Overview
Formation Skydiving (formerly known as Relative Work) is the sport of building a
series of formations in freefall. Formation Skydiving can be as few as two people or more
than 100 (the unofficial world record largest freefall formation is 297). Competition
formation skydiving consists of 3 basic events* for National and International
competitions: 4-Way, 8-Way, and 16-Way. 16-Way was adopted by the IPC as an official event
in 1997, and the 20-Way event popular in the U.S. was then changed to a 16-Way event using
the IPC rules.
For all events, each team performs as many formations as possible before working time
expires. The team with the most points after the last completed round is the winner.
* 10-way is another Nationals event but is a speed event, not sequential formations.
CLICK HERE for more information about 10-way
Speed.
Events
4-Way
The 4-Way event uses a working time of 35 seconds and an exit altitude of
approximately 10,500 feet (about 3,200 meters). The dive pool consists of 24 block
sequences and 16 random formations.
At the beginning of the competition, the formations to be performed on the skydives are
randomly drawn until the skydive has at least 5 or 6 points (see the IPC Dive Pool on the main menu for more information). Once the team has
completed the sequence, it starts over at the first formation and continues to repeat the
sequence.
8-Way
The 8-Way event uses a working time of 50 seconds and an exit altitude of
approximately 12,500 feet (about 3,800 meters). The dive pool consists of 24 block
sequences and 16 random formations.
At the beginning of the competition, the formations to be performed on the skydives are
randomly drawn until the skydive has at least 5, 6, or 7 points (see the IPC Dive Pool on
the main menu for more information). Once the team
has completed the sequence, it starts over at the first formation and continues to repeat
the sequence.
16-Way
The 16-Way event also uses a working time of 50 seconds and an exit altitude of
approximately 12,500 feet (about 3,800 meters). The dive pool consists of 12 blocks and 9
randoms.
FAI/IPC
The Fédération Aéronautique
Internationale (FAI), the world's air sports federation, was founded in 1905. It is a
non-governmental and non-profit making international organization with the basic aim of
furthering aeronautical and astronautical activities worldwide. The FAI is the governing
body of the International
Parachute Commission (IPC), which overseas international parachute competitions. The
IPC solicits bids from FAI member countries to host international parachuting
competitions. The world championships for Formation Skydiving are held every odd year; the
championships for Canopy Formations Skydiving are held every even year.
Formation Skydiving Rules
The rules for Formation Skydiving competitions in the United States have been
traditionally maintained by USPA in the
USPA Skydiver's Competition Manual. USPA, however, has recently adopted the IPC rules to
apply for U.S. Nationals competitions. This change will alleviate any discrepancies
between national and international rule interpretations.
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