So, you’d like to form a skydiving team and you’ve found other skydivers to join you. Congratulations! Now what? The good news is that the greatest hurdle is behind you. The next step is to come up with a team budget.

All USPA Foreign Affiliate group memberships expire December 31. Drop zones that have not already submitted renewal applications should do so as soon as possible. 

At Skydive Paraclete XP in Raeford, North Carolina, the U.S. Army Golden Knights 8-way formation skydiving team trains for the World Championships.

Photo by Elliot Byrd | D-32251

At the Big O Boogie at Skydive Orange in Virginia, (from left) Nancy Koreen, Zachary Hoffman and Grayson Hoffman enjoy a head-down skydive.

Photo by Craig O'Brien | D-19294

I just began my 41st year of skydiving at age 82. I have been current throughout all those years, rarely missing a single month. I once went 34 years and 11 months without a miss until a bicycle crash sidelined me for three months. However, I notice myself becoming more apprehensive every time I drive or fly to the jump center, and I do not know why and wish to stop being that way.

It appears to be almost mandatory that the person who announces a jump over the radio must garble the name or location.

Today, USPA membership stands at 40,512 and continues growing with over a half-million people in the U.S. making their first jumps every year. General aviation, however, is still in a downward arc despite the best efforts of general aviation groups to attract and keep more pilots.

Digital

Ben Harris | D-30873

Salisbury, Maryland

Photo by David Cherry | D-33500

Mixed formation skydiving team Fallhalla (Chris Gunter, Paul Harris and Emily Royal) turns points on its way to taking fourth in the advanced class at the USPA National Skydiving Championships at Chicagoland Skydiving Center in Rochelle, Illinois.

USPA has selected Ron Bell as its next Director of Safety & Training, succeeding Jim Crouch who has served in that position a phenomenal 18 years. Bell’s start date is October 29.

Advanced Aerospace Designs has released Public Service Bulletin PSB-02-2018 which requires all Vigil 2 automatic activation devices with serial numbers from 16,000 to 21,999 to be inspected by the manufacturer. 

On the morning of July 5th, at the Elsinore Paracenter (California), Johnny Carson, Host of NBC's "Tonight Show", realized a life long ambition by making the delayed free fall parachute jump from an altitude of 12, 500 feet.

The National Aeronautic Association updated its process for issuing Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Sporting Licenses, which anyone participating in an FAI World Championship, World Cup or World Record must hold. Applicants must apply for their sporting licenses and pay their fees electronically at naa.aero/membership/membership-application. Processing time is five business days.

Sunrise Manufacturing International, Inc., maker of the Wings harness and container system, has issued a mandatory service bulletin for rigs equipped with an RSL with Reserve Boost MARD (Main-Assisted Reserve Deployment).

The 75-Way Skydivers Over Sixty World Record for Largest Formation Skydive

Organizers: T.J. Hine, Roger Ponce de Leon, Rick Poplinger

Record Holders:

Andy Anderson, Michael Anderson, Pat Arthur, Art Barchie, David Benjamin, Betty Bennett, John Benoit, Stewart Brookes, Scott Buethe, Monique Careau, George Conwill, James Crandall, Carl Daugherty, Carlo De Martino, Kim Dobson, Jim Doyle, Valerie Estabrook, Chuck Finley, Nels Forsman, Bill Fridberg, Glenn Giamatti, Gary Greer, William Grimm, Tiiu Haamer, John Hardy, Michael Hare, Dee Hawley, Michael Hawley, Tom Hayes, T.J. Hine, Robert Johns, Ronald Johnson, John Kallend, Peter Kazmierczak, Kevin Keenan, Peter Kramer, James Krogh, Francois Leblanc, Jerry Lehnherr, Richard Luczak, Marshall Madden, William McMurry, Jeff McVey, Raymond Medley, John Mignanelli, Douglas Mullinax, George Nisson, Darrell Ogi, Richard Parrish, Dan Pillasch, Roger Ponce de Leon, Rick Poplinger, Cynthia Raible, Mike Raible, David Robinson, Mike Robinson, Dan Rosenthal, Jeff Saxton, Hank Schraeder, Craig Seasly, Jonathan Smith, Hank Stapel, Larry Stein, Larry Thomas, Mark Thompson, Steve Van Buren, Butch Van Lewis, Kevin Vetter, Ron Wands, Tracy Warrington, Harold White, Casey Wiggins, Paul Wold, Josh Wolfe, Peter Zimmerli

Camera Flyers: Brian Festi and Norman Kent

For the 11th year, Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, Illinois, delivered Summerfest—its annual midsummer celebration of all things skydiving—July 28 through August 5. Jumpers from all over the world gathered for a week of blue skies, nightly entertainment and what returning attendees describe as “the ultimate sky family reunion.”

Skydivers are aviators. Our bodies are low-performance aircraft. Under canopy we are slightly higher-performance aircraft. We share airspace with aviators of all kinds. So it makes sense that skydivers were well represented at AirVenture 2018 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The airshow, produced by the Experimental Aircraft Association and billed as “the world’s largest and most significant annual aviation event,” has taken place for more than 60 years. Occurring annually during the last full week in July, the show attracts more than half a million spectators each year.