Skydivers Beat Record In Ireland
Updated : Aug 4, 2009
50 Skydivers from 16 countries built the largest International Skydiving Formation at the Irish Parachute Club in County Offaly this morning.
At 8.30am the group exited 3 aircraft flying in close formation at 13,700ft and landed in the history books 4 minutes later having had all 50 people link-up perfectly.
The goal of the squad is to build a 64-person formation before the end of today. Immediately following the 50-person formation, the rest of the squad, built a perfect 33-person formation. The team leaders are now prepping the team to go bigger today.
Team Captain, Gordon Hodgkinson, a resident of Galway said “We’ve been frustrated with poor weather for the past 4 days, but this morning everything came together perfectly. Having two complete formations, a 50 and a 33, before 9am means we are on track for acheiving our goal of a 64-way before the end of the day.â€
The International squad includes skydivers from Venezuala, Russia, USA and all over Europe. The team are using a fleet of six turbine-powered aircraft which have travelled from the UK, Belgium, Northern Ireland as well as the aircraft operated by the Irish Parachute Club (www.skydive.ie).