At the summer meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the USPA Board of Directors chose formation skydiving team Arizona Airspeed to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. USPA presents this award to “an expert active or retired sport parachute jumper in recognition of outstanding sportsmanship, skill, or personal contribution to the sport of parachuting and the United States Parachute Association, its goals and purposes.” This is only the second time in the 50-plus-year history of the award that the board has chosen a team, rather than an individual, to receive the honor. The last was the U.S. Army Parachute Team Golden Knights, selected in 1974. It should come as no surprise that the two teams exemplify many of the same values: sportsmanship, integrity, community involvement, commitment to excellence and a competitiveness that is fierce but fair.
In 1993, Larry and Liliane Hill, the owners of Skydive Arizona in Eloy, decided to found and support a professional 4-way formation skydiving team that could win a world championship for the USA. The seemingly unstoppable Team France had taken gold at the past four meetings of the biennial championships, and it was time for the U.S. to make a comeback on the world stage. They enlisted top talent—Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld, Jack Jefferies, Mark Kirby, Kirk Verner (all of whom have since been inducted into the International Skydiving Hall of Fame) and videographer John Leming—and in January 1994, the team began to train.
A year later, Arizona Airspeed showed up to challenge the French 4-way team on its home turf at the 1995 Fédération Aéronautique Internationale World Championships in Gap, France. Airspeed had already seen success at the World Cup in Spain at the end of 1994, but they knew victory was not assured at the championships. As expected, the fight with France for the gold was tight, but after all was said and done, Airspeed brought the gold and the Ottley Sword trophy for 4-way FS back to the U.S., besting France by two points. On top of it all, they became the first team at a world meet to break the 20-point average with a 20.7. It was a great year for the U.S. athletes: At the same meet, the Golden Knights came home with the Ottley Sword for 8-way. (And two years later, the two teams would bring both Ottley Swords back to the U.S. again.)
In 1995, Arizona Airspeed also began working locally with a second 4-way team as a way to develop up-and-coming talent and give them the ability to field an Arizona 8-way team that could give the Golden Knights a run for their money. The Arizona Airspeed 8-way lineup through 1996 included the original 4-way team members and John Eagle, Troy Widgery, Craig Girard, George Jicha, Steve Nowak and John Hamilton. The formation of the 8-way team spurred both the Knights and Airspeed to higher and higher achievement, and they have challenged and supported each other in equal measure for decades.
Over the years, Airspeed continued to field other teams and develop and mentor FS talent, which both kept the team at the top of its game and increased the FS skill level of the entire skydiving community. Though the team has seen many roster changes in its 30-plus year history, each new version has strived for and achieved excellence. Since that first world championship gold in 1995, Airspeed has won an additional five championships in 4-way and three championships in 8-way. The team is also a perennial national champion, with 23 golds in 4-way and 12 golds in 8-way over the past 30 years. It’s no surprise that “Arizona Airspeed” has become a household name in the skydiving world.
But the team has done more for the skydiving community than just winning competitions; they have set the standard for professional performance and behavior in the air and on the ground. Their sense of fair play is renowned and exemplified by an instance at the 2001 world meet in Granada, Spain. The Airspeed 8-way team was at the top of the leaderboard when Team Russia—their closest rival—scored a controversial zero due to missing the call for the plane. Winning the event would have made Airspeed the first team to take gold at both 4- and 8-way at the same world championships. Nevertheless, Airspeed’s Alan Metni gathered a group of competitors to petition meet officials to let the Russian team jump their missed round. Due to this unparallelled display of sportsmanship, the Russians were able to jump, rallied and took the meet by one point. Airspeed left with the silver medal and a reputation for integrity. This integrity has been a consistent characteristic with every Airspeed team, and it has earned them the love and respect of their fellow athletes worldwide.
With the unwavering support of the Hill family, the team has a long history of promoting skydiving. In 2002, it organized the successful 300-way FAI World Record for Largest Formation Skydive, which made worldwide news in and out of the skydiving community. They also have a history of encouraging both new and experienced jumpers to excel. Each year, members of Airspeed take a break from their intense training to take part in the Rookie Roundup, an event that gives jumpers with fewer than 200 jumps the opportunity to skydive with the world’s best. Current and former members of the team also organize the annual Arizona Challenge, an invitational big-way event that challenges jumpers with formations that may seem impossible at first glance. It’s all part of the Airspeed philosophy of not only being the world’s best but bringing others along with them.
The team chose to accept the award—a sterling silver replica of the perennial trophy on display at USPA Headquarters—at (where else?) the 4-way FS awards ceremony at the USPA National Championships. Current and former team members came to the stage amid thunderous applause followed by team founder Larry Hill, who took to the podium to accept the trophy, the inscription on which reads: “For excellence in representing the USA and USPA in national and world competition and for sharing their knowledge with skydivers throughout the United States.” Hill proudly told the crowd that Airspeed is “the most talented team in the world; it’s not just their skydiving abilities, but their personalities, the way they work with people. A group of people who all want to give back to this sport and pass on what they have learned to everyone who is learning, too. That is why we have come as far as we have in this sport.”
Current team member Joey Marshall then took the mic and spoke of the Airspeed’s continuing commitment to the sport, saying, “To me, Airspeed is only as good as the example that we project into this sport. This current lineup came up with a purpose statement with the help of Jack Jefferies ... ‘making magic, chasing excellence and helping others do the same.’”
Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld, a member of Airspeed’s original lineup, connected the past with the present, remarking that beyond its world championships, the team is “a group that has contributed to the sport, helped the sport grow and spread the love as we all do. I cannot say how proud I am to have seen that continue over the last 30 years. The team that competed here today is another great example of that, and I can’t wait to see what comes in the future. From all of us, I know we cannot possibly thank Larry and the Hill family enough.”
In the event’s concluding moment, team member Mikhail Markine summed up the spirit of Airspeed beautifully when he pointed to the crowd and said, “None of this is possible without you.”
Along with Larry and Liliane Hill and their sons, the current and former members of Arizona Airspeed, organized alphabetically, are: