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We have just had news from Rusty Vest who is taking part in the record attempts at Lake Wales that a record was set on the second jump today. 64! Congratulations everyone! They are now going for 81 I believe!

The 70 way completed on the 3rd attempt today.

Published Saturday, November 29, 2003

Jumpers Try For 70-Way Formation

By Bill Bair
The Ledger
billbair1@aol.com

LAKE WALES -- World records have fallen from the sky this week at the Lake Wales Airport.

Parachutists twice broke the record for canopy, or open parachute, formations Tuesday, with two 64-way formations. That record fell Wednesday, as jumpers completed a 65-way formation.

Friday, jumpers were attempting a 70-way formation.

The effort will continue until sundown today, with jumpers expected to attempt to break any record that is set, said Debbie Wharton, a spokeswoman for the Florida Skydive Center in Lake Wales.

Friday, Sharon Shumway sat in a white plastic chair, watching the action as the 70-way formation was attempted.

She had spent Tuesday night in the hospital and had surgery on her right foot, but that didn't matter.

"I set the world record," she beamed.

She had been part of the 64way formation, but "stepped in a hole" as she landed, breaking her foot. For Shumway, it was the record that counted.

She and her husband Scot came from Martinez, Calif., to participate in the weeklong attempts to break the formation record of 53, which was set in France in 1996.

Shumway said it was the first time she's been injured in more than 4,500 jumps.

Ninety-eight skydivers from all over the world traveled to Lake Wales this week to participate in the record-breaking attempts.

During Friday's second try, 69 parachutists actually linked in the air, but no record was set.

Al Altendorfer, chief judge for the United States Parachute Association, said a precise, preset formation must be established for the record to count.

One person out of formation means no record, Altendorfer said.

On the ground, Kirk Vanzandt lead a group of 20 jumpers through a "dirt dive" -- the rehearsal of moves that will later be repeated in the sky over the airport.

Vanzandt is responsible for keeping "the bench" active and prepared to participate in later record attempts, if needed.

For the record attempts, the same 49 jumpers form the base structure of the formation, but some substitutes are used to complete the pattern.

Vanzandt, an engineer for the Navy from Panama City, said the record requires precision moves, which have been in the planning stages for 18 months.

The first set of jumpers exit from a plane flying at 15,500 feet, immediately beginning to create the formation.

A short time later, the remaining jumpers leave two planes flying at 13,500 feet, and the formation builds.

When completed, the diamondshaped pattern resembles "an old-fashioned sailing galleon moving across the sky," Wharton said.

The pattern is actually larger than a Boeing 747 standing on end.

The formations involve open parachutes, with participants lacing their feet into the lines of the canopies of those beneath them to create a stack.

It sounds dangerous, but "there's danger in all parachuting," Vanzandt said.

One difference with formation jumping is that there is more time to react to problems, because parachutes are opened immediately after jumpers leave the plane.

With freefall jumpers, he said, skydivers have about six seconds to react between the time they open their chutes and the ground.

From the time they leave the plane and open their chutes, formation jumpers drop at about 1,000 feet a minute, giving them about nine minutes to link up before separating at about 6,000 feet.

But problems can occur.

Friday's third attempt, for example, broke up early after jumpers became tangled in the air. Two jumpers released their main chutes and descended on reserve chutes.

Another skydiver caught one of the released parachutes with his feet, releasing it before landing at the airport.

The second released chute landed in power lines near Seminole Avenue and had to be recovered by Florida Power crews.

Earlier this week, Raul Ramirez sprained an ankle in a similar mid-air entanglement.

"It happens very fast," said Ramirez, who was also watching Friday's events from a plastic chair, with wrapped foot propped up.

Someone else's line had wrapped around his ankle.

Ramirez said the other parachutist released the chute and opened his reserve. Ramirez was able to then free himself from the other chute.

Ramirez and Shumway had the only serious injuries during this week's attempt tries.

The attempts will continue today and the event is open to the public.

The Lake Wales Airport is on the south side of State Road 60, about a mile west of U.S. 27.

Bill Bair can be reached at billbair1@aol.com or 863-6767118.


Last modified: November 29. 2003 12:00AM
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LAKE WALES -- Lake Wales Municipal Airport received a particularly grueling workout this past month, hosting two international skydiving events as well as serving its regular private and corporate clientele.

Skydivers Saturday linked up for a world record 70-person formation on their third attempt over Lakeland, breaking their own 64-person world record certified twice Tuesday by an international panel of judges.

Luck held for the skydivers at their ninth annual jamboree, which broke Sunday. No injuries were reported this year, said formation organizerChris Gay of Atlanta. Two died in a practice accident this time last year. The FAA found no issues with the skydive center.

The world record 70-way formation reached about 11:45 a.m. at an altitude of 4,700 feet is not only the largest official grouping of skydivers. The diamond had nine-skydivers at its base, Gay said.

Perhaps even more important, the 70-way formation shattered old skydiving doctrine that safely holding such a huge diamond was impossible. The link-up was held at 4,700-feet, just below the 5,000-foot "hard-deck" originally set for parachutists to break. Bending the safety margin was discussed and approved ahead of time, he said.

Falling at 1,300 feet per minute, skydivers had 7 1/2 minutes to arrange themselves according to international standards.

"The very bottom skydiver had a radio, and he was the one who called whether we had the formation or not," Gay said.

A similar technique may be used when skydivers try for an enormous 81-way, maybe next Thanksgiving, Gay said. Once that mark is met, the group could attempt the Holy Grail of skydiving, the fabled 100-say 10-across formation, he said.

Such a feat will require that lead skydivers forming the diamond's base to jump with oxygen from 18,000 feet with remaining jumpers deploying at 15,000 feet, Gay said. At least four aircraft will be needed to carry all the skydivers along with a film crew.

Betty Kabeller, Sky Dive Lake Wales owner, sees a direct link between the popularity of the sport locally and growth of the two 4,000 square foot runways. Skydivers themselves chartered three aircraft for the record attempts over the 450-acre drop zone.

Kabeller also serves as the airport's fixed base operator, fueling and repairing planes and managing Jump n' Jacks restaurant.

Kabeller received the East Polk Committee of 100's small business Gold Award and is Lake Wales Chamber of Commerce president-elect. After similar ventures in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Zephyrhills in Pasco County, Kabeller plans to stay put.

"I'm very proud that we've been chosen in Lake Wales to be the drop zone for these events," Kabeller said. "Each event that comes in, we fill the hotels, and these are generally five to 10 days each."

The week-long attempt to break and re-shatter the formation skydiving record brought about $250,000 to city businesses. The world skydiving championships early last month brought in nearly $4 million.

Kabeller is interested in building a small campground to at least provide her staff with campsite during skydiving events. Otherwise, there isn't much more the place needs, she said.

"People like it the way it is - that rural country feel," she said. "We can expand. We're always looking at the (airport) master plan. But we'll never be as large as Lakeland with a (control) tower and all."