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    5 Things You Didn’t Know About The PIA Symposium

    Regina from CYPRES shares information about the CYPRES unit, 'WSC' designed for the wingsuit community. Images by Randy Connell If you’ve never attended the Parachute Industry Association Symposium, you may not know what to expect. Maybe, you aren’t even sure what PIA is or why you even need to make the trip. If you’re afraid of sitting in stuffy rooms with an atmosphere as uncomfortable as a timeshare tourist trap, you can relax. PIA is nothing like that. The PIA Symposium is a time when the different branches of our particular segment of aviation all come together under one roof.
    Rather than draw things out, let’s get to it. Here are 5 things you didn’t know about the PIA Symposium.
    Just How Big the Skydiving Circle Is
    When you arrive at the PIA Symposium, get ready for a warm welcome: there is an entire booth set up to greet you. Get your swag bag, name tag, and seminar schedule, and be ready for a great time. Like a drop zone on a sunny steady summer Saturday, the air is nearly buzzing with energy. In one space, jumpers current and retired, drop zone owners and managers, and military personnel and skydiving teams are all gathered together. You’ll see people from around the world. We know our circle is a somewhat isolated one, but boy, it sure doesn’t seem like it at the PIA Symposium. It’s also not just jumpers and drop zone owners from the United States that are present. You’ll walk past groups speaking languages from around the globe: military teams from Poland chatting, fun jumpers from South Africa mingling by the complimentary refreshments. Nearly every continent and country is represented.
    Exponential Business Connections
    At the PIA Symposium, you have the chance to establish meaningful industry contacts. Top gear manufacturers both military and civilian, set up impressive interactive displays and booths to give PIA Symposium attendees the chance to see the most cutting-edge innovations in the skydiving industry. Whether you are looking for training equipment or student gear, you will find what you need here. The EXPO Hall isn’t just for managers and drop zone owners either, there is gear on display that is perfect for weekend warrior skydivers too.
    85 Year Old British Skydiver, Dilys Price was the Keynote Speaker at the 2017 PIA Symposium.  
    Ways to Improve your home Drop Zone
     
    They say a ‘smarter skydiver is a safer skydiver.’ Well, the PIA Symposium is the perfect place to learn. The PIA Symposium facilitates knowledge sharing through seminars which are teeming with information. During the symposium, you have daily opportunities to sit in on seminars dealing with rigging, skydiving, management, government and skydiving interaction, and BASE. If you want to run a better, safer drop zone, attending PIA is a great first step. However, fostering safe drop zones isn’t just a job for managers and drop zone owners: the community as a whole is responsible. Whether sport jumper, manager, or drop zone owner, when you leave PIA, you leave armed with a noggin full of knowledge to take back home to your drop zone and improve everyone’s experience.
    Everyone Feels Like a Potential Friend
    You wouldn’t assume that you would leave any sort of symposium with some lifelong friends, would you? Well, you might just leave PIA with a few more telephone numbers programmed in your cell and a long list of drop zones to visit. No matter the level, ethnicity, or country of origin, it seems skydivers click. The PIA Symposium is basically a melting pot of like-minded people all connected by a love of skydiving and a passion for the sport and industry.
    Sandy Reid of Rigging Innovations stands with his team. At the 2019 Symposium, RI introduces their new Mojo MARD.  
    Opportunities to Explore New Places
     
    You don’t have to sit in seminars from sun up until sun down. Throughout the day, there are plenty of breaks and opportunities to explore. The PIA Symposium each year is held in charming cities with their own little secret niches and neat places to tour. This year is no different. The 2019 PIA symposium will be held in Dallas, Texas. So, grab a group of your new friends and do some sightseeing.
    They say everything is bigger in Texas, and we bet this PIA symposium will be one of the best yet!

    By Meso, in News,

    Dive with ad'oh, not Dubya

    A poll conducted by a British charity has found that more people would rather participate in a tandem skydive with Homer Simpson than with George Bush. Twenty per cent of respondents said they would trust a skydive with the daft cartoon dad, compared with eight per cent for the US president, according to the poll for the Leonard Cheshire organisation.
    Eighteen per cent trusted Anne Robinson, host of the BBC game show The Weakest Link. Least trusted was Charles Ingram, a former army major convicted of cheating on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? at three per cent.
    "Homer Simpson might not be the sharpest tool in the box, but he has a good heart - and his laughter value alone would make him an invaluable skydiving partner," said TV psychologist Gladeana McMahon.
    Leonard Cheshire, a disability charity, commissioned the survey of 1,000 people across Britain to find out their attitudes towards different challenges.
    Its new fundraising initiative, called Challenge for Change, offers individuals the opportunity to try different sports - including skydiving.

