81-Way Starburst Skydiver Formation

Kennedy Engineers Set Skydiving World Record01.04.06 Three Kennedy Space Center engineers helped set two new world records in the parachuting sport of "canopy formation" on Nov. 25 and 26. Dave Hillebrandt of United Space Alliance, Kevin Keenan of Lockheed Martin and NASA's James Bolton were part of the record-setting, 81- and 85-person formation dives that took place over Lake Wales, Fla. Image to right: 81 skydivers set a new canopy formation world-record as dusk descends on rural Florida. + Larger Image Credit: Gustavo Cabana All three men started skydiving in the late 1970s. An advertisement posted outside a Georgia Tech cafeteria first turned Bolton's attention to skydiving, while Hillebrandt took his first jump at the urging of friends. Keenan got into the sport as a distraction while living in Texas. "My girlfriend dumped me and my motorcycle was stolen in the same week...so I was thinking of something to do," commiserated Keenan. "I spent a half-hour in an old trailer with some hippie guy who told me to 'pull this and don't die.' " After a few years of traditional skydiving, each of the engineers became restless for a way to expand their skills and challenge the skies even more. That's when they started competing in the canopy formation branch of skydiving, in which flyers team up to form geometric shapes in the air. "If you...said, 'Come on, everybody - let's go do a big canopy formation,' they'd all run away," said Hillebrandt. As daring as the sport sounds, its selling point isn't displaying bravery, but rather demonstrating skill. Keenan declares it's about "an increased level of airmanship." Image to left: Kennedy engineers (l-r) Kevin Keenan, Dave Hillebrandt and Jim Bolton were part of both the 81- and 85-person world record formations. Credit: NASA The three divers teamed up when their careers all brought them to Kennedy Space Center in the mid-1980s. They're quick to thank the camaraderie of each other and the sport's community for keeping them together. "The canopy formation group is really a tight-knit group," said Bolton. "Yes, because when you're tangled up with someone spinning towards the ground at hundreds of miles an hour, you build fast friendships," joked Keenan. To date, each jumper has successfully landed between 2,000 to 6,000 skydives. The historic 81- and 85-person jumps were planned by a group called CF World Record 2005. Plotting this year's world-record dives required working out everything from choreographing the placement of people within the formation, to the number and type of airplanes they needed. Jumpers also had to qualify for the world record team by trying out at training camps held around the United States and Europe. Once the planning was complete, 88 skydivers -- along with event organizers and judges -- descended on Lake Wales in late November for a week of practicing and attempting to break the record. The skydivers even had to take part in practice simulations called "dirt dives," in which they walked through the phases of the dive while on the ground.

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