200 skydivers hope to claim a new record on Aug. 22 with a head-down vertical jump near Chicago. A total of 10 aircraft will carry the men and women to 19,000 feet and after they jump they’ll have only a minute to link together for the feat. On leaving the aircraft, the skydivers will dive head-first for the ground while they pick up their partners plummeting at 180 MPH. “This new record illustrates the sport’s progressions as skill sets, training, and equipment have improved,” organizer Skydive Chicago said in a news release.
The current record for this kind of jump is 164 skydivers and it was set in 2015. The record for skydivers using the belly-down position is 246 skydivers, but they’re falling at about 120 MPH. Poor weather foiled a 200-way head-down attempt in 2018.
Funny how this is a-ok, but skydiving between airplanes is a stunt for clicks.
I suspect that because no airplanes are expected to be at risk in the maneuver, those among us who like airplanes have no cause for concern. However, should one jump plane suffer so much as an iced carb or a fouled spark plug as a result of the risky mission, we’ll surely hear about it!
Because, my dear whuffo, no one is planning on turning an airplane into an unguided missile by abandoning it mid-flight.
I’d agree if the pilots of the airplanes were among the skydivers.
I think the “belly-down position” world record is 400 people, set in 2006. Not 246 people like it says in this article.
10 planes? Get a C17 and you’d only need 1 plane, plus egress a lot simpler.
Just a thought…
Might come up a bit short – according to the infallible Wiki, the C17 has room for 102 paratroopers or for 134 troops in palletized and side seats.
I’d guess that civilian jumpers could use the 134 seat configuration (assuming that a fully equipped paratrooper is a bit bulkier than a sport jumper), but you might want to book a pair of the planes.