    By admin, in News,

    L-1 Vertical Wind Tunnel

    Initial tests prove that the L-1 wind tunnel is everything that it's fathers designed it to be... Under development for nearly a decade, dreamt about for 2 more before that, and the L-1 Vertical Wind Tunnel is NOW a reality.
    L-1 is not your typical wind tunnel facility, built by the most experienced wind tunnel flyers in the world, our forefathers of this sport. And by our forefathers I mean, those who flew before us, still fly with us today and who invented the maneuvers that today win competitions. These are the guys who do it because they LOVE it, it's a passion in life, they are drawn to it like a writer to paper, or a bee to honey, or a bird to the skies...
    L-1 is the ultimate playground and classroom for any participant at every level. The desire to build an L-1 type facility came immediately after experiencing the air quality Wright Patterson Air Force Base Military Tunnel. These poor underprivileged flyers who came from propeller driven tunnels, could now see an amazing change in the air that they relied so heavily on.
    But what could a couple of tunnel rats do about it? Remember our forefathers weren't always fathers, they started out as kids too :) Determination, intervention and devotion to the future guided them on the path to their destiny. Their dream so simple, to have smooth, quiet air at tunnels across the globe, they weren't motivated by greed or profit, but by a sheer drive to share their experience with the rest of the world. Generous assistance from world-renown aerodynamicists, scientists and engineers along side of the worlds most knowledgeable bodyflyers, yielded an amazing 1/12 scale working model of the future L-1 VWT producing laminar flow. The test section of this tunnel is an extraordinary 70ft in length and is able to create a new dynamic within the industry; multi-level flight platforms on a single column of air. The designing didn't stop there either, the aesthetic beauty of an L-1 will certainly leave you without words, other than perhaps "Wow" Unlike other facilities, the only interaction you will have with the mechanical systems is to know that they are there...somewhere. It's sounds so quiet, you can carry on a cell phone conversation 25ft away from a flyer. Additionally the catch net on this tunnel was built with aerobatics in mind, built like a trapeze net, it cradles the fallen flyer safely.
    Today, L-1 is a reality, built in the open air of North Carolina, it's a picturesque representation of future facilities across the globe. L-1 was also produced with the intention of reproduction, and full sales information will be made available to the general public by early spring 2004. Although you won't see any enclosures or tubes at this facility, those options are available to interested buyers.
    Prospective buyers can learn more about this facility and schedule a showing by visiting Bodyflight Concepts www.bodyflightconcepts.com

    By admin, in News,

    Journey to the Bigways

    From Student to the 100th Jump
    Making it to my first Nine-way and then suddenly
    being welcome into RW jumps
    During early 2005, I became interested in big ways while I
    was still a student skydiver.  As a deaf person, I discovered the
    deafskydivers.org website, and they were planning an upcoming Deaf World Record
    event.  They required 100 jumps and a B license to participate in the event.  A
    daunting goal, this gave me the incentive to jump as often as I could at my home
    dropzone.  At jump #99, the largest formation I had ever jumped in was a
    three-way.  For my next jump, I set forth trying to get the biggest RW formation
    the drop zone would let me build.   This became a nine-way, made mostly of
    Skydive Gananoque's instructors.  For my 100th jump, we created a
    successful 9-way jump even though I funneled the exit!   Before this jump, I had
    a hard time finding willing RW buddies.  Word went out I'd accomplished a
    two-point nine-way.  Now I was suddenly being invited into four-ways, five-ways,
    and six-ways, jump after jump!  As a result, my learning experience experienced
    a big bang after this milestone jump. 
     
     






     
    photo by Dave "Fuzzy" Hatherly

     
    Deaf World Record 2005
    First experience being “cut” from a bigway event
    November 2005 was my first skydiving vacation.  I flew 
    to Florida to participate in Deaf World Record.  It was like a deaf boogie,
    organized by the infamous Billy Vance and John Woo.  Before the event, I went to
    Skyventure Orlando for the first time.  I was floored to learn that John Woo had
    20 hours of tunnel time, and is a World Team member having completed the 357-way
    World Record the previous year.  He told me he had about 700 jumps.  His story
    was an inspiration, even if it was an impossible dream at this time.  Over the
    next few days, 20 of us jumped several attempts to break the 14-way2003
    record.   I learned a lot, and docked on several formations that exceeded the
    size of my 100th jump formation. 
    Eventually, they had to give “the speech” to four jumpers
    to reduce subsequent attempts to 16.  
    I was one of the people to be “cut” from the final
    formation. 
    My feelings of disappointment disappeared as I witnessed
    the Deaf World Record from the ground, the subsequent first night jump, and
    giving my glowsticks away.  The photo with the goofy smile tells the whole story
    of Deaf World Record 2005 experience.
     






