Lightning Flight's Wingsuit Rally @ Perris

The Christmas Holiday Wingsuit Rally at Skydive Perris in California was a huge success and saw a larger turnout than any of us expected! More than 40 Wingsuiters made their way to Perris for the Lightning Flight event to be organized for jumps over the 4 days leading up to New Year's Eve. The All Star line-up of organizers included Keith Forsyth, Katie Hansen, Scotty Bob, Val Sobol and myself. 

The idea of this event is to have a safe environment to work on flying in groups and adding degrees of difficulty for those who want more of a challenge. It's not really a coaching situation but by having an experienced Organizer we are able to make sure everyone is taking the correct considerations in regard to safety while still having a great time with their friends.

I flew with a different group of Pilots each day of the Rally and it was awesome to see so much stoke! As an Organizer it's important to understand skill levels within the group and create a jump that accommodates to everyone's needs. Group sizes varied in size but were usually from 5 to 8 people which is quite manageable and can open the door for some fun flying with moving formations and rotating bases. With the more advanced groups it's possible to get a more 3 dimensional flow going with large flares and diving turns. So much fun!

A big shout out must go to Taya Weiss who was our ground support for the whole event and got all of us crazies manifested on loads and really kept the wheels rolling. There's no way we would have been able to get 6 jumps done everyday without her help. Thanks Taya!