by Mike McGowan
Elsinore relative workers were experimenting with non-star formations
such as snowflakes, but when USPA’s Norm Heaton announced he wanted
to send an “RW exhibition team” to the Tenth World
Championships in Bled, Yugoslavia, they reverted to
10-way speed star practice in preparation for a
Sweepstakes Meet to select the team.
1970-continued
Elsinore skydiver Ted Webster not only sponsored the Sweepstakes meet
but also paid for round-trip travel to Bled and matching gear for the
winning team, Jerry Bird’s All Stars. As the first United States Freefall
Exhibition Team (USFET) at a world meet, they showed movies, including
Carl Boenish’s new Masters of the Sky, and performed snowflakes and
stars. For many jumpers it was the first time they saw RW done.
1971
1972
The USFET at the World Meet in
Bled, Yugoslavia. Photo by Ray Cottingham
USPA established an annual Achievement Award to recognize a member, either retired or active,
who “has made selfless and continuing contributions to the sport of parachuting…” The first
recipient was Dr. Joe Crane (posthumously) “for unselfish and dedicated service as founder,
president and chairman-of-the-board of the National Parachute Jumpers and Riggers and its
successor, the Parachute Club of America.”
A 24-way star—a new world record for a group jump—was
photographed over Perris, Calif., by Carl Boenish in January
and made the cover of LIFE Magazine’s February 4 issue. Two
women flyers—Donna Wardean and “Purple Patty”
Crocitto—were part of it.
10-way Speed Relative Work was added to USPA’s National
Championships for the first time. Based on results of meets
held around the country, five of the nation’s
highest-ranking teams were invited to
compete at Tahlequah, Okla. Teams from
Florida, Texas, Hinckley, Ill., and two from
1972-continued
California competed to see who could build the fastest star after a no-contact exit.
The winning team was Jerry Bird’s All-Stars from Southern California.
Pat Works’ RWunderground newsletter made its first appearance at the Nationals.
It was the voice of the Relative Work Council, a loosely knit group of active relative
workers representing both 4-way and 10-way competitors who agreed that it was
in their best interests to speak with a collective voice to USPA’s Competition
Committee and to communicate with each other. The newsletter, featuring RW techniques, philosophies, stories and contributions from its worldwide readership, with graphics right
out of Zap Comix, published until June 1976 (its 15th issue.)
The World Parachuting Championships (the Eleventh) followed the Nationals in
Tahlequah. Style and accuracy competitors from 31 countries attended, and the AllStars demonstrated RW with a 26-way all-USA star and an 11-way international star.
The C.G. Godfrog Good Vibes Award, the oldest continuously awarded trophy in
formation skydiving, was introduced at the 1972 Nationals. The Godfrog trophy,
originated by Pat Works, is presented every year to the 10-way speed star team
that demonstrates the best attitude and brings the most fun. Winning teams are
responsible for choosing their successor at the following year’s Nationals.
The first Relative Work “Boogie”—no competition, just big airplanes and a festive
atmosphere of like-minded skydivers from east to west coast looking for fun and
formation loads—was organized by Garth Taggart in Richmond, Ind., in
September.
1973
Using three Beech D-18s, 30 skydivers at Elsinore, Calif., attempted another
large-star record. The effort yielded a solid 27-way, with three divers close
to entering. The group included both piggyback rig flyers and some using
chest-mounted reserves. Floaters were not used in those days.
The night-time formation record was set at 16
over Elsinore, Calif., in a two-plane (D-18s)
formation load organized by Steve Fielding and
photographed by M. Anderson Jenkins.
Photo by Ray Cottingham
A record all-women star of 12 was built over
Elsinore, Calif. The first 8-way star consisting of all
women had been completed in 1969, leading to the formation
of the Women’s Star Crest awards administered by Bill Stage.
Photo by Ray Cottingham
Speed star skydiving was added by the world body, the
Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), as an
International Parachuting Commission (CIP) event for the
first time. The first FAI-sanctioned World Cup of Relative
Work, which also included four-way team competition, was
held in Fort Bragg, N.C., in August. Competitors representing
seven countries jumped from U.S. Army Huey choppers.
