When 100,000-plus fans flock to the Camden Waterfront on Sept. 4 for the Philadelphia Red Bull Flugtag – German for “flying day” – they’ll not only get a glimpse of Rutgers’ southernmost campus, they’ll also see one of its students soaring in the cult-following competition.
Rutgers–Camden marketing major Dennis Patrick Coleman is pilot for Team #6: Adrenalinaholics, one of 34 groups chosen from thousands of applicants. “Years ago I saw a commercial of one of the events in Europe. As soon as I saw this I said ‘I’m going to do that someday,’” says Coleman, a 1995 graduate of Highland Regional High School in Blackwood.
Since the first Flugtag in Vienna in 1991, 80 of the competitions, which showcase pilots being launched in homemade flying machines from a 30-foot high flight deck, have taken place worldwide. For Coleman, an artist/musician/entrepreneur who prefers to be called Dennis P. Coltrane professionally, flying has become practically an everyday occurrence. Currently employed by Freefall Adventures in Williamstown, Coleman assists with a range of marketing endeavors, including campaigns, social media networking, and multimedia projects, as well as helps first-time tandem students and schedules jumps. But he also does extra work to earn free tickets.
A philanthropic business that supports numerous causes, Freefall Adventures owner John Eddowes is funding Coleman’s voyage in the Flugtag, as well as storage and transportation of the craft. Coleman's employment at Freefall Adventures is also supporting his tuition at Rutgers-Camden.
“I’m just so happy to be back in school and to be involved in what I’m doing. No one at the drop zone was even surprised to hear that John did all this for me. He’s just that kind of person. John even lent a plane to a competing drop zone so they could stay open. That’s just how skydivers are,” says Coleman, who has owned several small businesses over the years including an advertising company that sold space on bicycle courier bags, a silk screening company, and a recording studio. The current economic climate has made managing those businesses especially challenging for Coleman.
“After everything I’ve been through and all that I had and lost, all the places I’ve worked, these experiences are so much more valuable than learning from books alone. But it also makes me really appreciate being back at school way more than the average student,” Coleman adds.
Freefall Adventures is also allowing Coleman and his teammates Trevor Thompson, Stas Kosinski, Ilya Ladyzhensky, and Matt Grzegorski to use found materials from the base to help construct their air craft. The Rutgers–Camden student says of all the competitors in the Camden Flugtag, only Adrenalinaholics has constructed its 30-foot wingspan flying machine from reused and repurposed materials; they even cut down non-native bamboo.
“It’s quite a challenge to make a plane out of bamboo, especially when it has to fit in a truck and be reassembled in 90 minutes,” says Coleman. “But everything will end up in the Delaware River, then a dumpster, and we won’t get it back. We don’t want to buy pvc pipe or steel or new canopy fabric only to have it thrown out after just one use.”
A lot of the Flugtag fun is the outlandish themes of the aircraft, like extra large chicken drumsticks or flying pigs, pushed by teams of Smurfs or green Army men. Sticking with the green theme, even Coleman’s pilot costume, inspired from the Calvin and Hobbes “Dinosaur in Rocketships” series, is recycled: his sister’s old prom dress now sports a tail.
The Rutgers–Camden junior’s Labor Day flight certainly won’t be his last. On his 53rd skydive now, Coleman’s aiming for 400 within the next year. Not to mention his Scarlet Raptor status, which surely will launch him into more opportunities.
Red Bull Flugtag is a free event and open to the public. Gates open at 11 am and the first launch is at 1 pm. For more information, visit www.redbullflugtagusa.com. Visit a Rutgers-Camden BBQ at Johnson Park, beginning at noon.
Media Contact: Cathy K. Donovan
(856) 225-6627
E-mail: catkarm@camden.rutgers.edu