Fly It Forward was to be the swan song for World Team Director, BJ Worth, aiming for his sixth and final record-breaking event. World Team is billed as ‘the largest multi-national sports team ever united to pursue a common goal’ and holds the official FAI 400-way world record created in Thailand in 2006.

In February 2013 the FAI approved a new sequential skydiving world record category. BJ and World Team rallied to try to create one more big record. During 6-12 April 2013, the plan was to complete a two-point 222-way.

The Weekend – Base & 100-way Prep

Two days of smaller formation skydives: 60-ways, 132-ways and 102-ways improved the team so the organizers were ready to move forward.

Monday and Tuesday – Dirt-diving Triathlon

The weather had other ideas – winds of 40-60 mph blew through Eloy, for two days with rain pouring for hours. The organizers used the time well, dirt-diving the 222-way painstakingly for hours. By the end of the day the team had dirt in their teeth and felt like tumbleweeds, but were eager to start jumping with all 222 skydivers.

Wednesday Warfare

Early morning, Wednesday, April 10, the skydivers loaded for the first 222-person skydive, in brilliant blue skies. The team captains instructed everyone to build along the radials of their sector but not to make contact along the spines, the idea was just for everyone to get a good site picture. The dive design was color coordinated, blue, green, yellow and red, so each diver had to remember a number of different other divers in their area to make sure they were flying to the correct slot. This proved a bit daunting for some. The correct grips are critical to be certified as a world record.

The first dive was successful for what it was meant to be. On the second dive everyone got a little closer. The third dive got off to a rocky start when one of the Skyvans had to go back to the hangar for a maintenance problem. The dropzone staff worked quickly to set up another Skyvan and the group of ten aircraft launched. After the long climb to 18,000′, the two-minute signal was given and the skydivers began positioning themselves for exit. Unfortunately at about one minute, the replacement Skyvan ran out of oxygen and the whole group had to come down. On gearing up to again attempt jump number three – but then a big cloud drifted over the DZ! It was proving to be a frustrating day.

Finally at 4pm, the clouds broke apart, the group climbed to altitude, the formation started building and it was looking good. All was well until break-off when the jumper who was pulling out of the center inadvertently went a little low and caused a funnel. Several skydivers near him appeared to fall out of the bottom of the formation. This caused quite a bit of confusion. Additionally, the strong upper winds scattered jumpers around the mesquite.

One More Try

After some rethinking about the pull-out, the World Team leaders decided it was important, if possible to do one more load to and give everyone’s confidence a boost. At 17:45 pm, the last possible moment they could take off as per safety regulations, the ten planes launched.

All jumpers were asked to dock. Certain people had previously been told to hold off and fly no contact. Now for the first time, they were looking for completion. It was almost sunset, the skies were clear, there was that magic desert light and the formation began building nicely. The record was not yet expected, just a clean, safe, strong and beautiful jump – and the team succeeded in this mission. It was a good way to end the day.

Thursday

Day six, the pressure was mounting. The whole team – jumpers, organizers, packers, pilots and cameramen – had found their groove. The routine had been set. Everyone knew where their slot was, both in the air and on the ground. The predictability was building. The divers were starting to trust that the planes would put them in the right place and the other divers they were docking on would be there.

By the third jump of the day, there had not yet been a completion of either of the points, which the team had attempted separately. The weather, luckily was still cooperating and confidence was growing… The planes climbed to 20,000’, the jumpers visualized the completed formation, the door opened, the floaters climbed out, the rest jammed up tight; ready to go, then… nothing. No exit, no-one was moving. Finally, the call came to retrieve the floaters and everyone was hauled back inside. There had been a miscommunication; the lead aircraft sent the signal to ‘Go around’ but two of the airplanes thought it was the signal to climb out. Unfortunately one entire plane-load had exited and two skydivers from another plane had fallen off – a long way from the dropzone!

On the final jump, two sectors completed, the rest came close but did not finish because of waves rocking the formation. Down to the wire – there was only one day left…

Final Friday

World Team got an early start on its last day. After one good jump the axe came out and some skydivers were replaced with members of Arizona Airspeed. Each dive got closer and better as the day progressed. A cloud layer at 19,000’ kept the group from going higher for the next four skydives. It was as if the sky was teasing them. The team rose to the challenge and started building the first point faster. By the fourth dive of the day, the group was asked to transition to the second point, when the key was given. The third dive didn’t quite complete but it looked close and most people were able to transition to the second point. The dive was also flying smoother and quieter. People were settling in and locking into position.

This is the process for a World Record. It can be a slog, painful at times, daunting, fraught with obstacles. It is not for the faint of heart. Building a world record large formation skydive is like climbing one of the seven summits. People get worn out, they get cold, hypoxic, and ill, they even break bones but they keep going. It’s about something bigger than you.

The Last Jump

Jump number five – the last one. Everyone got out cleanly and the formation built, all the way to a 222-way completion! With only seconds left, the group began transitioning to the second point, a completely different formation…

Day 7 Jump 5 Team 222 vidoe by Brian Festi

Second Point

… over 210 skydivers reached their grips on the second point, with the others just inches away. It was an amazing feat – but not an official record. It was a tough break but it was as close as they got. BJ spoke at the end inviting others, in the capable hands of the sector captains to go after the sequential record. He was leaving the goal as his legacy…

Epilogue – Never Say Never

Two weeks later, the World Team leadership announced that there would be a second Fly It Forward event the following spring (Eloy, 28 March – 4 April 2014)… Never Say Never Again…

Day 7 Jump 5 Team 222 video, by Andrey Veselov – from the Base aircraft