World Free Fall Convention Home Page

Don Kirlin and The World Free Fall Convention confirm the cancellation of the 2008 event. Citing personal reasons and a strong commitment to continued excellence, Don was candid about regretting the lack of an event for this year.

"The World Free Fall Convention has never been just another boogie. We don't intend to be just another boogie now. Tough economic times have had a devastating impact on peoples ability to travel, ferrying prices for large aircraft and lift ticket pricing. Our intent is to always have the most unusual and exciting choices for jumpships." Mr. Kirlin was quoted as saying.

"Our fervent desire was to provide yet another totally unexpected, and as to date unused jumpship for '08. We were not able to come to terms with the aircraft owners as expected, and barring that, we frankly would not have been able to provide the highest and most unusual fleet possible." Don stated.

"That coupled with a landgrab situation in Colorado, has pretty much taken up all of the time we would have liked to have spent in the actual marketing and planning this years event"

The World Free Fall Convention is noted for having the largest most diverse fleet of airships ever offered to the jumping public. The Convention has always had a base fleet of casas, otters, skyvans and of course Mike Mullins King Air, but was also the first to introduce the world of skydiving to an inverted bi-plane, the Perris DC-9. World War II Bombers, the B-17 and B-24 were available, and helped to fund the maintenance of those historic birds.

Starring a Boeing 727 for several years in the 90's, everything from a Ford Tri Motor, to a wide variety of helicopters have been featured at the World Free Fall Convention. A balloon capable of taking ten skydivers to altitude, as well as a glider have been unusual, and unjumped in other venues as well. The World Free Fall Convention has always been a get away for the total skydiving vacation.

Having donated well over $100,000.00 to various charities within the communities which have hosted it, the WFFC has shown its' host hometowns just how generous skydivers can be.

The World Free Fall Convention has seen 17 successful years, starting with skydiving numbers of 700 to 800 participants in 1990 and rising to a high in 2001 of 5700 jumpers, from 57 countries that made over 70,000 jumps during the event. As the number of annual members in the USPA have decreased, so have those numbers attending the WFFC.

Will there be another WFFC? Maybe, but only if the event can have the same level of excitement and enthusiasm that we saw in the 90's. That would require a whole new stable of unusual and unique aircraft in addition to updated venue. So, stay tuned.

The World Free Fall Convention website is www.freefall.com and questions can be answered by calling 217 AAA- JUMP

Respectfully submitted,
Beth Y. Mahlo
Public Relations
World Free Fall Convention

PS: below is the list of aircraft that have participated during the 17 years of the WFFC. Most of the specialty aircraft debuted at the WFFC and many are still exclusive to the WFFC.

Airliners: Boeing 727-100 & 200, McDonald Douglas DC-9, Super Constellation , Martin 404, Ford Tri-Motor, Caribou C-4, Douglas DC-3

Helicopters: Rod Tinney's Bell 412, Sikorsky S-58 Turbine, Huey UH-1H , Bell Long Ranger, Bell Jet Ranger, Robinson R-44, Bell 47 D and G-4,

Transports: L-100-30 Stretch Hercules, Douglas C-47, Curtiss C-46, Bushmaster Tri-Motor, C-130 A Hercules,

Unusual: Staggerwing Beechcraft Bi-Plane, New Standard (1929) Bi-Plane, Antonov AN-28, Skytruck, Antonov AN-2 Bi-Plane, Helio Courier, Helio Stallion, Schweitzer 2-33, Glider,

Jumpships: Casa 212-200, Super King Air, King Air 200, Super Otters, Shorts Sky Van, Cessna Caravan, Turbine Porter, PAC 750 XL

Jump Altitudes: 300 ft - 30,000 ft Skydivers from 65 Countries and all 50 States making 632,000 Skydives!

Don Kirlin and the World Free Fall Convention announced today the 2007 event has been cancelled. Citing logistic and personal reasons, the world's largest skydiving event is taking a break. The convention has always been on the cutting edge of the industry. From unusual jump ships to manufacturers with new products to debut, the convention has been the place that lured skydivers from around the world to Illinois for 10 days each year.

Last Convention News for 2006

The last jump made, the chute repacked. The tents are folded and put away 'til another year. We head home needing a vacation from our reunion.

