Demonstration Skydiving at Sporting & Celebratory Events
Demonstration skydiving, or “demos” for short, is where a highly skilled sky diving team performs a sky diving show for an audience.
Sporting events such as NASCAR, MLB, and College Football, use skydivers to bring in the American Flag to start the event. There are military demo teams and a few civilian teams that perform for sporting events around the country. The Golden Knights are a very well known military team that performs at many events around the country to help with recruiting efforts for the United States Army. One of the better know civilian demonstration skydiving teams is Aerial Adventures Inc. They perform at many NASCAR Races including the race at Richmond International Speedway.
The members of demo teams are very highly qualified skydivers; the best of the best. They will fly in a large American flags, game balls, and smoke as they land on a designated spot at a certain time. Landing in a stadium during the National Anthem is made more difficult due to the smaller landing area that most regular skydivers are used to. Most demo teams will jump from an altitude of around 5,000 feet. This enables the audience to see them as they leave the aircraft. Any altitude higher would make it difficult for people to see them in free fall. They will then open their parachute at an altitude of 3,000 feet, which is high enough to allow time for the American flag and smoke to be safely deployed. By the time they land at a certain time during the National Anthem, the audience is filled with excitement and pride. Seeing a demonstration skydive is definitely one to experience.
