Jerry Bird (skydiver)

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Jerry Bird
Jerry Bird American Skydiver.jpg
Born (1943-03-06) March 6, 1943 (age 83)
Ellijay, Georgia

Jerry Bird (born March 6, 1943) is an American skydiver involved in the evolution of formation skydiving since the 1960s. He was a member or captain of four U.S. National Champion teams and four World Champion or World Cup skydiving teams. [1]

Contents

Bird participated in the first documented 10-man star formation in 1967 over Taft, California. [2] He led skydiving teams that were instrumental in advancing formation skydiving techniques, [3] and captained the United States Freefall Exhibition Team (USFET) [4] which demonstrated formation skydiving at the 1970 World Parachuting Championships in Bled, Slovenia, leading to formation skydiving becoming a recognized competition discipline. [5]

The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) awarded him the Leonardo da Vinci Parachuting Diploma in 1983, [6] and in 2010, he was inducted into the International Skydiving Museum Hall of Fame. [7]

Biography

Early life and education

Bird was born on March 6, 1943, in Ellijay, Georgia, to Carolyn Blanche Woodward and John Marion Bird. He was the fourth of six children. When he was three years old, his family moved to Weirton, West Virginia [8] where he grew up and attended West Virginia University majoring in electrical engineering. [9] In 1963 Bird moved to Southern California where he made his first sport parachute jump at the Lancaster drop zone northeast of Los Angeles under the tutelage of Brian Williams (SCR-8). [8] [10] [9]

Military service and civilian work

In 1963 he was drafted into the army where he first attended Russian language school at Fort Ord, Monterey, California, then, in 1965, the Airborne Jump School at Fort Benning, Georgia. [9] [8] He was assigned to 10th Special Forces Group Green Berets. Flint Kaserne, Bad Tölz, Germany. [9] [8] In 1970, he was working as a computer operator at Security Pacific Optimisation Services in southern California. [9]

Formation skydiving

Formation skydiving first developed as a parachuting discipline in the late 1950s when parachutists in freefall began to deliberately maneuver toward each other and sometimes pass a wooden baton (a feat first recorded in 1958). Over time, larger groups engaged in baton passing, and on May 16, 1966, Bird participated in the first 10-man baton pass, over Arvin, California. [11] [12]

World Record 24 man star, 1972 Photo of Life Magazine.jpg
World Record 24 man star, 1972

The creation of linked formations quickly followed, and on July 2, 1967, Bird participated in the first world record formation, a 10-man star over Taft, California, [2] [11] [13] a milestone achievement in relative work (now known as formation skydiving). The following year, he participated in the first 12-man formation, also over Taft. [14] On January 16, 1972, Bird organized a world record 24-man star formation over Perris Valley California. [15] The jump was featured on the CBS program I've Got a Secret [16] and in the February 4, 1972 issue of Life magazine. [17]

Team competition

Bird became a founding member of the Arvin Good Guys, and, in 1968, formed Jerry Bird's All Stars 10-way speed skydiving team. [9] [18] In 1970, he captained the United States Freefall Exhibition Team (USFET) which demonstrated relative work at the 10th World Parachuting Championships in Bled, Slovenia, which led to formation skydiving becoming a recognized competition discipline in its own right. [5]

Jerry Bird's All Stars won the 10-man star event in June 1972 at the National Championships in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. [19] Bird later organized a world record 26-man star at the close of the 11th World Parachuting Championships, also at Tahlequah. [20]

Bird's 10-way speed star team, The Columbine Turkey Farm, won the World Cup Championship in 1973 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina with a time of 15.6 seconds. [21] Bird captained The Wings Of Orange 10-way speed star team in 1974, setting a new world record of 12.76 seconds at Pretoria in South Africa. [22]

He joined the 8-way RW sequential team Mirror Image in 1979. The Mirror Image lineup posted new world records in 8-way, first with an 11-pointer in 1979, then with a 16-pointer in 1981. Mirror Image also posted a 10-way speed star world record in 1979. Just to make a point they completed a 10-way Star in 5.16 seconds exiting from a DC3 door. [23] In 1981 they won the National Championship in 8-way sequential while setting a world record of 14 maneuvers in 48.3 seconds. [24] [25]

Base jumping

Bird organized an expedition to Venezuela in November 1983 to BASE jump from the 979 metres (3,212 ft) high Angel Falls. The jump was filmed for a documentary by Mark III Productions of Miami, Florida [26] [27] and a segment was broadcast on ABC's Ripley's Believe It or Not! in December 1985. [28]

