Biographical Page Back To The 2002 US Record Attempts Main Page
 Participants
by State & Country:
Bill Clement: Age: 43
Interesting Fact: Bill and his wife Johanne were married during a CF jump. June 16, 1995 at Skydive City in Zephyr Hills FL other skydivers joined Bill and Johanne for their wedding ceremony. Mike Lewis, one of the US Record organizers was the justice of the peace who married them. The Bride’s sister was in the wedding party. The ceremony was in the air with 14 participants who orchestrated a wedding ceremony by building canopy formations for the wedding party. They flew separate formations for the attendees to the groom and the attendees to the bride. The Bride and Groom finished the ceremony by performing a parabatic maneuver called a Down Plane. This event was on ESPN. Age: 39
Interesting Facts: Bryan is a graduate of West Point Military Academy, class of 1985. He was also a member of the West Point Skydiving Team. Bryan’s wife Becky is an active skydiver with over 800 jumps. His father has multiple military jumps, mother has done one tandem skydive and a brother who has jumped. Bryan started skydiving because his father did it, and it looked like fun. Age: 59
Interesting Fact: Last November in Sebastian FL Chas was involved in a canopy wrap. He had a canopy wrapped around his legs while the canopy attached to him was flying above him. The canopy around his legs caused Chas to go into a horizontal position and pick up speed. Chas was trying to cut the lines of wrapped canopy to remove it but couldn't. He was looking for trees or water to land in, when Chris Gay flew down, talked to Chas and “docked” on the top of Chas’s good flying canopy. Chris controlled the movement which gave Chas the opportunity to contain the wrapped canopy. Both landed back at the golf course near the Sebastian DZ. Age: 44
Interesting Facts: Cheryl is well known in the CF community as a skilled and accomplished formation pilot. Cheryl was selected to be the pilot of the Women's 25-way World Canopy Formation Record built in 1997 at Perris Valley skydiving center in California. The women first built a 17-way formation, decided they could do better than that, built a 20-way, said “we can do better than that” and went on to complete a 25-way diamond which still stands at the Women’s World Canopy Formation record. Cheryl also is an accomplished pianist who plays the piano at her church. Age: 53
Interesting facts: At age four Chico’s Grandmother was forced to call the parish priest to talk Chico in from the 3rd floor ledge of the family home because Chico wanted to fly. At age 12 Chico’s mother caught him on the family garage with a bed sheet ready to make his first jump, which he did. Chico said he “took his lumps” for the jump. Chico has suffered serious injury and continued to skydive. He broke his pelvis, injured his knee and broke his foot on the same sky dive. He was jumping within 3 weeks of the incident. Chico’s 79 year old Aunt recently made a tandem skydive. His son has made 3 skydives. Age: 42
Interesting Facts: Franks wife Aleth is a member of the all women's skydiving demonstration team Misty Blues. She is also a record holder of a 200 way RW formation. Frank is a pilot who owns his own plane, a Navajo. He is a volunteer for Air Life Line. This group flies patients and their families for free when they need to travel long distances for health care. Age: 48
Interesting Facts: Combat Jump: In 1973 jumped from 1500 feet in Turkey while serving in the 82nd Airborne Division. In 1972 Jackson’s father was the jump master on Jackson’s graduation jump from jump school at Ft. Benning GA. Jackson’s father was with the 5th Special Forces group from Ft. Meade Maryland. Crystal Hoffman, Jackson’s wife has made three tandem skydives. Jackson’s sister and son have skydived. Age: 35
Interesting Facts: Jim was involved in the Haiti operation prepared to make a combat jump. The operation was called off. Learned to jump in the military, but had no free fall experience. While piloting a Cessna airplane at 10,000 feet Jim thought it would be fun to learn to skydive, so he did. Age: 44
Interesting Facts: Jimbo works on the Space Shuttle and is the canopy formation communities resident “Rocket Scientist”. He is a member of the group of 16 jumpers who in May 2002 accomplished the world’s first quadraplane diamond canopy formation. Jimbo is volunteer school board member for his daughter’s school. Age: 50
Interesting Facts: Mike has an interesting background. He has been in several movies, including Terminator 2, The Patriot and Last Action Hero. Mike has also been TV shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Golden Girls. Mike is a member of the California Aerial Circus Parachute Team. Last spring this group went to Belize to perform nonpaying demonstration jumps to raise funds for Children’s Charities in Belize. Mike also donates his time and skydiving skill for charity work in the US. Mike and his son started skydiving together. Mike stayed with the sport, his son chose not to. Mike’s father jumped in the military. Age: 53
Competition: Skydiving Conference Meets Interesting Facts:
Caz was in the 101st Airborne. He learned to jump in 1965. After the military, Caz wanted to continue to skydive. He tried Relative Work then was introduced to CRW. Canopy Relative Work, and as Caz says “the rest is history.” In 1990 on a demonstration jump at a San Antonio country club Caz crushed his right femur and fractured his right hip in three places. After recovering he continued to skydive. Family members that also jump include his younger sister, daughter and brother-in-law. Age: 45
Interesting Facts: Russ made his first jump at the age of 10 from the second story window of the family home. He said the landings were kind of rough. Russ with three other US record participants, Paul Bliss and Tom Balboni were members of the 101st Airborne “Screaming Eagles” Parachute Team. Age: 32
Interesting Facts: Wendy is known as a “daredevil” in the canopy formation community. She performs parabatics. Every year during the World Freefall Convention Wendy and her partner demonstrate various parabatic formations. She is most famous for her intentional cutaway. Wendy wears three canopies, and while performing her stunts cuts one away, experiences free fall, then opens her second canopy. Her reserve, which all skydivers wear, is used only in an emergency. Age: 45
Dave participated in an old style “barn storming flying circus in Brazil for 3 years. He was involved in 100 demonstration jumps in Brazil. He coached the Brazilian Army’s Skydive Demonstration team in CRW skills. Age: 40
Canopy Formation Organizing Experience: Participated in the South American Record in Brazil in 2001. Organizer of several state records, including Florida in 2001. One of 16 who built the World’s First Quadraplane Diamond. Age: 44
Interesting Facts: Tom was in the 101st Airborne. He along with US Record participants, Russ Pinney and Paul Bliss jumped together as members of the Screaming Eagle Skydiving Team. Tom has continued to skydive despite gun shot wounds and broken bones. He wrote he started skydiving because he couldn’t remember not wanting
to.
