World Team News

Friday 02-06

Today did not start off too well: we had to stay in the hotel untill 8:30, instead of the planned departure time of 6:45. Because of the weather and because there was no power at all at the airbase. The 110 volt power went out a couple of days ago and still is not up again but now the 220 was gone as well. When we finally got to the airbase it was clouded over. No jumping here!!! A DC3 was sent to yet another airport, Wing 4, 50 minutes away by DC3, to check that one out and see what the weather was like over there. A phonecall confirmed it was jumpable, but it might not last. So all World Team got into five Hercs and flew over Takli, which is close to the eastern border of Thailand, close to Mayanmar. This would be our only chance to get a new record, as the C130's were needed the next day for an exercise.
		Amusing the local kids


Rumours were the plan was at first to take off from Korat, jump in, land there, pack, then fly back. This sounded like a relatively bad idea. Take 350ish desperate skydivers, marginal weather, a DZ they'd never seen before, and the world's largest freefall formation - difficult to pull it off safely. Then we heard we'd be landing there in the aircraft first so we could see the DZ, check the winds and get a briefing. That sounded a little better. The plan was to land, leave the engines running (storms were supposed to hit by noon, so time was critical) dirt dive, get back on the planes, and go and do it. We loaded the planes with us, our gear, the minimum stuff we needed at the DZ itself (packing mats, water, pullup cords etc) and took off.

	We were about 45 minutes en route. When we landed, there was a lot of confusion, and it was probably another 45 minutes before we got back in the air ready to jump. At the 2 minute call the winds were gusting and the sky was scattered to broken clouds at 10,000 feet. Then we got the one minute, then the off-oxygen call. Hmm, maybe we really were going to try this. From the ground the non-jumpers watched the exit from the four majestic Hercules fly in formation 20.000 foot above us. Slowly the red, white and blue spots were flying together, uniting the formation.
Where are we going?


There's a certain feeling to a formation that's built, a feeling of solidity and smoothness that somehow gets transmitted from the outer wackers through the base through the lines. The waves stop and the tension goes away. The picture gets boring, because all you can see are the people in front of you - the rest of the formation is on-level and invisible behind the people you can see around you. And that was happening. Did we get it? Was the white guy in? Someone in the base was kicking happily. Note that this is a potential disaster, since kicking is sometimes used as a breakoff signal. But no one was fooled. We broke off a bit low (7000 instead of 7500) and tracked away. People on the ground started to cheer and the same thought crossed everyones mind - "I think they've got it". Under canopy you could hear the cheering while jumpers took their first look at Air Wing 4 from the air. As the jumpers walked (and got a bus) back to the main area, everyone had the same question - did we get it? Did the french guy in the white sector get back in? Was anyone missing? The camera team thought we had it...

	At 13:45 FAI Judge Sherry Shrimsher and her pannel of judges approached the tarmac and the contingent of waiting skydivers. Three little words changed the day and the record books - WE DID IT!! The world record - 357-way - was completed on the 7th attempt of jumping and flew for exactly 6 seconds. Record Jump video (6.5 Mb)
357 way - A New World Record!!


And again, if you've seen World Team on local news, we'd love to know! Mail to: rsc2004@hotmail.com After the cheering and hugging stopped we put all the remaining alpha team people on the dive and went up to try to do a 367 way. It was not to be; one of the O2 hoses on the D aircraft had a problem and someone passed out on the tailgate. A few people dragged him inside and stayed with him as the rest of the plane exited, so we never had a chance. Still, it built well, and we had most of the jumpers in before breakoff.

The storm was very close by this time, and the horizon was a mass of bluish-grey cloud with wispy white clouds advancing before it. Below were the rice paddies, fields, canals and roads of rural Thailand, visible in detail even from 20,000 feet. Break-off and landing was just as the edge of the storm slid overhead. We had made it by about 10 minutes. We packed fast, bought a few beers (which had appeared as magically as the grapefruit) and piled on the C130's to fly back to Korat. The crews were all happy and relaxed; they had put almost as much energy and time into this event as we had.
		Jumper coming in to land


Then we landed and headed to the "authentic western celebration" at the airbase. BJ and the air wing 1 commander gave a few speeches, and much free beer was consumed by airbase personnel and skydivers alike. The aircrews got a standing ovation, as did the six Thai skydivers on the record. 72 Floating Lanterns - large paper lampions set on fire - were sent up (and in one case, down!) which was a breathtaking sight. The Air Wing 1 media had put together a video presentation, as had the World Team Camera Team. The evening ended with The Big One on the big video screen. Tomorrow we head back to Bangkok; most people will be there for one night before we leave on Sunday. This morning it seemed like we had too much going against us, from weather to an almost two day hiatus to the normal problems of putting so many people in the air at one time. BUT WE DID IT!!


	© Photos by World Team Camera Team: Hans Berggren, Edward Blaauw, Willy Boeykens, Bruno Brokken, Gustavo Cabana, JC Colclasure, Craig O'Brien, Jason Peters, Wendy Smith, Andrey Veselov, Henny Wiggers and Saskia Zegwaard.