Also: NetJets Suit, ‘Ladies Love Taildraggers’ Scholarships, Buckeye Arizona Air Fair, Heatwave Amphibious Scooping Floats Van’s Aircraft wrapped up 2025 with strong production and support numbers, helped in no small part by the market arrival of the RV-15. The backcountry bird turned heads with the release of its wing kit at EAA AirVenture in July, but the less expected success of the year was operational: more predictable lead times, fewer backlogs, and a cleaner quality control strategy. On the kit side, Van’s delivered roughly 1,200 aircraft kits worldwide in 2025. More notably for builders, lead times tightened considerably. U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Keith Platt was one of the jumpmasters overseeing a stream of paratroopers hustling out the door of their C-130 for jump training. Platt was positioned in the final safety spot, closely scanning each soldier for any potential problems in the last moments before they jumped. The fifth soldier in line had a serious problem: the static line appeared to be looped around his neck. The skydiving community closed out 2025 at a (literal) high point, with tandem divers jumping from 42,917 feet above West Tennessee Skydiving in Whiteville. This set a Guinness World Record for the highest tandem parachute jump, adding yet another headline to an already impressive year for the sport. All this — and MORE in today’s episode of Airborne-Unlimited!!!
