Sometimes in life, things just click. Almost like the universe decided that, yes, you will be successful this time and not too many ordeals will be placed in your way.
After seeing Skydive Perris in California’s amazing P3 Power Play formations and the most recent jump that spelled “peace” in mid-air, a business in China contacted Drop Zone Manager Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld to see if it was possible for him to put together a group of skydivers to build a formation that formed the word “China” in Chinese (中国), as well as the words “C POP” and “VIP” … and to do it in one day with less than a month’s notice. Brodsky-Chenfeld said, “Of course it’s possible, if I can put the right team together that quickly!”
After a few phone calls to his former teammates and fellow world champion formation skydivers, he found that by some magical coincidence, an A-team was available. The 43-jumper roster was out of this world, like a list of nominees for the Skydiving Academy Awards. They included former and current members of national and world champion formation skydiving teams from around the world, including Arizona Airspeed and the U.S. Army Golden Knights. In total, the jumpers—Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld, Jeana Billings, Bob Bonitz, Steve Briggs, Mark Brown, Shannon Catalano, Cathy Coon, Rod Cruce, Andy Delk, Jen Domenico, Jerry Elkind, Chris Farina, Martial Ferre, Doug Forth, Christy Frikken, Craig Girard, Nick Grillet, Josh Hall, Niklas Hemlin, Thomas Hughes, Grace Katz, Mark Kirkby, Brian Krause, Ben Liston, Marcelo Marapodi, Mikhail Markine, Piya Navanugraha, Celine Pelletier, Ari Perelman, Dan Pillasch, Erik Prime, Eliana Rodriguez, Dave Schrager, Sarah Smith, Scott Smith, Brian Stephens, Kirk Verner, Mary Ellen Weber, Zack Winoker, Kai Wolf and camera flyers Craig O’Brien, George Katsoulis, Norman Kent and Terry Weatherford—had approximately 549,000 jumps between them. For this job, the stars literally aligned.
The day went seamlessly, and the red formations in the sky looked like they had been stamped on paper, just as designed. The client left happy, but not as ecstatic as Brodsky-Chenfeld and all the skydivers who for one day got to play together instead of competing.
Celine Pelletier | USPA #274969
Verdun, Quebec, Canada