Winning team Jerry Bird’s All-Stars exit from the chopper’s tailgate.
Photo by Pat Works
1974
New official FAI world records set this year:
• An official FAI-record 10-way speed star of 12.76 seconds by Jerry
Bird’s team at the 2nd RW World Cup in South Africa.
• A 28-way round star over Ontario, Calif.
• A round star of 32 parachutists held more than five seconds over
Tahlequah, Okla.
Meanwhile, Seattle-based team “Clear Eye Express” was experimenting with more complex formations and sequential maneuvers, as were
teams in Florida, Texas, California and Illinois.
B.J. Worth’s widely circulated article “Tempting Our Imaginations” and
photographs of formations such as caterpillars, snowflakes, diamonds
and other asymmetrical patterns by Carl Boenish, Rande Deluca and
Ray Cottingham ignited skydivers’ new passion for non-rounds and
sequences.
Rande Deluca
Rande Deluca
Ray Cottingham
Nine-man Diamond, above
Nine-man Tri-pod, below
Photos of Clear Eye Express by Carl Boenish
1975
“Wings”, filmed by Rande Deluca and Ray Cottingham at Casa Grande,
Ariz., continued to fuel interest in sequential formation skydiving.
In September, B.J. Worth captained the
second U.S. Freefall Exhibition Team
(USFET) which showcased sequential and
formation skydiving to the rest of the
world at the FAI First World
Championships of Relative Work in Warendorf, Germany.
The first book devoted exclusively to RW techniques, The Art of Freefall Relative Work, was
self-published by Pat Works. In subsequent years, it saw two more editions, six reprints,
and was translated into four languages.
U.S.P.A. moved its headquarters from Monterey, Calif., to Washington, D.C., to be closer to
the F.A.A. national office and other aviation trade associations.
1976
Skydiving went on display for the first time at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on
Washington, D.C.’s national mall. The exhibit featured four “free-falling” suspended mannequins
representing Jerry Bird, Mike Johnston, Dick Fortenberry and USPA’s Bill Ottley (who had used his
friendship with the curator to get skydiving included.)
This year’s National Championships featured a four-day “Boogie” of nonevaluated jumping between competitive events, a demonstration of Canopy
Relative Work, and was the first time that every accuracy competitor jumped a
square canopy.
1976-continued
The first 8-way Sequential Formation Skydiving competitions were held this
year—the free-form (maneuvers of your choice) “Chute-Out at the Gulch”
meet in April at Casa Grande, Ariz., and the North American Sequential
Sweepstakes in September at Fort Lewis, Wash.
The Fort Lewis meet was the first to use a predetermined pool of formations for judging, and set the
format for the event’s international future. Following
the meet B.J. Worth, captain of the winning team (“Clear Eye Express”), in
his role as USPA’s representative on the international committee,
convinced the FAI’s CIP to adopt 4-way and 8-way team formats for
future world sequential RW competitions.
1977
Photo by M. Anderson Jenkins
Canopy Relative Work (CRW) which had gotten its start with the first twostack a couple of years earlier, had evolved into a new parachuting discipline
in which canopy flyers physically docked on each other’s canopies side-byside or vertically (“stacked”.) Northern California’s “Know-Sense” team had
developed the technique of docking from below to build larger formations,
and in this year the first 8-stack was made in Livermore, Calif. Tom Courbat
organized the jump; he went on to found the CCR/CCS awards program, recognizing canopy
performance, which he later sold to USPA.
The “Mirror Image” team won the first FAI 8-Way Sequential Formation
Championships in Australia.
1978
Formation Skydiving was the topic of the first book “by and for relative workers”
published by Pat and Jan Works: United We Fall. The book’s collection of new articles,
plus “the best” of the old RWunderground newsletter—stories, techniques, experiences
and reflections—was contributed by some 50 authors.
