Lunatic Fringe Into the Void

From skateboarding to rock climbing, Simon Whittle touched all the bases when it came to his beginnings in extreme sports, but the real hook came when his UK parents bought him his introduction into the world of skydiving in the form of a static line course. The UK being what it is, it took Simon a very long time to start racking up any real jump experience, but where the sky failed, the tunnel filled the gap. Working his way through the ranks as a tunnel instructor, by the time Simon found himself back under nylon, it had been close to 8 years, and he was ready for more. With a drastic change of profession and location he headed off to the Middle East, which turned out to be exactly the move he needed. Now Skydiving Instructor, BASE Jumper, and believe it or not, Skysurfer, Simon Whittle is well and truly locked into his path with the Lunatic Fringe.

Ray Kubiak, an OG tunnel Ninja, "retired" skydiver and all-around air sports badass sits down for a proper discussion about all things windy tubes, Las Vegas, bad places to stick your head and apparently good places to stick your junk. Join in on the Lunatic fun with Ray both here and on YouTube as we cover old times and new on Lunatic Fringe Into the Void with NZ Aerosports!

Music by Zach Kimsey

Self proclaimed "Bad Skydivers" Matt Porter and Courtney Skaar knew they wanted to get into skydiving, and like a lot of jumpers they were aimed toward it by friends that had already crossed over to the Fringe; but when Career Army Officer Matt and Clinical Psychologist Courtney came across Mr. Brian Casserly during their first boogie, both freshly "Stamped" A License newbies, they received the full and irreversible welcome to the "real" community of skydiving initiation, happily solidifying their route into the Lunatic Fringe.

He was the first of many guests on Lunatic Fringe, Sharing his amazing journey from his static line beginning to world champion swoop freestyle competitor, and now he is the first Lunatic to join us on YouTube.  Recapping some of his incredible stories, as well as touching on many we've never spoken of before, this is another entertaining and informative chat with Mr. David "Junior" Ludvik.

Pulling no punches has been Alix Raymond’s style, as anyone who knows her can tell you, and her time on the Lunatic Fringe with our returning host Mr. Zej Mski is absolutely no exception. Finishing our her term soon as the Southeast Regional Director for the USPA, she's got more than a few words to say on the sport of skydiving, the USPA as an organization with all its pitfalls and upswings, it's new leadership and more.  As a full-time "real worlder" as well as flying camera and instructing, the Director's seat not only helped to keep her more than a little busy, but gave her some insights into the Lunatic asylum that has left her with a whole lot to say!

Podcast music by Zach Kimsey

Vegas born and raised, Blane Moler was bound to go big in one way or another. With his brothers A.J. and Brian paving the way, he began his 30 plus year career in the sport of skydiving as a packer, bus driver and occasional target for big brother A.J's dirty biker style temper, not being allowed to really start to earn his chops as a working jumper until he'd been well past his D license; which back then, in that town was a whole lot. With the temptations of the Vegas lifestyle standing in the way of moving too far forward in the sport, Blane hit the road and headed to the other side of the country, racking up thousands of video jumps and earning his Tandem and AFF ratings. Now a full-time instructor and professional skydiving gypsy, he and his wife are busy enjoying all the Lunatic lifestyle has to offer, with no plans on slowing down and allowing the young bucks to pass.

Music by - Zach Kimsey

Both hard charging full fledged Red Bull Athletes, Dani Roman and Sebastian Alvarez have more than a few things in common. They both knew that skydiving was for them at a very young age, and they were both willing to take proper life-changing risks to follow their passion. From tossing it all and traveling across the planet to try and get a job in a country where he didn't speak the language, to walking away from a sure thing lifelong career as a military pilot, these two went all in on a gamble that has paid off in a big way; a big way in the form of being able to not only chase their dreams, but constantly reach for new ones. Join us on this, our 150th episode as we find out what type of lunatic mindset it takes not only to decide to do something as incredible as fly a wingsuit into an active volcano, but plan it out so well that you get Red Bull to back it. This one you're not gonna want to miss.

Dabble may be the word that Scott Callantine uses to describe his varied interests in the sport, but the truth of the matter is he's hit it from pretty much all angles. Huge into wingsuits, he was pulled that way as a pilot, but he's competed in 4way and 8way, flown CRW, hucked tandems, worked as an instructor... Now he sits down to welcome back our returning host Mr, Zej Mski to let people in on the new and exciting direction his journey is about to take, still deep on his own Lunatic path.

podcast music by Zach Kimsey

First jump fears aside, both Brandon Johnson and Debi Brown took to skydiving pretty much from go, although from very different angles.  Brandon's military background would leave you to believe that it stemmed from that profession, but as it turned out, the military lifestyle was what was getting in the way, right up until it wasn't anymore. Debi Brown on the other hand was well and deeply entrenched on a course set toward the medical profession by her family, but it was a choice that hadn't been hers, and it wasn't one she was willing to commit to. To those outside the sport, walking away from either of the paths Debi and Brandon were on to jump from planes instead might seem like something only a Lunatic would do...       Both working now as professional skydivers and enjoying the direction they've chosen for themselves, they've aimed toward goals that may not be the "norm" their families were hoping for, but are ones that for them personally are vastly more rewarding. Check out this weeks edition and find out what pulled these two deep into the Lunatic Fringe.

Back in the can to talk all things nylon are Julien Peelman, Chris Stewart and first timer Chris Snell who are quite literally the ABC's of canopy development, design and production for New Zealand Aerosports. From concept to the production of Proto types to test jumping, we sit down to chat about exactly what it takes to put together the industries leading wings that help keep the lunatic fringe in the sky.