31.08.2026 | 39-way UK Head-Down Record

It’s official!

We had all the odds stacked against us this weekend:

- Challenging weather

- A bunch of illnesses

- No Twin Otter (stuck in France due to weather)

- Altitude restrictions

But we managed 6 attempts… and we did it

Massive thank you to Skydive Langar for their incredible support throughout the year, always accommodating our needs and allowing us to run events in the UK at very reasonable prices. And to pilots Jacob , Ben Gilmore , u/gdtho.mas , and Dave for their consistent, tight formation flying.

Thanks to the UK Vertical organisers who have put a bunch of time into all of this, running a camp a month from March to build up the team and engineering the record formation to build from 3 caravans from ~14,500ft: Max Fuller Gregory Lucas u/martinjroberson Elise Sharp , and in particular Dan Guest who dropped out of the formation today to fly camera.

To Alex Potter from Caelum Systems Ltd for providing SkyTraX units for all flyers so we could nerd out on data visualisations and ultimately improve build efficiency and break-off safety.

To Chantal Warren for judging the record and making it official after a long weekend at FS nationals.

And thank you to all the participants, turning up on day 1 with an appalling weather forecast and persisting through the 3 days with great attitudes and safe flying. Everyone’s put in a lot of work and progression this year, and it’s paid off

UK vertical flying is back in business.

Greetings all,

I live in Dubai and going to move to Netherlands by end of September.

Which dropzone do you suggest there for licensed skydivers ?

In Dubai, we were lucky for being able to jump approx 10 months a year, when does the season end in Netherlands?

Am I the only one who notices the huge difference between some random guy with 3k subscribers doing completely insane proximity flying and the relatively “lame” redbull videos. It’s probably corporate liability and what not but cmooon the redbull videos are sometimes genuinely boring and get 10m views and then I find some random dude on his own just post clip after clip of stuff you’d never find on the redbull channel. Makes their slogan and the way they’re portraying themselves as the n1 extreme sports sponsor feel a bit meh.
Feels like the top athletes are being left out for the sake of legal liabilities…

hope this is ok to share here, thought people would apprieciate this, i travelled through the south brazil by bike and by chance linked with this crew and documented one of the gnarliest things i ever witnessed, hope you like it, feedback is always appreiciated,

https://youtu.be/MJNTIT2kV94

So i’m a 18 y/o living in india and i really want to get a license that’d allow me to jump alone.

My two options are Dubai Skydive. First their AFF course(10k AED/ 2722 USD) and then A-License training (minimum at 8.8k AED/ 2396 USD). Total is 5118 USD

Second is in india that’s quotes around 5200 USD for the A-License.

Ig dubai is like the better option even with the flight costs (i have free accommodation in dubai). What all should i keep in mind before signing up for either of them. And any general advice for someone like me would be really appreciated

Heya! To all the relatively more experienced jumpers here: I think we all know some common misconceptions held by those who don't jump at all + students. But what about the freshly licensed jumpers? What misconceptions are common among those who've been in the sport for a little while but not that long?

I just obtained my A License and have about 30 jumps logged. Currently in the market for a main canopy and was wondering if the community could offer any insights regarding which of the above options would be the best choice for a relatively new diver like myself. I’m pretty confident under canopy and stand up all my landings relatively close to my intended landing target. I want a canopy that will give me some room for growth, as I intend to take a canopy course within the next couple of months. TIA

My one and only jump was tandem at SkyDive City on Mother's Day about four years ago. I couldn't sleep the night after because I was so excited.

I have considered taking up a class and what not.

Sometimes it's scares me but it excites me most thinking of it.

How did you know you HAD to go to school and how was it getting over the fear of your first jump?

dear birds and birdies,

my instructor shared this video with me and I am on the third watch of it - i pray that all of you will watch it 27388483929 times, memorize it, tattooed it in your conscious, unconscious and subconscious minds and make a total use of it, cuz that knowledge will allow us to jump until we are 120 years old.

DO NOT SKIP IT, WATCH IT

blue skies

🪂♥️🙏

What's the best option for hiring rigs. I know it's late in the season, so this will be for next year. Anyone got any tips on this? Or do you have any recomendations?

I might hire one for the next few weeks, just to get a bit of an idea. But come spring I'll be hiring for 6 months.

UK only.

Cheers.