1979
The first major CRW competition was held in Zephyrhills, Fla.—a rotation event and an
8-way speed stack event. All the participating teams were from the USA. Earlier in the year, the
first official 10-stack was built in Xenia, Ohio, followed quickly by an 11-stack
during a USPA Boogie in Richmond, Ind.
An all-woman quadra-wedge formation of 24, an FAI world record, was
photographed over Elsinore, Calif., by Bob Buehrer. It included women from
several states and drop zones.
1980
The National Park Service experimented with allowing
skydiving (BASE, or jumping from fixed objects) from El Capitan in Yosemite
National Park, and USPA legally sanctioned the jumps. The activity lasted about
90 days before permission was rescinded. Carl and Jean Boenish filmed many of
the early BASE jumps.
A night-time 27-way record formation was
photographed over Perris Valley, Calif.,
by Ray Cottingham.
1981
USPA approved its Accelerated Freefall Program (AFF) for training new skydivers in which certified
instructors accompany a student in freefall holding onto the student’s harness while the student
demonstrates certain skills at various qualifying levels.
A 64-way formation was built over Perris, Calif., but did not qualify for world record status because
it did not build within 60 seconds, which was the FAI rule at the time.
U.S. teams took first place in both 4-way and 8-way formation events at
the World Meet in Zephyrhills, Fla.
1982
The U.S. Nationals included CRW competition for the
first time. A new 8-speed record was set by the
second-place team; they built an 8-plane in 1 min. 1
sec. The first official world CRW record, a 20-plane,
was built after the competition rounds; exit altitude
was 4,300 meters and the formation was held for 46 seconds.
Team USA at the 1981 World Meet:
Mirror Image and the Golden Knights
Manufacturer Para-Flite introduced a main canopy designed specifically for CRW.
U.S.P.A. moved to Alexandria, Va., where it purchased its own headquarters building.
Bill Ottley created the perpetual “Ottley Swords” for presentation to winning teams at
world championship competitions. They are excalibur-type swords mounted on
polished mahogany wooden plaques. The plaques bear brass plates with the
engraved names of each winning team and its members.
1983
Bill Booth and Ted Strong, competing gear manufacturers based in Florida,
began to experiment with tandem skydiving in which a single experienced
jumper controls freefall, descent under parachute and landing for himself
and a harness-attached passenger.
Tandem jumping opened the way for more people to experience skydiving;
several hundred thousand people make at least one skydive every year as a
tandem passenger.
A 72-way formation was built over Deland, Fla.
U.S.P.A. introduced its PRO Rating for demonstration jumpers. The F.A.A. allows PROrated skydivers to fly close to crowds and land in tight areas at exhibition jumps.
1984
An all-women 48-way formation was completed over Deland, Fla.
1985
California Aerial Circus
demo team: Len Zak
and Alicia Moorehead
Canopy relative workers were on the hunt for record CRW stacks in 1985, resulting in
three world records: a 22-stack at La Ferte Gaucher, France, on June 1; a 23-stack at
Spaceland, Texas, on June 16; and a 28-stack at New Hanover, Penn., on Sept. 22.
The country-to-country competition for CRW records continued until the mid-1990s,
when record attempts became multinational.
Ted Strong developed a drogue pilot chute for tandem skydiving; a
drogue is released during freefall to slow the tandem pair’s rate of
fall to match the velocity of a solo skydiver.
1986
A 100-way formation was built over Muskogee, Okla., and photographed by
Norman Kent and Gus Wing. A few months later, a 120-way was built over
Quincy, Ill., at the first World Skydiving Convention which drew nearly
2,000 skydivers. In previous years, the popular gathering for relative
workers held in the Midwestern U.S. had been called the Freak Brothers’
Convention.
In Deland, Fla., 60 women put together an all-women record formation.
1987
1988
1989
100-way by Norman Kent
Cheryl Stearns and Russell Fish each made 255 jumps in a 24-hour period at Lodi, Calif.