Further world records

Bird was part of the world record formation 120-way in 1986 at Quincy, Illinois. [29] [30] Two years later, on August 8, 1988, Bird was part of the world record 144-way diamond formation, also over Quincy. [31] On July 19, 1998, Bird was part of the 246-way world record formation over Skydive Chicago. [32] [33] And in 1999, Bird was part of the 282-way world record formation with The World Team in Thailand. [34]

Honors and awards

References

  1. 1 2 "Jerry Bird Wins da Vinci Diploma". Parachutist. April 1984. p. 27. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Cover: World's first ten-man star". Parachutist. September 1967. pp. 1, 3. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
  3. ↑ "JERRY BIRD'S ALL STARS: From Legend to Progenitor - INTRO". Vimeo. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Congratulations to the 2022 Pioneers of Excellence Award winner, the 1970 Freefall Exhibition Team!". International SkyDiving Museum and Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
  5. 1 2 Cottingham, Ray (September 1987). "Meanwhile, ... High over Yugoslavia ..." Parachutist. pp. 20–33. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
  6. 1 2 FAI GENERAL AWARDS https://www.fai.org/awards
  7. 1 2 "Jerry Bird - International Skydiving Hall of Fame". International Skydiving Museum & Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Collison, p.26
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bird, Jerry (January 1970). "Third Annual Ten-Man Star Meet". Parachutist. pp. 20–21. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
  10. 1 2 Jerry Bird Interview "Skydiving Hall of Fame You Tube 2010". YouTube . 8 November 2019.
  11. 1 2 "1st RW Records". Starcrestskydivingawards.com. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  12. ↑ Collison, p.282
  13. ↑ "A Galaxy of Stars". Parachutist. October 2022. pp. 42–44. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  14. ↑ "World's first 12-man star". Parachutist. May 1968. p. 26. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  15. ↑ Collison, p.111
  16. ↑ "1972 World record 24 way - images of 'I've Got a Secret' TV Show - Recreation jump in 2019". YouTube. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
  17. ↑ Life, February 4, 1972
  18. ↑ Newell, Bill (December 2004). "The Rise and Demise of The Arvin Good Guys". Parachutist. p. 48-51. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
  19. ↑ Heaton, Norman (September 1972). "A report on the 1972 national parachuting championships - Ten-man event". Parachutist. p. 11. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  20. ↑ "The world record 26-man star". Parachutist. December 1972. pp. cover, 5. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  21. ↑ Works, Pat; Works, Jan (October 1973). "How it was at the first World Cup of Relative Work". Parachutist. pp. 16–21. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  22. 1 2 Hemlin, Niklas. "Did You Know ... that Stefan Banic is the inventor of the parachute and the actual founder of the World Team? (June 17, 2011)". National Skydiving League. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  23. ↑ Hemlin, Niklas. "Did You Know ... ... that all Jerry Bird ever did was teams? (November 7, 2010)". National Skydiving League. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  24. ↑ Collison, p.155
  25. ↑ "1981 Nationals Final Results". Parachutist. September 1981. p. 16. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  26. ↑ Angel Falls First Jump ever. Mark III Productions, YouTube . Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  27. ↑ Stich, Rodney (1999). Drugging America: A Trojan Horse. Alamo, CA: Diablo Western Press, Inc. ISBN   9780932438102.. Chapter 11.
  28. ↑ Ripley's Believe It or Not Directed by Mel Stuart S4 • E9, Dec 8, 1985.
  29. ↑ 120-Way Formation Skydiving World Record, YouTube . Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  30. ↑ "The 120". Parachutist. October 1986. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  31. ↑ "World Record 144-Way Built in Illinois" (PDF). Skydiving . September 1998. pp. 1, 4, 20. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  32. ↑ Collison, p.285
  33. ↑ Koreen, Nancy J. (September 1998). "246: the new magic number". Parachutist. pp. 32–39. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  34. ↑ Heid, Robin (February 2000). "Thailand Large-Formation Record a Success from Every Aspect" (PDF). Skydiving . pp. 1, 20–23. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  35. ↑ Bob Boquor Memorial Star Crest first recipients, Starcrestskydivingawards.com. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  36. ↑ "The Biggest Show in Town". Parachutist. July 1977. pp. 30–35. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  37. ↑ "1970 Freefall Exhibition Team receives 2022 Pioneers of Excellence Award". International Skydiving Museum & Hall of Fame. Retrieved 3 February 2026.
  38. ↑ "2024 Recipient | Pioneers of Excellence Award | Skydiving Hall of Fame". International Skydiving Museum & Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2026-02-02.
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