Some projects take years to plan.
This one took weeks — and exactly one jump to get right.
Just after leaving the aircraft, there was no opportunity to adjust anything. The flag was already committed. The system was live. Every decision that mattered had been made long before the Huey ever lifted off the desert floor.
What followed was the largest flag ever jumped in freefall — an achievement made possible by a fast-moving team, a clear standard for execution, and a drop zone uniquely equipped to turn an ambitious idea into a clean result.
It could’ve only happened at Skydive Arizona.
From Idea to Commitment
The idea came from Jariko Denman, a retired Army Ranger and experienced skydiver. On October 15th, a team overseas in Libya had set the standing record. The flag deployed, but it never fully settled. The leading edge rose and fell, and the presentation never locked in. They got it done, but the presentation was lacking.
Jeriko wasn’t interested in chasing numbers for their own sake. The question was execution. Could a flag that large be flown with control, stability, and enough consistency to document it properly from the air?
The conversation started while Jeriko was jumping at Skydive Chicago. A few early supporters came onboard, including Rook Nelson, and soon after Steve Curtis was looped in. From the start, the thinking was practical. If you’re going to drop something this large from altitude, you need open desert, controlled airspace, and people who are comfortable solving unusual problems quickly.
That narrowed the field fast. Soon, Jared Isaacman, the recently confirmed Administrator of Nasa, his business partner Sean Gustafson, and Montana Senator Tim Sheehy came onboard. Then videographers Joe Jennings and Elliot Byrd joined the crew. Steve Curtis then recruited Sterling Becklin and his team at ECS Composites would design the leading edge.
Why It Had to Be Skydive Arizona
Large projects like this succeed on capability and experience.
Skydive Arizona offered the airspace, the terrain, and the operational experience to support something well outside the normal playbook. Over the years, the DZ has moved people and equipment out of aircraft that were never designed for skydiving, adapting procedures and hardware to fit the mission rather than forcing the mission to fit the aircraft.
When the team approached Shawn Hill and laid out the scope, the response wasn’t dismissal — it was parameters. What aircraft could handle the load? What weights were acceptable? What changes would be required to make it workable?
That approach set the tone for the entire project.
The aircraft chosen for the jump was the recently rebuilt UH-1 Huey. The decision was driven by capability: lift capacity, stability, and the ability to manage an uneven load. It also introduced its own challenges. The flag would need to be packed into a six-foot door, secured to one side of the aircraft, and balanced in flight using ballast on the opposite side — including Jared, Sean, Senator Sheehy and videographer Jack Lane.
Once airborne, there would be no room for improvisation.
Solving the Real Problem
The flag itself wasn’t custom-built. It was a massive American flag purchased off the shelf, measuring forty by eighty feet. Controlling something this massive in freefall took special consideration.
Previous large flag jumps relied on multiple jumpers managing loose fabric by hand. That approach allows the leading edge to oscillate, making the flag unpredictable in freefall and difficult to present cleanly on camera.
From the start, the conclusion was straightforward: the leading edge had to be stiff.
Within hours, the team had a concept. Rather than outsourcing the work, they decided to build it themselves — partly for speed, and partly because this was as much a team effort as it was an engineering problem.
Within eight days, a working 3D-printed prototype of the hinge system was completed. Sterling Becklin and his team at ECS Composites took the lead on fabrication, bringing engineers and machine-shop expertise into the process, designing and manufacturing the prototype in record time.
In total, twenty-one people were involved, from engineers and mechanics to riggers, packers, and jumpers. Everyone worked inside the same constraint: the system had to work the first time.
Packing alone took roughly five hours. The flag was packed by 6 people working together to ensure a reliable deployment.
Testing, and the Limits of Testing
There was one attempt to validate the system before the full jump.
A partial flag with five feet of fabric was built to test the interlocking leading edge. The test confirmed that the hinge would deploy, but it also showed the limits of a mockup. Without the full flag attached, there wasn’t enough drag to slow the descent or lock the system into stable flight.
There’s no wind tunnel big enough to simulate a forty-foot span falling through open air. At some point, the only meaningful test is full scale.
The conclusion was clear. The first real jump would have to send it.
Execution Day
On jump day, the flag was strapped directly to the floor of the Huey. The load was uneven with the flag on one side, so it had to be balanced by jumpers on the opposite side to keep the aircraft stable.
Six sections, over six feet each. Every movement was briefed. Every sequence accounted for.
Jack hopped off about 10 seconds before the flag to give him time to open his canopy and video while carving around the flag under his Fluid Wings SAW. The team exited just over ten thousand feet with an airspeed of 30 knots. As it entered clean air, the flag unfolded as planned and the jumpers flew the leading edge to its locked position just before breakoff. The leading edge locked in. The system held.
Freefall lasted approximately thirty-eight seconds. The flag descended at roughly eighty to ninety miles per hour, stable and controlled. Jumpers released the flag at 5,000 feet and separated to clean air for their canopy deployments.
Aerial videographer Joe Jennings captured the footage, flying a specialized suit to match the reduced descent rate. The result was exactly what the team had been working toward: a flag presented cleanly, fully, and under control. With stunning footage to match—shot from Joe’s RED cinema camera, not just some GoPro.
Why It Matters
This project came together quickly, but it was built on experience. People who jump for a living. Engineers who know how to work under pressure. A drop zone that understands how to take a complex idea and turn it into an executable plan.
Skydive Arizona served as the proving ground and execution partner for the entire effort. The airspace, the aircraft experience, and the culture of problem-solving made the jump possible.
The result stands as a record, but more importantly as an example of American ingenuity applied with discipline. A team came together, set a high standard for execution, and met it — once, cleanly, and without needing a second attempt.
At Skydive Arizona, that’s the point.