Many thanks: to all that attended; to the pilots and crews of the jump craft for which we gather; to the volunteers and staff that make it all possible; to the concessionaires that provided for our needs; to the entertainers that helped pass the night time hours. Less than thanks to the storms that provided wet, sleepless nights.

What's the thing about spoons? Spoons come in many shapes, sizes and materials.

Take wooden spoons please. They are smooth to the touch. Function well. Don't leave any after taste behind to show their deads. What about stainless steel spoons? Stamped on a big press in a noisy factory. Ya gotta believe that all that racket has to rub off on the spoons in some fashion. Then the silver ones go around the fancy tables, all shiny and bright to the eye. Oh and don't forget the gold ones, gleaming in the light of candles on the table.

It doesn't matter the material or the size, spoons are designed to do one thing and one thing only: stir sh*t up. Most of the meal they just lay there, worthless in their idleness. Somebody has to pick them up and put them in use. That's the time when messes happen. An ill instructed operator, operating as if well informed and experienced, spills and spills until you can't see the table cloth for the slop of the slobs.

The spring returns to Illinois, and the phones really heat up. "When does Pre-registration start?" "How can I volunteer to be a part of the World Free Fall Convention?" "How many vendors are coming this year?" "WHAT PLANES ARE LINED UP FOR 2006!!??"

Yup! We're working on all of those things. The staff in the office are answering phones, getting the pre-registration forms up and running and sharping their pencils in anticipation of your onslaught on April the 17th. Don't forget that the first day of pre-registration was moved when we changed the event dates!

We have had many suggestions on things to do in an effort to bring the vibe up to the previous years epic proportions. Believe me, we read every survey, and listened to every request. Even the request to have the Space Shuttle do a low pass. Well, even Don would have a hard time pulling that one off, but some of the things that have been brought to our attention that we feel are within our ability are being worked on for you.

For instance, it has been said that the Skydivers want to see a wider variety of vendors, and the vendors want to see a bigger representation of the skydiving world. Hmmm. More/different jumpships got several votes. Everybody wants LOTS of electricity, and porta potties, shuttles and tents. Providing 100 free load organizers made many people happy. Making sure that the showers are good and hot from day one was mentioned more than once. Providing enough fencing and security to keep a private party atmosphere is certainly on the list as well. The free seminars every night seem to continue to be a hit, top notch entertainment at night is always appreciated, and even the non beer drinkers think that the beer should always be free. Making sure that the grounds continue to be neat and clean with many available garbage containers was mentioned many times. Keeping the jump prices low is a priority with everyone, and a really reasonable entry fee is high on the list of most jumpers. Rantoul's hospitality was a frequent topic.

We discussed these things at the staff level, and really thank those of you who took the time to fill out the surveys. We feel that this is YOUR boogie, and YOUR suggestions are what have always driven our practices. In that continued vein, we tossed about entry fee amounts. Since we took the time to do some research we have found that various boogies have a HUGE variety of pricing. We also found that there is a very wide variety in what is being offered in the way of amenities for those entry fees. Then we decided that what others are charging is not our driving principle. Our driving principle is to provide absolutely THE BEST BOOGIE on the face of the earth. Period. We took a very sharp pencil and started doing some "cyphering".

The first ten dollars of a skydivers registration goes to the Village of Rantoul to pay for the use of the airport. What we are left with, is what we have for paying for all of the amenities that were mentioned in the previous paragraph. We all sat very quietly while Don stared at the paper in his hands outlining our expenses vs our income. Since we have all seen him write out checks totaling a quarter of a million every year before the first skydiver arrives on site, we were not at all sure what his response would be. We all know that there have been years where his generosity helped pay for our skydiving vacation. We were hoping that perhaps a ten dollar reduction in the pre-registration fee would be possible. Don took a deep breath, and then told us "Let's do it! Let's drop the pre-registration fee TWENTY dollars!" Then he continued, "The regular registration fee will come down TEN."

I told Don that once again, he has pulled off the impossible. The resulting pre-registration fee brings the total to the WFFC down to BELOW our original fee in 1989.

Don't disappoint us now! We convinced Don to bring you the best boogie at the absolute BEST price, and he has done it! Bring your buddies and treat them to the most exciting skydiving event on the face of the earth! YOU are the vibe of the WFFC, and we are looking forward to that wonderful vibe returning to spend 10 days emersed in the smell of jet A and the roar of the engines!