Fritz Pfnur snapped this shot of his Fly Boyz teammates Eli Thompson and Mike Ortiz performing a mind warp over Perris Valley Skydiving in California.

Photographer Oscar Oczcowski catches this month's cover shot of novice team Friday the 13th Plus 1—Kevin Martin, Clint Hillis, Kevin Johnson and Lior Shachman—as they launch a star out of the Twin Otter at Skydive Arizona's Valentine's Day Money Meet in Eloy.

Photographer Michael McGowan catches a couple of lucky raffle winners enjoying a free ride at last July's Skydive Lost Prairie Boogie in Montana.

Photographer Brent Finley took this shot of Arizona Airspeed 8 launching an exit out of the Twin Otter during a practice jump over Skydive Arizona in Eloy.

Tom Sanders of Aerial Focus snapped the shot of B.J. Worth, a.k.a. James Bond, as he exited a helicopter off the Florida Keys for a scene in the latest Bond film, "Tomorrow Never Dies."

Photographer Brad Hood of Jump Run Productions catches a unique angle as women build a canopy formation during one of the CRW world record attempts over Perris Valley Skydiving.  For a complete report on the attempts, see page 44.

Freefall photographer Michael McGowan provides this month's cover shot of Oliver Furrer and Christian Schmidt at pull time over Skydive Arizona in Eloy.  This skysurfing team took the gold in the 1st World Championships of Freestyle and Skysurfing at the 1st World Air Games in Efes, Turkey.

Photographer Brian Erler closes in on Dick Spates, Marc Tripari, Josh Dolan and Ken Pelkey as they take a break from their DZ staff duties to make a fun jump over Skydive Space Center in Titusville, Florida.

Photographer Brad Hood gets up close with the Perris Valley Ghostriders as they practice for the upcoming '97 National Championships of Canopy Formation over Perris Valley, California.

Dave Major of Aerial Focus took this shot of tandem instructor Jim Wallace and student Paige MacDonald over Skydive Elsinore in Southern California.  Wallace is one of America's most experienced skydiving instructors.

Freefall photographer Michael McGowan, D-5709, took this shot of skydivers completing a Mission Impossible skydive over the fantastic back drop of San Carlos, Mexico.  Arizona jumper George Jicha organizes several Mission Impossible Invitationals each year.

Photographer Jan Davis, D-11120, of Aerial Focus took this shot of Harry Parker screaming down the slope during the '97 Blade Running competition at Squaw Valley in California.  A full report of the event begins on page 24.

Freefall photographer Joe Jennings, D-13033, gets this once-in-a-lifetime shot of AFF student George Bush checking his altitude over Yuma, Arizona.  Reserve-side jumpmaster Andy Serrano keeps a close watch.  A full report begins on page 20.

February 10, 1997: Former presi- dent of the United States George Herbert Walker Bush stepped on to the raised platform in front of 800 skydivers at the Parachute Industry Association’s biennial Interna­tional Symposium in Houston, Texas, and strapped on a 1943-vintage Switlik para­chute. 

Michael McGowan, D-5709, expands his photography horizons on this freefly jump with Kei Niizuma and Ron Noffz at Skydive Arizona's Valentine's Day Boogie in Eloy.  Bob Cregaw watches from a distance.  A complete report begins on page 48.

Photographer Brian Erler, D-14757, took this photograph of skysurfer Sean McCormick and videographer Cliff Burch practiciing over Skydive Space Center in Titusville, Florida.  the pair will compete in the SSI Pro Tour, beginning this month.

Freefall photographer Jo Stanley took this picture of the German 8-way team completing a double satellite during a practice jump over Skydive DeLand in DeLand Florida.  This European team is one of many that uses DeLand as a training ground.

Brad Hood, D-10270, of Jump Run Productions follows this 16-way diamond through the skies of Perris Valley in Southern California.  This photo was taken during the DZ's Thanksgiving boogie.  Hood is a frequent contributor to Parachutist.

Freefall photographer Tom Sanders, D-6503, catches members of World Team '96 as they swoop to thier slots on one of 12 world record attempts in Anapa, Russia.  The group's largest formation was a 297-way.  A full report begins on page 26.

From the state of Maine, Scott Jaszlics, D-12215, swoops the pond after a jump at Skydive Lebanon.  Freefall photographer Gustavo Cabana of Argentina, now a resident of Perris, California, captured this image in late June.