PAPEA Set a new Spanish record
The Spanish PAPEA claimed a new Spanish parachuting record by forming a stack of 11 men standing on each others’ shoulders.
Yesterday, Friday the 5th of May 2023, a team of skydivers from PAPEA- Patrulla Acrobática de Paracaidismo del Ejército del Aire (Parachute Acrobatic Patrol of the Air Force) or simply the Spanish Air Force Parachute Aerobatic Team have built a canopy stack of 11 persons with the bottom jumper flying the Flag of Ejército del Aire (Spanish Air Force).
With this 11-person stack, PAPEA set a new record for the largest canopy stack achieved in Spain.
PAPEA during the record breaking jump
The Stack
Although the stack is considered the most basic formation, performing an 11-person stack required a lot of preparation and training.
To build a stack one jumper sits on top of the other jumper’s centre cell and hooks his feet behind the centre A-lines of the lower canopy similar to sitting on a chair. In a stack, the body of the top jumper is in front of the centre cell of the lower canopy.
The turbulence of that body meets the airflow of the lower canopy exactly at the point where the main lift is created and leads to a considerable loss of lift. This means that a stack will sink far more than a single canopy.
PAPEA History
PAPEA was created in 1978 at the Méndez Parada Parachuting Military School located at the Alcantarilla Air Base in southeastern Spain, in the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia.
On January 12, 1952, in Alcantarilla, Lieutenant Abajo performed the first parachute drop with the delayed opening (manual opening) from 1000 meters high, beginning with this performance in Spain the modality of parachute jumping in free fall.
As the repository of all the lessons learned and given the need to place Spain within the high level of the countries around them, in 1978 an independent unit was created that brought together expert personnel from the two paratrooper units located then and now in Alcantarilla air base:
The Mendez Parada Parachuting Military School (EMPMP)
Parachute Sappers Squad (EZAPAC)
Members of the PAPEA in front of the CASA C-212 Aviocar
PAPEA Today
Since its inception and up to the present date, PAPEA has not stopped reaping successes. The team’s track record could not be more eloquent. This career of success has continued over the years in the different competitions in which it has participated, demanding more and more in order to be at the level of the best teams in the world.
Each year the team perform all over Spain drawing different formations in the sky representing the very best of the Spanish Air Force.
The objectives of the team are:
Represent Spain and the Air Force in skydiving exhibitions and competitions, both national and international.
Serve as the base of the National Skydiving Team selecting the right personnel.
To be a parachute testing and experimentation unit, providing technical knowledge of material and personnel to support teaching at the Military School of Parachuting.
For more information visit the PAPEA Official Website and follow the team on Facebook.
