This is the ninth year our team has had the opportunity to perform for the Concert on the Green. We're proud to be a part of the festivities! When the team arrives here in the aircraft a yellow wind drift indicator will be deployed from the aircraft at an altitude of 2000 feet. The team will watch the direction and drift of the streamer to determine their exit point from the aircraft for the performance. The plane will then Circle to a point a bit upwind where they'll exit the airplane at an altitude of little over a mile high! Watch carefully and you'll be able to see them exit and see them in freefall.

The skydivers will exit the aircraft and fly into a formation that looks like a round star. A fifth jumper carrying the flag will then exit. The freefall part of the demonstration will only last 15 seconds or so. They will reach speeds of almost 120 MPH. They will separate into a starburst ; This allows them to ensure a safe horizontal distance from each other to open their parachutes. You'll start seeing parachutes opening at about 3000 ft.

The parachute ride will last 3-4 minutes. The parachutes used tonight are made of nylon and have forward speeds of up to 30 MPH. They are highly maneuverable. Controlling them is accomplished by use of steering lines on the left and right rear of the parachutes. The skydivers can vary the forward speed, vertical descent rate and glide angle to bring the parachute to a full stall, tip toe landing at the moment of touchdown.

Each member of the team is a member of the United States Parachute Association. Collectively they've made over 14,000 skydives. They all hold an Expert or Master Parachute License. The team would like to thank the staff, pilot and aircraft from Skydive Palatka for their help with tonight's performance.

Skydiver Bios

Mike Wadell

CANOPY COLOR: Dark blue with an off center red cell and the MIA/POW flag.
Mike is a 64 year old civil engineer who's made over 2700 skydives since he started jumping in 1963. He was a "Navy brat" during his formative years but claims Panama City, Florida as his hometown. During high school he dreamed about jumping out of (perfectly good) airplanes and it was rumored that he was seen jumping off the roof of his house practicing parachute landing falls (PLFs).

His dream finally came true while serving with the Navy when he made his first jump in Portland, Texas near Corpus Christi in 1963 and he has been jumping ever since. During his tour of duty with the Navy he was stationed for 4 years with the Navy Hurricane Hunters flying in Super Constellations. After graduating from the University of Florida he moved to Jacksonville and has worked for various consulting engineering firms including the Department of the Navy since 1972. He's been a private pilot since 1977 with 855 hours of flight time. He has organized several skydiving performances for the Blue Angels' air shows at NAS Jacksonville, NAS Cecil Field and the City of Brunswick, Georgia. He has also organized these performances at NAS Jax for Scout World Scout Blast from 1989 to 2000. Mike has participated in five all-Florida Parachutist-Over-Phorty (POPS) state freefall formation skydiving records. When not falling out of airplanes he enjoys camping, canoeing, SCUBA diving, flying, spending time with his family and 10 year old granddaughter.

Kerry Bentley

CANOPY COLOR: Bright blue and yellow.
Kerry just started jumping in 2004 and has made around 1000 jumps so far. Kerry is married with one daughter and two grand daughters. When not jumping out of perfectly good airplanes, Kerry, who has a sport pilot license, flies an ultralight out of his own airfield.

Mike Lattrell

CANOPY COLOR: Black and he's also carrying a red, white and blue banner.
Mike has recently celebrated the 31st anniversary of his 21st birthday. A transplant from the Texas Gulf coast he moved here 10 years ago and hasn't looked back. He is married and father to 4 boys with ages ranging from 12 to 32. Mike grew up around parachutes and skydiving as he watched his father, one of the pioneers of the sport. He made his first jump at the age of 18 and was hooked. Since then he has been a member of the RE/MAX of Texas Exhibition skydiving team, a participant in a national and world formation skydiving records. He also holds several state records in Florida and across the country. When he is not jumping he enjoys spending time with his family anywhere there is water – A Realtor with RE/MAX – talk to Mike for homes you’ll fall for!

Larry Elmore

CANOPY COLOR: Blue, pink, and green.
Larry turned 67 this year (we think) Larry's logged over 5500 skydives since his first in 1986 including in the world record 400 person freefall formation skydive in 2006 in Thailand, the world record 110 person Parachutist-Over-Phorty (POPS), world record freefall formation skydive in September of 2005 in Perris Valley, CA, and the world record Skydivers-Over-Sixty (SOS) freefall formation skydive in October of 2006 in Lake Wales, FL. He has over 24,000 hours total flight time and is an FAA flight instructor. Larry served his country for 20 years as a United States Navy pilot racking up over 1000 Navy aircraft carrier landings. He flew 125 air combat missions over Vietnam. After his military service he flew another 17 years as an airline pilot. He now makes his living having fun taking people for nights in dogfights working for AIR COMBAT USA.

Art Shaffer

CANOPY COLOR: American Flag
Art will be flying the American Flag again this year. Art is a very experienced skydiver with over 8,000 jumps. Art owns Skydive Palatka skydiving center and the Art of Skydiving demonstration team, the only team to perform at the home games of the Jacksonville Jaguars.