As a high layer of clouds shadows the drop zone, photographer Ron Griffith, D-16869, snaps a shot of jumpers exiting a Twin Otter over Skydive City in Zephyrhills, Florida.

Brian Rogers, D-16358, caught this shot of 10-way speed star champions "DeLand XTZ" during the 1995 U.S. National Skydiving Championships held in DeLand, Florida.  Rogers served on staff as chief cameraman among a crew of 40 filming the event.

Photographer David Keith, D-5441, took this shot of fellow videoman Martin Evans, tandem instructor Mike Ince and his passenger over SkyDance SkyDiving in Davis, California.  Keith's inverted flying style provided the unique angle on the formation.

Photographer Ron Griffith, D-16869, captures Norwegian Frode Lund during a "chute assis" jump (also called sit-flying) at Skydive City's Easter boogie held in Zephryhills, Florida.

Photographer Tom Sanders, D-6503, follows a 9-way diamond over Kapowsin Air Sports in Washington state.  Sanders is owner of Aerial Focus and has shot aerial photography for numerous television commercials and skydiving videos.  He and his staff are frequent contributors to Parachutist.

Photographer, Brent Finley, D-15461, chases canopy pilot Greg Gasson down to the landing area at Skydive Arizona in Eloy.  Gasson and Finley have been working hard as a team to produce quality images for Parachutist, and this one marks Finley's first magazine cover shot.

The 1995 USPA Canopy Buyer's Guide features canopy manufacturers from all over the world.  This month's cover is bordered with a shot from each of those represented in the Buyer's Guide, which starts on page 31.

Bill Davis got this shot of brother Bob landing at the annual Virginia City (NV) Camel Race.  "The event draws in excess of 20,000 people to the small mountain town between Reno and Carson City," says Bob.  "Camel jockeys come from around the world to race their dromedaries down C Street."  Bill, pictured here, is an emergency medical technician awaiting entrance to medical school who often works as a member of the ground crew during his brother's demonstration jumps.

This 3-way balloon exit over Arizona was filmed by Michael McGowan, D-5709, as part of his Skydive USA: Part 2 video release.  The women (identified only as Krisi, Missie and Debbie) focus their attention on the camera as McGowan steps off backwards.

Freefall photographer Jamie Paul, D-12641, captures Scott Smith and Patrick de Gayardon dueling it up on their boards at last year's world skysurfing championships in Eloy, Arizona.  Smith's hidden chest and leg straps give him the streamline yet functional look!

Photographer Ken Thompson, D-14125, took this month's cover shot over Lake Elsniore, California.  Tandem instructor Henry Boger assists with the pull as passenger Glen Ray, the drop zone pilot and mechanic at Skydive California, hams it up for the camera.

Gone but not forgotten...this month's cover photo features the work of the late Mike Allen, D-10180.  His excellent photography lives on in this shot of Vince Caschetta, D-12762, in the skies over Clewiston, Florida.

Freefall cameraman Jamie Paul, D-12641, took this 8-way shot over the Missouri River Valley Skydivers in Lexington, Missouri.  Paul, a professional studio photographer by trade, has placed in the top three videographer slots in world freestyle competition for the past four years.

Freefall cinematographer Norman Kent, D-8369, gets his first cover in nearly a year with this shot of Don Thomas filling in for "Drop Zone" star Wesley Snipes over the Florida Keys.  Kent and fellow cameraman Tom Sanders did a tremendous job of filming the action, and their still photography shows it.  The full behind-the-scenes article appears on page 32.

Stephanie Griffin, Kathy Steffen and Debbie Turner touch down a triplane at the San Diego Airsports DZ.  Tom Sanders of Aerial Focus, a frequent contributor to PARACHUTIST, took the shot.  Debbie, incidentally, was featured in the May, 1984 issue of PARACHUTIST when she qualified as number one of USPA's Eagle Freefall Award, according to the system created by Vice President George Bush.

Photographer Michael McGowan, D-5709, captures the 4-way formation skydiving team Arizona Air Speed as they land at the 1994 U.S. Nationals in Eloy, one of the best-attended Nationals in years.  Arizona Air Speed won the 4-way open division with an average of 19.8 points in ten rounds of competition.  For a full report on USPA's National Championships, see page 39.

CRW photographer Pay Hayter, D-12821, lurked a 17-way diamond over Kapowsin Air Sports in Washington state to get this shot in 1992.  Several jumpers on the load were also part of the Diamond Quest '94 group who just built a new world record over Davis, California, on October 12.  Check "Paragrams" on page 13 for more details.

This month's cover photo comes from the camera of Tom Sanders, D-6503, during the completion of  the 215-way formation built over Bratislava, Slovakia, in August.   Although it didn't qualify as an official world record by FAI standards, it was the second successful formation built during a week of world record attempts.  The shot also appears in the October issue of Life Magazine.

"Don't look down!" might be an appropriate caption for this month's cover.  Photographer Michael McGowan, D-5709, claims his second Parachutist cover in a row with this shot of tandem instructor Ken Jobsky, D-14639, and his passenger as they open over Skydive Arizona in Eloy.  for the inside scoop on Jobsky's unusual technique, see "Paragrams," page 12.

The 4-way team known as Arizona Air Speed practices for the camera of cover photographer Michael McGowan, D-5709, and team videographer John Leming over Skydive Arizona, host of the 1994 Nationals of Formation Skydiving this October.