Large-formation skydiving · Spain
Intento Récord Nacional 2027
Make history
01 / 06
On board
The ramp opens at 20,000 feet. From here on, everything happens in under two minutes.
A bigger formation than any ever built in Spain.
Get dozens of skydivers together, load them into an A400M, exit at 18,000 feet and build a shape in the air. Close it, every grip at the same time, and hold it long enough for the judges to call it good.
This isn't a display. A record has rules, judges and ratification, and if the formation doesn't close completely it doesn't count — however beautiful the jump was.
One shape. One moment. Everyone in.
Every grip closed at the same time, even if only for a moment. That's what gets judged. What comes before is months of training; what comes after is hands in the air.
Every grip counts
This is going to be epic
Plant a tree, write a book… and break a record.
They say there are three things you have to do in life. If you're already two down, that list has come up short — and we suspect that's why you're still reading.
You can plant the tree any Saturday. Not this: it happens once, and it happens with whoever is in on the day.
I want to be in
Exiting together is half the jump.
You exit in a line and in order: everyone knows who's in front, who's behind and which slot they're going to. If the exit is clean, half the formation builds itself.
An A400M filled to the roof.
The Airbus A400M is what makes a jump like this possible: a rear ramp, room to take dozens of skydivers up in one go, and plenty of ceiling to drop them from 18,000 feet.
With civilian aircraft you'd need several passes, and a formation this size isn't built in two batches: either everyone exits at once, or there's no shape. That's why there's only one objective — fill it to the roof and jump together.
None of this exists without the Spanish Air and Space Force.
The aircraft is theirs, and so is the experience and the means to run an operation this size safely. Earning their support is part of the challenge, and it's what we're working on.
It isn't secured yet. There is no agreement today: no aircraft committed, no date, no undertaking of any kind. What there is, is a project getting itself ready to ask for it properly — with the people, the numbers and the ratification in place first. This site does not speak on their behalf.
Video: © PAPEA · Spanish Air and Space Force parachute display team
This has been tried before. And it nearly worked.
On 13 May 2018, at Alcantarilla Air Base, the Spanish large-formation record was attempted from two Ala 35 C-295s. Civilians and military jumped together: EZAPAC, the Military Parachute School and PAPEA.
It wasn't achieved
The formation didn't close and the record wasn't set. It was still worth it: Spanish skydiving came out of it stronger, and a seed was planted inside the Air Force that reopened the door to working with the RFAE.
2027 is the next step on from that: more people, more altitude and a bigger aircraft.
A lot of people flying isn't a record. It's a record when the judges say so.
This is what it takes for the jump to count. We're putting it up front so nobody gets a surprise halfway through.
- Federation ratification A national record is ratified by the RFAE. No paperwork, no record — however good the jump looks.
- Official judges on the jump They have to be there and call the shape good. Reviewing it among ourselves afterwards doesn't count.
- Air-to-air camera and visual evidence The formation is judged on video. Without usable footage there's nothing to ratify.
- A complete formation, every grip at once If one person is missing or one grip isn't closed at the same instant, it doesn't count. That's the hard part. FAI requirement
- Your licence, current You need the RFAE B licence. If you don't have it you can get it, but it takes time: the sooner you know, the better. Down to you
The last point is the only one that's down to you, and it's the one most people find out about too late. If you're missing the licence, the sooner you know the better.
Anyone who flies. Genuinely.
There are two ways to be part of this, and both are needed.
Go for the record
You go into the assessment for one of the slots in the formation. What's looked at is your formation experience, not just your jump numbers.
Train
You fly the training camps without going into the selection. It's how you really learn to fly in a group, and it's where the people for the next attempt come from.
If you're not sure you're good enough: sign up and let them decide. It's free, it doesn't book a slot, and it saves you missing out for not asking.
You don't just jump this: you rehearse it.
Before the attempt there are training camps: several days in a row jumping as a group, with the same people, repeating the same shape until it works. Nobody turns up on record day to improvise their slot.
The briefing
Every jump is planned on the ground beforehand and reviewed on video afterwards. That's the briefing, and it's where the formation actually gets built: who takes which slot, what order everyone leaves the aircraft in, and which way they come into their place without crossing anyone.
Why the order matters
Getting that order right is half the formation. Big shapes don't collapse for lack of skill: they collapse because two people arrive at the same gap at the same time. That's why briefings are long, repeated, and taken seriously.
This has been going on for years.
These photos are from real camps and jumps over the last few years, with many of the people who'd be on the attempt. It isn't an idea on paper: it's a group that already flies together.
Tap any photo to see it full size. Photos: © Gary Wainwright · © Dave Clarke · © Cara Fotografía · © Ralph Wilhelm
Marino and Leticia.
They're the ones putting the attempt together, the ones who read every profile, and the ones who'll decide — with the data in front of them — whether this goes ahead or not.
Before you give someone your phone number it's worth knowing who you're giving it to. If you've never jumped with them, you can put down the name of a coach who has flown with you: it works as a reference in both directions.
The group where everything happens.
Before there's an aircraft, a date or a record, there's a WhatsApp group. It's where the camps get arranged, where the video from the last jump gets shared, and where someone asks at eleven at night whether there's a spare seat in a car.
Honest warning: people talk about skydiving in here. A lot. And at odd hours. If you were after peace and quiet, this is not your group.
Get me in the groupPoint your phone camera at it. If you're already on your phone, just tap the button.
The plan, out loud.
We'd rather tell it as it happens than turn up one day with everything settled. These are the pieces still to fall into place, and they'll be marked here with their date as they close.
If you'd rather find out without having to come back and check, leave your details and we'll email you when there's news. We don't send anything else.
Every grip counts
In the end, this is about the people.
About going back to the drop zone and finding the same faces. About someone telling you you're ready for the next step up. The record is the excuse; the group is what stays.
Count me and my parachute inThree minutes. It doesn't book a slot, it doesn't commit you to anything and you can remove yourself in one click. But this gets decided by counting how many of us there are, so your profile is worth more than it looks.
Only the organisers see your data. How we handle it.