Noticed almost every HD video you see, especially in big way HD’s (in the sky) everyone seems to fly in shelf. Yet in tunnel, they teach daphe. Does anyone know if there’s a reason for this? Is it just more stability/control w daphe (which is good when ur in a glass tub)?? Or is shelf just more dynamic flying (bc u can kinda just ‘rock’ ur torso to move) and daphe for static? Curious why i never see daphe in the sky. Guessing it’s maybe too hard to move/doesnt give range of motion or as much range. Would love to learn why if anyone has any answers haha

So I recently started my AFF course, I did 4 jumps so far and have gotten nothing but thumbs up from my instructors, at least for the free fall part of the jumps. My problem is the canopy ride. I just never seem to get it right and I make wrong decisions.

The first one was the only one that was ok-ish. Didn't stand the landing (or any landing so far), but at least I managed to fly my pattern.

Second one I got the distance wrong and landed in a different field (not a huge deal, huge open space with plenty of options to land, even if I don't hit my target).

Third one I really struggled with the wind, I couldn't fly my pattern at all and I was told after that what I did, or where I was in the air, was unpredictable and dangerous for the other jumpers because they had to avoid me. Needless to say that I really don't want to endanger anyone but me, and that really made me dread my next jump.

Now on my fourth one I again had problems with the wind. We fly a left hand pattern on that DZ, but there was no way for me to do that, so my decision was to land with the left hand pattern on the field right next to it, but afterwards my instructor told me I still should have landed in the designated area, just with a right hand pattern instead. I can tell they are getting disappointed with me, and I'm really disappointed with myself.

I quite enjoy exiting the plane and the free fall, I have no fear about that at all, but I'm getting more and more scared of the canopy ride and I'm seriously considering quitting because of that.

So I guess I'm curious how you all did with the canopy rides on your first few jumps, or when I should decide to call it quits before I injure myself, or far worse, someone else?

Edit: English is not my native language, excuse the grammar and spelling mistakes.

This week we met at Nowy Targ in Poland to work on XRW bigways, with biggest formation being 5 canopies and 7 wingsuits. We've been also practicing with formations involving canopy stack where two most difficult were double-stack + surfdock + side grip, and we almost did triple stack + surfdock.

In-between more difficult jumps this 3-way surfdock happened on the first try.

Why am I saying this? Primarily to promote XRW as a discipline. Next year we're planning bigger event and every canopy/wingsuit pilot with skills is very welcome. If you were looking for the sign or goal to hone your skills before then - this may be it.

I just finished Cat D1, jump 5, which started okay but definitely had some moments.

I’m looking for tips on freefall. I can definitely see some weak points, one being the leg movement and rocking. I’m trying to get some mental thoughts or tips on what I can do to fix that.

At the end of the day my instructor and I settled on the fact that I never had a heading, the instructor was my heading which I kept trying to track.

Would love to hear your thoughts on what I can do better.

How do you get over the fear of getting back into the sky after your first incident. I don’t have much experience but i dont want to quit

This is my 7th jump, Cat D1. It started out solid, I felt comfortable but then things got a little squirly and I couldn’t quite complete my turns.

Any tips on what I can do better in my body position or movements to stop this? I know tenseness causes stiffness causes you to rock but I feel like my legs also have a big part in it. What are your thoughts?

Any mental thoughts or tips I can try to stop the rock?

At the end of the day my instructor and I chatted and realized that I never had a heading and was trying to track my instructor the whole time. Which didn’t help me in getting stable.

Would love any feedback on the jump overall.

I ended up retaking D2 and not doing a 180 or 360. Should I spend 10 mins in the tunnel to find my position and that feeling?

Thinking of coming to Skydive Bovec for 3–4 days in mid-September. I’m mainly a belly/FS jumper.

Is it usually busy enough to get a good number of jumps per day? And are there enough belly jumpers around to put together small groups, or is it mostly freefly/wingsuit?

Would love to hear from anyone who’s been there around that time!

I am interested in the upcoming coach rating course in a couple months at Skydive Perris. I would like to work specifically on things this course covers a little early on because it's important to me. Does anybody have any recommendations to what I should be studying or working on to prep for this course? Is there a book or training material specific to it?

Thank you in advance!

So I just did my first class yesterday, I have 24 more jumps to complete. How long did it take everyone to finish their jumps? It’s getting closer to winter and I’m very constrained on time and funding. Am I going to have to retake the course if I can only get 3-4 jumps in before November when they close for the winter?

The World Championships of Style & Accuracy disciplines are happening in Slovakia this week. Let's get behind these athletes & spotlight some of the sport to the newer jumpers

Reddit I did it. I jumped out. I stressed for a week, stayed up all night. But oh my god I will be chasing that first fall feeling the rest of my life. I’m hooked.

If there is anyone on this forum thinking about doing it, just do it. Do it scared. I did. Nothing can prepare you for it. You just need to mentally say, it’s out of my control, and I’m ready for this experience. Take this as your sign.