Steve Vogdes and Simon Bones rallied the troops and gathered at Skydive Cross Keys during the last weekend of August. Their goal was to make the first ever, National Head Up Record. Earlier on in the year, Steve went to the USPA Board of Director’s Meeting. His proposal to create a new category of a Vertical Head Up Formation was reviewed and accepted. This would be the first event of it’s kind, the birth of Head Up Formation flying. I was lucky enough to see this happen and be a small part of it.
The weekend started with plane troubles when a jumper inadvertantly dislodged the emergancy exit door in the Twin Otter and it proceeded to leave the aircraft. With the Otter down, the organizers were scrambling for an aircraft. Nearly canceling the event, the only plane they currently had access to was a King Air. At the last minute, a Casa 212 arrived and saved the day.
The formation started out as over 20 people, but ended up getting chopped down to around 16. Here is the group as well as a 20 Way and the Official 16 Way. As in any record for the first time, there were issues that came up, things to be figured out, judging angles to question, etc… As we all said, if it were easy, someone would have done it before. There is no doubt that things will change in terms of how a Head Up Record is made and most importantly, completed. But for now, it starts with a 16-Way. To check out more pictures, please visit my gallery.
