Biography

Ray has been involved in Air Sports and Skydiving since he was 13 when he started Parascending, becoming a Parascending Instructor when he was 14. After completing 700 flights including piloting 300+ tandem flights, Ray then did his first parachute jump on his 16th birthday on 11th September 1982. Ray then joined the British Army at 16, qualifying as a Parachute Regiment Soldier in 1983. He served with the 1st Battalion, trained in Arctic Warfare as a Carl Gustav 84mm Anti-Tank Soldier. Ray then joined The Red Devils Freefall Team in 1985. In the Red Devils he was a Display Skydiver, specialist in Canopy Formation Skydiving and Parachute Rigging. He also qualified as a Category System Instructor, a Tandem Skydiving Instructor and as a Parachute Rigger. Ray left the Regular Army in 1988. After leaving the army he then gained more qualifications in skydiving. He then gained the following British Parachute Association qualifications: Accelerated Freefall Instructor (AFFI) Advanced Parachute Rigger (BPA Advanced Rigger #140) Advanced Instructor (AI), Instructor Examiner (IE) Display Team Leader Canopy Formation (CF) Coach Formation Skydiving (FS) Coach Advanced Packing (AP) Instructor / Examiner Ray was then asked to re-join the Parachute Regiment Reserves and in 2007 joined the 4th Battalion Parachute Regiment. He still remains a member of 4 Para. Ray has completed over 6000 skydives including Low Level Military Static Line, HALO, BASE, AFF Instruction, Tandem Instruction, Wing Suiting, Canopy Formation, Water Jumps, Night Jumps, Stunts and Displays. Jumping from Fixed Wing Aircraft, Jets, Biplanes, Helicopters both small and large, Balloons, and Cliffs
- IMDb mini biography by: Ray Armstrong