OGDEN — For the first time, a Utah skydiving team — Rockwell Airtime — will compete in the advanced category at the U.S. Parachute Association Nationals, to be held Sept. 13-17 in Chicago.
Rockwell Airtime, a local four-way vertical skydiving team, will compete in the Vertical Formation Skydiving (VFS) division.
The team has exclusively trained in Utah — at iFLY Utah, an indoor vertical wind tunnel, and Skydive Ogden. The Rockwell Airtime team members are Kyle Buchholz, Devin Roane, Dusty Hanks, Ryan Scothern and John Lee.
A win at nationals would propel each member into a professional skydiving status and allow them to compete in leading competitions worldwide.
In the Chicago competition, each team will have 35 seconds to perform different formations upon exiting the airplane. The team's current average is 16 points per jump. Last year's VFS amateur record was 4.5.
"We anticipate that a winning outcome in this competition will draw attention to the expertise of Utah's skydiving community and iFLY Utah," Buchholz said. "People will be surprised to discover that we are from Utah."
The team began training in January for the national competition. They average eight skydiving jumps at Skydive Ogden and an hour of flight time at iFLY Utah per week. Ninety percent of their training is conducted in the indoor tunnel. An hour of tunnel time equates to more than 55 skydive jumps.
— Lynn Arave