(I just got this e-mail and thought I'd put it up here for those that didn't...)
"Just when and everyone thought it was over, Jim is back!
He just can't seem to get away from it all!
After months and months of negotiation with Skydive Spaceland they have convinced Jim Slaton to organize Swoop Week at the 2009 US Nationals in Houston!
Jim had planned to move on to bigger and better things but the US Nationals finally came to his home town. Skydive Spaceland has spent allot of effort and money into their drop zone for this year's Nationals. The DZ is also building a large swoop scene with (should we dare say it) the largest swoop pond in the country.
Swoop Week will be organized very similar to last year with the US Nationals of Canopy Piloting, the CPC Championships and the Pro Swooping Tour championships. The tour will offer "Pro" slots/cards for the top ten winners of the CPC championships and a $5,000 cash purse to the top winners of the PST Championships.
ALL amatuers are invited to the CPC championships. These are indiviuals who are not pro qualified or have not competed at the pro level in any other swoop competitions. There will be much more information coming out soon and the website www.swoopweek.com will be updated with all this years information about the event. See you then!"
of course not. All it means is there's been no work done on the site, other than the new poster. It's still the same as it was for Swoop Week 2009.
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A general thought: what is the deal with the CPC? Is it still alive anywhere? AFAIK, the only competitions that feature 10 foot gates for Amateurs is FLCPA and USPA Nationals, and neither is associated with CPC or PST in any way. And with Nats just a few days later, the only incentive for an Am to compete in CPC championships during the Swoop Week would be the prize money.
Sunday Oct 18th Registration & official practice Registration- 9:00am-3:00pm Practice-8:00am-4:00pm Competitor briefing for CPC events
Monday Oct 19th CPC Championships Safety briefing- 7:30am Distance event-8:00am-10:00am Accuracy event-11:00am-1:00pm Practice 2:00pm-8:00pm
Tuesday Oct 20th CPC Championships Safety briefing- 7:30am Speed event-8:00am-10:00am Official Practice for USPA Nationals of CP 12:00pm-7:00pm ($13 slots) Competitor briefing for Nationals Award ceremony
Wed Oct 21th 2009 USPA Nationals Safety briefing- 7:30am Speed event-8:00am-10:00am Accuracy event-11:00am-1:00pm Practice 2:00pm-8:00pm
Thursday Oct 22th 2009 USPA Nationals Safety briefing- 7:30am Distance event-8:00am-10:00am Practice 12:00pm-8:00pm Competitor briefing for PST events Award ceremony medal event
Friday Oct 23th 2009 USPA Nationals Safety briefing- 7:30am Practice all day
Saturday Oct 24th PST Championships Safety briefing- 8:30am Long Jump-9:00am-11:00am Freestyle X-12:00pm-2:00pm
Sunday Oct 25th PST Championships Safety briefing- 8:30am The Challenge event-9:00am-11:00am Award ceremony
A general thought: what is the deal with the CPC? Is it still alive anywhere? AFAIK, the only competitions that feature 10 foot gates for Amateurs is FLCPA and USPA Nationals, and neither is associated with CPC or PST in any way. And with Nats just a few days later, the only incentive for an Am to compete in CPC championships during the Swoop Week would be the prize money.
I kinda thought the CPC was going to be dead after the "big retirement". I think they're still having a regular CPC schedule in TX though. I'm thinking of having just one meet here at Skydive Chicago sometime in September. Not sure what's going on in Cali...
LOL!!! I'll believe it when I see it, Dave! :-) Hope all well with you. You shld come down to the Farm with Adam Teeling and Lead for the April meet...good times there!
LOL!!! I'll believe it when I see it, Dave! :-) Hope all well with you. You shld come down to the Farm with Adam Teeling and Lead for the April meet...good times there!
Here's a little video of the new pond at spaceland. The pond is only about a third of the way full. Winds were a little shifty. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrhaNBxXR2E
There's a difference between a pond and a "Lake"... They should get a canoe for swoopers that don't make it out of the middle!!! (even though it's probably only 1-2 feet deep)
I know the prices look a little different but in reality the price for the CPC and PST is the same as last year. The CP Nationals are cheaper due to the prices in the bid from 2 years ago when I was trying to get my foot in the door and win the right to host the event. I am now realizing that $13 to 5K making 4 to 5 passes isn't very cost effective for these turbine aircraft, but Im sticking to the bid. Hope to see you at swoop week.
ATTENTION: All amatuer swoopers
All amatuers who can safely swoop a course and meet the requirements below are invited to the CPC Championships during Swoop Week October 19th-25th. Come out for a chance to win the championship "Eagle trophy" and your "Pro" classification by finishing in the top 10. This will allow you to compete in the PST championships and a chance to win $5,000.
Use the CPC Championships as a warm up for the USPA CP Nationals starting the next day. Come play with us at the Nation's best Swoop Park! 500' x 250' with all the infrastructure you need to train and become a champion!
Requirements:Canopy Piloting Advanced Class C License and at least 500 high-performance landings total including a minimum of 100 high-performance landings in the last 12 months.
Hey guys...how far are the entry gates from the end of the pond for the CPC championships? I'm trying to find a layout of the course...I think I stumbled upon it on one of the swoopweek pages but can't find it again
I am now realizing that $13 to 5K making 4 to 5 passes isn't very cost effective for these turbine aircraft, but Im sticking to the bid..
I've always wondered why large planes are used for many of these swoop events. It seems incredibly inefficient to put 20 swoopers on an Otter, fly to 5000 feet, and then make 5 passes to drop them all. Why not use three 182's assembly line style? Al did this at this year's Last Big Splash and it appeared to work very smoothly. With 30 competitors the turnaround time between rounds was much faster than other events I have attended that used a large turbine aircraft.
Dude this Awesome News! 
New Pond.jpg
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