Age: 45
Interesting Facts: Paul was in the 101st Airborne. He was in the Screaming Eagles Skydiving Team along with US Participants Tom Balboni and Russ Pinney. Paul is also known in the CRW community as an excellent and highly skilled canopy formation pilot. Last may he was asked to pilot the World’s First Quadraplane Diamond Canopy Formation, which he did with success. The formation was completed in May 2002 in Sebastian FL. Paul has been involved with CRW for over 23 years. He wrote he started doing CRW when it was by trial and error. Age: 48
Interesting Fact: Pat works for the Navy. He is responsible for the logistics of getting the US Navy fighting forces from the sea to the shore and doing it smartly. He was a participant in the South American CRW record organized by Chris Gay and Dave Richardson. Age: 44
Interesting Facts: Mike comes a family of skydivers. His parents owned and operated drop zones. His wife, sisters, father, uncle, and 5 cousins jump. While skydiving Mike experienced what is knows as a double malfunction. He was seriously injured, but was back skydiving before the cast was off his leg. Mike is very generous in offering his skill and experience to those who are new to skydiving or training for competition. He was one of sixteen that successfully built the World’s First Quadraplane
Diamond.
Lee Andrews: Age: 33
Interesting Facts: Lee was one of the Members of the Spitfire Tigers who were training in Sebastian FL last March when the Easter CRW event was held there. Chris Gay, Mike Lewis and Dave Richardson invited the team to participate in the CRW event Prior to this event, the team members had not experienced large flying in large canopy formations.
Kirk Van Zandt: Age: 40
Interesting Facts: In 1980 Kirk sailed from Ft. Lauderdale FL to Sydney Australia. He was part of a five man crew on a 55 foot sail boat. It took three months to cross the ocean. He was awarded membership in the Flying Fish Society for participating in a trans-ocean crossing. Kirk has also competed in sailing. He has participated in the Hobie Cat Nationals. Kirk was one of sixteen who successfully competed the World’s First Quadraplane Diamond canopy formation last May in Sebastian Florida.
Kevin Keenan: Age: 50
Interesting Facts: While in the Air Force Kevin wrote that he came really close to ejecting form a burning B-52, but the fire went out. When asked if he had any combat jumps he wrote no…but he was in a freefall jumps with a General when at 3500 feet the General’s automatic opening device activated which caused the General’s reserve to open right next to Kevin. Kevin also wrote that the reason he took up skydiving was because when he was 19 his girlfriend left him for someone else and his motorcycle was stolen, so it seemed to be the right thing to do. Kevin in one of 16 who participated in building the World’s First Quadraplane Diamond in May 2002 at Sebastian FL.
Chris Gay: Organizer of US Canopy Formation Record Age: 38
Accelerated Free Fall Jumpmaster/Instructor
FAA Ratings: Senior Rigger Canopy Formation Records: 1994-2002 Organized several state records. In November of 2002
organized the Florida state record.
Competition History: Chris Gay has been competing in skydiving Championships since in college. Between 1988 and 1990 he won 3 Gold Medals, 2 Silver Medals and 2 Bronze Medals. In 1990 he was awarded the Masters Overall Collegiate Champion. He has competed in United States Nationals Skydiving Championships since 1990. He has won 4 Gold Medals, 9 Silver Medals, 3 Bronze Medals and been awarded Canopy Relative Work Overall 3 times. In 2001 Chris was a Member of the US Parachute Team that competed in World Air Games in Granada, Spain where the team won the Silver Medal in 8-way speed. At the US 2002 Nationals he with other members of the US 8-way speed team defended their title and will again go to the World Air Games in France in 2003.
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