NAA Selects Skydiving World Record as “Most Memorable”
(Above Photo) Event organizers Louis Tommaso (center left) and Roger Ponce de Leon (center right), along with (from left) Director of Competition Randy Connell, Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Judge Marylou Laughlin, Executive Director Ed Scott and Competition Coordinator Steve Hubbard, pose for the camera at the NAA ceremony after accepting "most memorable" honors for their part in setting the world record for the largest three-point formation skydive on July 25, 2017.
Each year, the National Aeronautic Association selects what it considers aviation's most memorable records from the previous year and honors those records at an event near Washington, D.C. Among 2017's most memorable aviation records, the NAA selected the sequential world record three-point 111-way set July 25, 2017, at Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, Illinois. The jump was planned in memory of Hal Spence, a formation- and big-way skydiver from DeLand, Florida, who passed away shortly before the event. The NAA honored the year’s most memorable records at a ceremony on May 16, where record organizers Roger Ponce de Leon and Louis Tommaso, along with Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Judge Marylou Laughlin, represented the record-setting group. Ponce de Leon accepted the plaque on behalf of Hal Spence and all the skydivers who participated.
For an in-depth look into the attention to detail put forth to accomplish the feat, check out Jim McCormick's feature titled "Sprint to a Record" that was published in the October 2017 issue of Parachutist.