OGDEN -- With the earth below them, they'll be drifting, falling and floating weightless with finesse -- because falling doesn't quite describe what Rockwell Airtime, a Vertical Formation Skydiving team from Ogden, does when they jump from the plane. It's more of a fast-paced fluid choreography of flying together.
The team, composed of Devin Roane, Ryan Scothern, Kyle Buccholz, Dusty Hanks and their videographer John Lee, will be traveling to Ottawa, Ill., to compete in the United States Parachute Association National Skydiving Competition, Sept. 13-17, in the 4-way VFS open event.
While it's taken years of practice to prepare to compete, they'll have just more than four minutes, split into seven jumps of 35 seconds each, to complete as many predesignated formations on a vertical axis as possible, with the team that totals the most completed formations winning.
"When we're falling in the vertical formation, we're not actually falling with our bellies to the earth," said Roane, an instructor at iFLY. "When we're flying upside down it's called head down, and we sometimes have to change position from head down to our feet toward the ground. So we not only change grips, we have to change the orientation in which we fly too."
"Right now we're averaging 16 to 17 formations per jump," said Hanks, also an instructor at iFLY. "But our most is 36 in one jump. You're moving fairly quick, and you have to work as a team to make each formation count."
As soon as the first person leaves the plane at 13,000 feet, the 35 seconds begins with the team working together to get the right grips that make up a formation. Lee flies just below the team, making sure to capture each sequential formation so that the judges on the ground can award the points.
Hanks, 34, said that combined the team has thousands of skydives, and with three of the members working at iFLY they get a lot of practice in the air tunnel. So although as a team they've made minimal skydives together, their training in the iFLY tunnel will help them compete.
"You have to have good hand-eye coordination and be able to work as a team to get faster and faster to be able to complete more formations," said Hanks.
The team members met while skydiving, and the idea came about for the Rockwell four-way team after Roane and Hanks competed in a tunnel competition a few years ago. This will be the team's first competition, and they have high hopes.
"This year we want to obviously win the gold," said Hanks, "And it's been quite awhile since a team has gone and competed from Utah. We want to represent Utah and win a gold in our division and move up into our next class, which is an open class for pros."
Hank's wife, Holly, said they'll be cheering for the team from home. "He's been working toward it for a long time. We support him in it, and the kids think it's pretty cool. They're pretty convinced that they have the world's coolest dad."
Roane, 28, said that when he began skydiving nine years ago, it was all about the thrill, but with the team it's a little different.
"I like the whole adrenaline rush and getting out of the plane," he said. "That's what initially got me going on it, and after you jump more and more the adrenaline is still there, but not quite as much. Then you start learning to fly your body, and then it becomes a skill like skateboarding, and you can go out with other people and build formations, and that's kind of what's kept me going with it. It's almost like a drug."
"It's not as crazy as everybody thinks it is," Hanks said. "I enjoy the thrill of getting out of an airplane -- it's just you and the wind, and it's just amazing to be above the ground flying through the air. I also love the challenge of flying with other people. With a team it's challenging to go up and try to get better and faster on each and every jump."
USPA Nationals will take place Sept. 10-20, with seven events beside the VFS being contested. For more information, visit the website at www.uspanationals.com.
Comments