Skydiving was part of the opening ceremonies at the Summer Olympics in
Seoul, Korea. Skydivers from the U.S.A., Canada, France and Korea formed
the five-colored Olympic Rings formation in freefall above the stadium
before opening their canopies. Tom Sanders’ video was streamed live, and
Norman Kent’s photograph was the featured centerfold in TIME Magazine’s
“Pictures of the Year.”
Freestyle was first performed by Deanna Kent and Mike Michigan for Norman Kent’s
film “From Wings Came Flight” which captured the sport’s beauty as no other
skydiving film had done before. Freestyle incorporates gymnastics into an aerial
dance performance of loops, twists, poses and spins captured by a camera flyer
working in close proximity.
An all-women 73-way formation was built over Montgomery, N.Y.
1990
The first international freestyle competition held under the
auspices of the World Freestyle Federation (WFF) was won
by Dale Stuart, who went on to dominate the discipline’s
competitive events for the next few years.
In competitive freestyle, the freestylist and the camera-flyer
are scored on their precision and creativity, and the team’s
total score is based on each one’s skill and technique. By
1995, WFF grew to 62 teams from over 24 countries.
1991
“Point Break,” a Hollywood film about surfing that also had a skydiving sequence,
drew thousands of students to visit their local drop zones across the U.S.
1992
FAI’s International Parachuting Committee changed the wording “relative work”
to “formation skydiving” in its competition rules and descriptions.
1994
The “First Exhibition Event of Sit Flying” was part of the USPA Nationals in Eloy,
Ariz. Tony Uragallo developed a pool of three-dimensional maneuvers on which
the competition was based. Teams were two people plus a camera-flyer. This
skydiving discipline evolved quickly into today’s freeflying,
in which participants work to control freefall speed and
proximity to each other in primarily vertical body positions—head-down, feet-first, sitting.
Freeflying pair (Dale Stuart and Pat Works)
Photo by Ray Cottingham
Photo by Craig O’Brien
Point Break scene
by Tom Sanders
1995
Skydive Dallas hosted the First American Championships of
Free Flight in October. It was a test event for evaluating the
possibility of including freefly team competition along with
skysurfing in future ESPN Extreme Games. Scores were based
on both technical and artistic merit; eight teams of freeflying
pairs competed.
1996
FAI officially recognized freestyle
skydiving as a competitive event at
the World Cup of Skydiving in 1996
and at the World Championships
the following year.
The SSI Pro Tour included
Freestylist Tamara Koyn
skysurfing teams in its second televised
Photo by Brent Finley
event, part of ESPN’s “Extreme Games”
series, along with three-person freeflying teams as
a “demonstration sport”. For the next three years,
the Pro Tour televised events featuring skysurfing
and freefly at venues in North America and
Europe.
1998
Roger Nelson organized an FAI World Record formation of 246
over Skydive Chicago.
Photo by Ray Cottingham
Skysurfing Team Tanya and Craig O’Brien
Photo by Mike McGowan
1999
Former president George H. W. Bush made a Level 1
Accelerated FreeFall jump to celebrate his 75th birthday
with the U.S. Army Golden Knights over Yuma, Ariz.
President Bush’s only previous jump had been a bail-out
over the Pacific Ocean when his fighter plane was shot
down during World War II.
572 skydivers from 39 nations joined in the largest-ever
civilian jump over Bangkok, Thailand. They included
Gen. Henry Shelton, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of
Staff.
2001
2002
Photo by Tom Sanders
A four-point 106-way sequential skydive was made over Skydive Cross Keys, N.J.
A world record 300-way formation was built over Skydive Arizona.
CRW formation records achieved in 2002 included a quadra-plane
diamond over Sebastian, Fla., and a 56-way diamond—an official
American record.
Photo by Brent Finley
The second “Jump for the Cause” event at Skydive
Perris in California yielded a world
record all-women 131-way formation
in a unique approach to raising money
in support of breast cancer research.
2003
2006
A night-time CRW formation, a 16-way diamond, was photographed by Brad Hood
over Perris Valley, Calif.
