Meet Mickey Nuttall the ultimate Body Pilot!

One of the perks of being a Jump Pilot is that I get to meet some unique and super cool people. On a recent trip to Dallas I was honored to meet Mickey Nuttall, one of the best skydivers in the world. He happens to be good friends with my girlfriend Renee, they went to high school together and he actually introduced her to skydiving over a year ago. He was in Dallas coaching at the iFly wind tunnel where we met up with him.

Photo by Marvel Studios - Mickey Nuttall in the film Iron Man 3

After he was done coaching Renee, the three of us went to lunch where I was able to ask him a few questions about his very interesting career in skydiving.

Mickey started skydiving 20 years ago and I could tell that he is still passionate about it after all these years, which I can relate to with aviation. He has numerous gold medals from US Nationals, holds world records and has performed stunt skydives in popular television shows such as CSI Miami, The Unit and the infamous Jackass rigless skydive! He has also performed stunt skydives in the film Iron Man 3 and doubled for Will Smith for the KCA 2012 awards show.

Mickey Nuttall at iFly Dallas

He also enjoys BASE jumping, wingsuiting and speedflying. He lives in Colorado where he also loves snowboarding. Mickey's home drop zone is Skydive Chicago but you can find him touring the country competing and coaching at wind tunnel camps. If you need a first class skydive coach or tandem instructor contact him on his site Body Pilots!

Will Smith goes skydiving at Skydive Dubai

Will Smith and his two sons, Jaden and Trey, recently went skydiving at Skydive Dubai. His youngest son is only 15 years old, which would have been an issue at any U.S. drop zone. 

Although the U.S. government doesn't care how old a skydiver is, the state governments will not allow a parent to sign away the rights of a minor to sue. The USPA requires its member drop zones to only allow skydivers 18 years or older to jump. Now, considering that he is one of the most popular actors on the planet, I'm sure that more than a few drop zones in the U.S. would have surely risked getting sued in exchange for all of the publicity.  However, Mr. Smith decided to jump at Skydive Dubai instead.  Not a bad choice, considering that it is one of the largest, newest and most respected drop zones in the world.

Before skydiving with his sons and to feel more comfortable with his decision to let them jump, The Fresh Prince went skydiving a week prior with his old co-star Alfonso Riberio. He also got some wind tunnel time with the Crown Prince of Dubai.