Academy parachute team sets world record

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U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFNEWS) --  The U.S. Air Force Academy's Wings of Blue Competition and Demonstration Parachute Team set another world record in a big way.

The team set a collegiate world big-way record March 31 at Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field, Ariz., when 39 cadets linked in the air.

The 39 cadets jumped from three different aircraft at 17,500 feet and used 90 seconds of freefall to complete the formation. Once together, the jumpers held their position for 10 seconds before separating to open their canopies.

A big-way formation is defined as an aerial formation greater than four people, in which jumpers form up in freefall and become a single unit prior to having to deploy their parachutes.

The Wings of Blue broke their previous collegiate record of a 35 person big-way formation set in 2000. 

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