A multinational group built the largest freefall formation
on one of the most difficult mass-skydives ever
attempted—400 skydivers in a flower-like design—over
Udon Thani, Thailand. Jumping from 23,000 feet, the
World Team holds the current FAI World Record for
largest freefall formation.
The first official Vertical Formation Skydiving (VFS)
competitive event, 4-way teams, was held at the U.S.
Skydiving Nationals in Eloy, Ariz. Nine teams (45
skydivers) competed. The FAI added 4-way VFS to
international competition (the World Cup) in 2008.
Jay Stokes made 640 jumps on September 8-9 to set the
official Guinness World Record for the most parachute
jumps in one 24-hour period
(averaging one jump every 2.25
minutes) at Greensburg Municipal
Airport in Indiana.
Arizona Arsenal won 4-way team gold at the first
VFS Nationals in 2006, and also took gold
at the FAI World Cup in 2008.
2007
An FAI World Record for CRW’s largest formation—100 colorful canopies
docked in a diamond formation—was set over Lake Wales, Fla.
2009
The “Jump for the Cause” event at Skydive Perris yielded an FAI-ratified
World Record for the largest freefall formation of all women (181) on
September 9. Women from 31 countries participated and a documentary
on the effort, “Pink Skies”, has been shown on the Discovery Channel.
This record still stands.
Photo by Mike McGowan
Vertical freefallers in a head-down formation over Skydive Chicago
set an FAI World Record for the largest VFS formation, a 108-way,
photographed by Norman Kent.
2012
Skydivers Over Sixty (SOS) successfully hit their magic
number in a record formation comprised of 60 formation
flyers over the age of 60 in April at Elsinore, Calif.
British stuntman Gary Connery jumped from a helicopter
at 2,400 ft. on May 23, and became the first skydiver to
land a wingsuit without deploying a parachute—and without injury.
His landing strip, which he
approached at speeds up to
Photo by Terry Weatherford
80 mph, was made of 18,600
cardboard boxes stacked 12 feet high and 350 feet long.
Four world record claims for canopy piloting were submitted to the FAI following the
2012 USPA National Championships of Canopy Piloting in Georgia in June. Record
claimants are Jessica Edgeington for distance-female (120.18 meters) and for speedfemale (2.605 seconds); Nicolas Batsch for distance-general
Photo by Mike McGowan
(151.95 meters), and Greg Windmiller for speed-general (2.404
seconds.) All three are current FAI record holders in their specialties.
Canopy piloting, also called swooping, is a spectator-friendly
competition discipline in which canopy flyers negotiate a
course of “gates,” usually over water, in pursuit of
speed, distance and accuracy goals.
2012-continued
A 150-ft.-wide snowflake of 138 skydivers in a head-down
formation set a new FAI World Record for vertical skydiving
over Ottawa, Ill., on August 3.
Although the FAI has not established judging criteria for official world
record wingsuit formations, wingsuit flyers continue to pursue everlarger group jumps. The latest unofficial record, a
Photo by Norman Kent
diamond formation involving 100 jumpers from 21 countries who convened at
Skydive Perris in California in September, is the first wingsuit formation to be
submitted to the Guinness organization.
Photo by Norman Kent
A wingsuit consists of fabric stretched between a skydiver’s arms and legs
which allows horizontal travel and slows the descent toward the ground.
The group flew from 13,000 ft. AGL for more than two
miles at speeds up to 80 mph.
Austrian Felix Baumgartner captured the public’s imagination on
October 14 when he jumped from a capsule suspended beneath a
helium-filled balloon 24 miles above Roswell, N.M., breaking
three records—highest altitude for a manned balloon flight, a parachute
jump from the highest altitude, and the first person to go faster than the
speed of sound without using vehicular power. His freefall speed reached
834 mph (Mach 1.24). The previous record holder, Joe Kittinger (in 1960),
served as adviser and control room communicator on his ground crew.
Felix practicing in his pressure suit in
the Skydive Perris wind tunnel