Skydivers are truly a unique breed of people. We come from across the globe. We range from 18 to more than 90 years old. We're from all walks of life, professions, political parties, races and religions. But we share a love for life that bonds us beyond all our differences.

For skydivers, two things keep us in the sport—our passion for human flight and the amazing friendships we build with others who share that passion. One way to enjoy both is to be involved in large-formation skydiving events. Perris Performance Plus "P3" hosts events at Skydive Perris in California that provide a path for skydivers with as few as 100 jumps to become large-formation skydivers.

The P3 Power Play is the pinnacle event on the P3 calendar. The 48 participants this year came from 14 countries for the June 21-24 event. All were very talented skydivers with both FS-team and large-formation experience. On the first three days of the four-day event, they broke into 16-way groups organized by Martial Ferre, Doug Forth and Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld.

On the last day, all the groups came together to build a unique and challenging larger formation. After successfully completing the first beautiful 48-way, P3 pulled out a jewel of a formation, spelling the word “PEACE” big enough for all eyes on the ground (and hopefully the world) to see. Camera flyers Craig O'Brien, Norman Kent and Terry Weatherford beautifully captured the results.

These types of formations, with multiple unconnected pieces, are very difficult to fly, but the group was motivated by the unique opportunity for skydivers to send this message across the globe.

Those interested in learning more about large-formation skydiving can visit www.p3skydiving.com.

Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld | D-8424
Carlsbad, California
Author of "Above All Else"