The Lunatic Fringe Podcast The Pilot

Friends for decades, Paul Dorward and Ollie Neuberger had a lot in common from the very beginning. A love for skydiving, and a career in law enforcement. As each discovered along the way their love not only for teaching within the sport, but welcoming new people to play, they found themselves regularly traveling abroad with plane loads of fellow police Britts to exotic places like Lake Elsinore, California. Paul was blasting full steam ahead on the canopy side of the sport, while Ollie set his sights early on earning the title of AFF instructor. Now, with Paul a Flight-1 instructor and Ollie having completely embraced the AFF life while juggling law enforcement and a family, the two take time out of their busy schedules to talk all things nylon, travel, and community, sharing shades of a great (and enjoyably insulting) friendship deep within the Lunatic Fringe. 

Back in the can to fire off a few questions of his own, A legend in the airsports world who has not only carved out his own unique path, but helped countless others find their own, Ray Kubiak shows not only why he's an incredibly valued member of The Lunatic Fringe, but one who's taken up an entirely new challenge which he'll be making good on in less than three months!

Like a lot of us, Andy "Bad Andy" VanHandel went out to make his first jump with his then girlfriend. How did that first jump go? Truth is, he couldn't tell you. It was complete overload... Yet something in that first experience drew him back. By jump number 3, he knew he'd found his sport. Working toward his coach rating, then static-line instructor, and eventually to a very busy weekend warrior TI, Andy had found not just a passion, but a community to share it with. Still deep in the tandem game, Andy has gone out of his way to support one of the most deserving causes out there. Veterans. Working closely with the veterans group HOOAH on their incredible project Freedom Freefall, it's an event designed specifically to help vets suffering from PTSD find a new direction and passion in life. With this years event falling on July 13th, which just happens to be World Skydiving Day, and July 20th registration will end May 15th. Head to hooahwi.org/freedom-freefall and help Andy and the Lunatic Fringe give something back to an incredibly deserving group!

Although Dawson and Olivier started their journey in skydiving at the same time, it was the tunnel that first sunk its hooks deep in both of them. Growing up in Canada, all the usual sports were on tap for each of them, from snowboarding to rock climbing, but it was the tunnel that showed them something exciting and new. As with most, finding both the time and money to maintain turned out to be the biggest challenge, and although Covid threw a proper wrench into the machine for everyone, both Olivier and Dawson survived the two year long tunnel shut down, pushed forward with the skydiving side of their journey and into the world of competition in the tunnel. Now have their sights set on helping smooth the way for newer generations of both skydivers and tunnel flyers with a YouTube video series designed specifically with them in mind, helping to pass on the Lunatic Fringe way of life.

Anyone in skydiving for any length of time hears amazing stories, both in the air and on the ground. For those outside the sport, some of them are truly hard to wrap your head around... and Rhino Jon? Well, he has more of those stories than almost anyone. From wealthy beginnings Jon decided to go a different way. His path led him toward the military, then special forces, then covert style operations, drug smuggling, art theft, and of course skydiving. With a 12,000 acre "garden" in Kenya to tend to, he keeps himself busy not just skydiving out of his personal aircraft, but tending to his 270 wild rhinos, elephants, lions and more, as well as ensuring that any poachers are... removed. The author of 5 books including one entitled For the Love of Art, Rhino Jon pretty much wrote the book on the Lunatic Fringe.

The first time Lee Crudgington thought about jumping out of an airplane he was just in search of a plan for the future. He wasn't prepared for the military recruiter telling him paratrooper training was the way to go. Being fit and young, his training went well, all except for being deployed first to his paratrooper regiment in Iraq without having gone through jump school; yet once he did finally earn his wings, it was the fast track for Lee. Becoming a member of the heralded Red Devils from the very start, it was only the beginning. Through years of demonstration jumps and competition, Lee went on to become an incredibly important member of the team, happily pushing the limits. Yet it would be a vacation and a plan to go speed flying that would change everything, and challenge him like nothing before. Now, coming back from years of surgery and the most demanding physical challenges of his life, Lee once again has his sights set on beating the odds, proving that paratroopers never give up, and showing everyone he's a dedicated member of the Lunatic Fringe.