The Man Who Took Aerial Skydiving Displays to the Extreme

Airvision Aviation founder Sohn Herbert began his aviation journey in 1989, skydiving over Wickham, WA. What started as a personal thrill quickly became a professional obsession — launching a 30-year career that helped define the golden era of Australian aerial displays.

With over 4,000 skydives under his belt, Sohn isn't just a skydiver. He’s a helicopter pilot, ultralight pilot, gyrocopter pilot, paragliding pilot, motor-paragliding pilot, base jumper, instructor, cameraman, and aerial display pioneer.

In 1992, Sohn founded Skylark Promotions, a professional skydiving display team that quickly became the go-to crew for Australia’s largest live events. From the Formula 1 Grand Prix and major football matches to AFL, NRL, and beyond, Sohn and his team jumped into stadiums, arenas, and festivals nationwide.

Their biggest stage? The Royal Easter Show — seven years in a row. For 14 days each year, Skylark performed up to two aerial displays per day — day and night — including a spectacular main arena act where a helicopter was dressed up like a giant dog. The team was the first to use helmet-mounted downlink cameras that beamed live footage from skydivers directly to massive screens in the arena, day and night. They also pioneered a world-first: combining skydivers and motorised paragliders in the same live show space. Over one million spectators attended across the 14-day run, making it one of the largest skydiving display events in history.

For seven straight years, the team headlined the Royal Easter Show at the old Sydney Showground (now Fox Studios) — and later, opened the new Olympic Park site with their aerial displays.

In 1996, Sohn pushed things further — jumping with the largest parachute banner ever flown, a colossal 10,000 square feet. “Never again,” he said — but it proved what was possible. That same year, he introduced the first full-body lighting systems for night-time skydiving shows.

At its peak, Skylark was the largest professional skydiving team in the world — a five-man outfit that toured globally, performing high-impact aerial stunts with precision, grit, and spectacle.

Today, Skylark Promotions has evolved into Airvision Aviation, continuing the legacy of bold aerial innovation — from skydiving displays to the world’s largest helicopter-towed banners.

Want to take your brand to the skies? Contact Airvision Aviation to create an aerial campaign that people will talk about long after it lands.