What does it take to set a new world record?

Eighty seconds, five Royal Thai Air Force C-130s, 357 people, and nine days of skydiving.

On Feb. 6, Bob Ponzi of Temperance joined 356 other skydivers in Korat, Thailand, in an intricate circular design more than 10,000 feet above the ground, breaking the record for the largest number of skydivers in a single formation.

Mr. Ponzi was one of the World Team, an elite, invitation-only group of skydivers from more than 40 countries who joined hands in mid-air in search of a world record.

An engineer at the Owens-Illinois technical center in Perrysburg, Mr. Ponzi has been skydiving for 30 years, made almost 3,600 jumps, and has competed nation-wide in four-person formations that change position mid-flight.

"Sky diving's a lot of fun," he said. "There's nothing like it."

He started doing the four-ways because that's what people did after learning how to control their solo jumps, he said.

Mr. Ponzi said the sky-diving community is close-knit, and he knows people all over the country. He joined the World Team after someone he jumps with in Florida invited him.

The team is organized by B.J. Worth, aerial stunt coordinator for James Bond movies.

"It's like Jack Nicklaus asking you to be on his golf team," Mr. Ponzi said.

To qualify for the record, the team not only had to create a formation, but had to create the correct formation, with all the skydivers in their assigned spots.

It takes well-designed formations, careful timing, and hours of rehearsals, both in the air and "dirt dives" on the ground.

"The more patient you are, the easier it is," Mr. Ponzi said.

The team members have to work together to get so many people in place safely.

They start at 24,000 feet, high enough up that they need to wear oxygen masks in the planes.

The first six people out are already holding hands, forming a base ring so everyone else knows where to go. Everyone else follows them out within 5 seconds, since every second behind means making up a separation of 100 feet.

The skydivers steer to their spots by moving their hands, and can speed up and slow down by moving their limbs in and out to decrease or increase air resistance.

If all goes well, they link up hand to arm and fall as a group, at speeds over 100 miles an hour, before flying apart and opening their chutes for safe landings.

There's a long list of ways someone can mess up, from grabbing a leg instead of an arm to falling too low, passing beneath another diver, and blocking the air that's holding him or her up.

The group has seen a broken leg and dislocations, but no fatalities, Mr. Ponzi said.

"These are highly skilled skydivers who have been doing this for years," he said.

Their previous world records were made in Bratislava, Slovakia, in 1994, Anapa, Russia, in 1996, and Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, in 1999. They choose countries that let them use military aircraft.

Mr. Ponzi, 57, doesn't plan to stop skydiving anytime soon.

"It's exhilarating," he said.

Contact Elizabeth A. Shack at:

eshack@theblade.com

or 419-724-6050.

First Published June 10, 2004, 12:51 p.m.