Since the bowling ball drop has developed an off topic (albeit fun) skydiving thread, I thought I'd address all of those with a single reply. Skydive Arizona is the west coast Mecca for skydivers. Many of the jumpers from this area go down there during the winter (back east they have a similar thing but only for one week a year, where the pull is the availability of all manner of A/C, from balloons, to choppers, to WW 2 aircraft to a Boeing 727 to jump from). Down there at SA just about anything goes. I've seen guys ride ATVs off the tailgates of largish A/C, deploy a big canopy, ride it all the way to the ground and then drive it back to the airport. Fun! Another fun thing is freefall in inflatable boats. Unlike cars they tend to be stable in freefall. And just recently the world record of 300+ skydivers linking up in freefall was set. Oh, and let's not forget the "buff dives"... But one thing they do not do is jump without parachutes. Most of us who fling our bodies into the air are all too aware that the federal government is just waiting for an excuse to regulate jumping even more than it does and few, if any, of us want to do anything that could bring in the feds. So, no, the pictures of the guys (and gals) that seem to have them with no chutes are just optical illusions (some planned, some not). Everyone has a chute. In all of my nearly 40 years in the sport I've only heard of one guy who intentionally jumped from an airplane without a chute. Rod Pack was his name back in the 60s. He did it for a magazine spread, with the plan being a friend would jump with an extra chute and pass it to him in free fall. Fortunately for all in involved they pulled it off but then the feds stepped in and, thankfully, said "no more". I've got pictures of the jump, BTW, if anyone's interested. Cheers! Patrick Member, Parachutists Over Phorty Society (POPS #3007)