Photo by Jim Harris | USPA #160885
Over Skydive Spain in Seville, freefly team Volare (from left, Daniel Parker, Frazer Smith and Mike Carpenter) trains for the 2012 FAI World Parachuting Championships held in Dubai. 

Photo by Harry Parker | D-15425
After waiting all day for the winds to die down, Matthew Spicer concentrates on his exit during a student currency jump over Skydive Sebastian in Florida.

Photo by Jeff Nebelkopf | D-28355
Canopy pilots (from top) Mikeal Stevens, Jonathan Tagle and Wuzi Wagner form a 3-stack and surf Mike Swanson while (clockwise from bottom left) Taya Weiss, Will Kitto and Barry Holubeck fly in formation during Raise the Sky's Project XRW at Skydive Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Photo by Mike McGowan | D-5709

Ben Barringer, cadet wing commander at the U.S. Air Force Academy, bears down on the tuffet during the open classic accuracy event at the USPA National Collegiate Parachuting Championships

Photo by Dawie du Plessis | USPA# 190345
In the Himalayas, Bill Booth jumps from 30,000 feet with Mount Everest as his backdrop.

Many canopy-related accidents are rooted in a lack of basic skill and knowledge regarding canopy flight. The USPA Board of Directors has taken a step toward reducing canopy-related injuries and fatalities by mandating new requirements for the USPA B license. 

Photo by Bill Schmitz | D-30164

Over Skydive Arizona in Eloy, SDC Standard trains for what will be a first-place performance in the open class of the 2011 USPA National Championships of Vertical Formation Skydiving.

Jumping at an unfamiliar drop zone can be intimidating, especially to newer skydivers who may have jumped at only one place so far. Jumpers need to approach visiting a new location with caution and planning, whether it is just a weekend jumping out of a Cessna 182 or sharing the skies with hundreds of jumpers at a large boogie. And this caution applies to jumpers of all experience levels.

Skydivers have a special ability the general public just doesn’t have. Unfortunately, that special ability can be used in devious ways...

Don't let a lack of knowledge or skill keep you from the sport that you love—there are many ways to improve your confidence and safety under canopy.

For whatever reason, hundreds of people are convinced they know who D.B. Cooper was—or themselves admitted to being the most recognized hijacker in the world. Maybe it’s the extraordinary circumstantial evidence. Maybe it’s the desperate need for an answer. Maybe it’s a secret wish to make a difference in the world. But sometimes, no matter how hard we wish, no matter how hard we believe, we just can’t make something true. Today, the FBI has DNA from Cooper’s J.C. Penney clip-on tie that he left on the jet and partial fingerprints from the cocktail glasses he drank from while in flight. They can now quickly confirm or eliminate suspects.

A single man, an immense amount of cash, four parachutes and a jump from an airliner. Where does the largest manhunt in the United States lead when authorities don’t have a clue as to who the suspect might be?

Would you jump into a mountain forest for $1,052,000? In the dark? In the rain? In November?
In 1971, one man did. Unfortunately, the cash was stolen and the aircraft was hijacked Boeing 727 with fighter jets and FBI agents in a helicopter following it.
Was he an experienced skydiver or an ordinary criminal attempting an extraordinary theft? Did he survive and escape, or perish in a forest in Washington State? Thirty-nine years later, no one knows for sure.

How do I make a closing loop?  How do I know if mine needs replacing?

photo by Brian Buckland | D-19047

The world-record-setting, 108-way head-down formation flies over Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, Illinois.

photo by Eric Holcomb | B-32493

Eric Wickfield (top) and Whitney Robinson exit over the coast at the Memorial Day Beach Boogie at Emerald coast Skydivers in Elberta, Alabama.

photo by Steve Sinski

Dan Cook of the U.S. Army Golden Knights kicks off Memorial Day weekend celebrations by flying a POW-MIA flag onto Liberty Island in New York Harbor.

photo by Jason Peters | D-23332

Matt Hill exits a balloon during an advertising photo shoot over Skydive Arizona in Eloy.

photo by Brett Newman | USPA #130487

Members of Team Off Track (from top), Roger Mulckey, Shea Convery and Cameron Jarrett, fly their canopies over the Richmond River in Ballina, New South Wales, Australia.