     


     






     


     
    Attending Canada Big Way 2006
    Failing to get to the 59-way level, but managing to
    get to the 30-way level
    I learned about the Canada Record during late 2005, and
    wanted to see if I could possibly qualify for this event.  It seemed far fetched
    that I might participate in an 80-way but I kept my mind open.  During 2006, I
    completed my first 20-ways during boogies when the Twin Otter visited my Cessna
    home dropzone.  The dropzone told me to go and attend the Canada Record anyway,
    to 'try out' and see if I was good enough.  At this event I had my first taste
    of big way education, such as stadiums, radials, sheep dogging, red zone.  
    Alas, I was cut before I went past a 21-way.  The event proceeded to complete a
    59-way while I jumped a side 20-way camp for people who were cut from the main
    formation.  I learned many valuable lessons, including from Guy Wright: Never
    look up when I fall low.  After that advice, despite still being a sloppy flyer,
    I consistently recovered from falling low during these jumps.  I made many bad
    impressions with Guy Wright, however, TK Hayes invited me to participate in a
    20-way.   Later, it became apparent there was too many jumpers, and it became
    two separate 30-ways instead.  This became the consolation prize: My first
    multiple-plane formation load, and my first 30-way, that I completed, docking 14th.  

     






     


     
    Guy Wright's Big Way Camp 2007
    Struggle trying to stay current
    During 2007, I had a major downturn in my jumping frequency
    due to job and love life situation.  Nonetheless, I attended a Guy Wright big
    way camp at the same dropzone as the Canada Big Way 2006 event.  However, I got
    cut very early during the first day as I was very uncurrent and my previous
    impression at Canada Big Way 2006.   In addition to my lack of currency, I had
    also gained weight, so I had much more difficulty falling slow, so I kept
    falling low too often!   Discouraged, I gave up on big ways for the remainder of
    2007 except for the easy 20-ways that occurred at Gananoque's Twin Otter
    boogies.
     
    Perris P3 Big Way Camp May 2008: Finally Persistence
    Wins!
    Finally reaching the 50-way level
    In the previous two years, I kept hearing about the famous
    “Perris Big Way Camps” as being the best camp to learn about big ways.    I was
    getting current again and I worked a little over an hour of tunnel time and
    20-way jumps previous to the camp.   Finally having the prerequisite jumps, I
    attended the Perris big way camp for May 2008.    They require 250 jumps with 50
    jumps in the preceding 6 months.  It was to become the best skydiving vacation
    ever.  As a deaf jumper, I was very challenging to the Perris P3 team, because I
    often required a little more maintenance than everybody.   Load organizers
    dislike high-maintenance jumpers, and it was always a challenge to make myself
    as low maintenance as possible. I was struggling trying to learn as much as
    possible, with the help of other jumper writing notes for me!   I persisted and
    climbed my way through ever-bigger formations, and the final jumps on the final
    day, I was to become part of an outer weed whacker (“weed whacker of last
    resort”).   On the third last jump, I fell low.  On the second last jump, I
    successfully docked but others in my whacker did not make it.  I approached a
    discouraged-looking guy and encouraged him, good job, you can still do it.  He
    was a guy, very much like me, who was trying so hard.  I gave him a good pat on
    the back and gave him the encouragement.  The thrill of diving fast from a trail
    plane, and slowing down on time for a dock.  I almost fell low on this jump, but
    I docked – DOCKED!   Then I committed the sin of looking away from the center
    and to other jumpers docking on me.  He was struggling, going to fall 1 foot low
    below me – but I made a last minute decision to drop my level slightly below,
    while still docked, and help catch him.  We docked in a mutual grunt of effort. 
    Right in the nick of time, the final person, about to go low too, caught the
    very end of the weed whacker and promptly pulled our entire whacker low again, a
    whole 2 feet below the formation level, with the chain becoming almost
    diagonal!  However, we quickly leveled out without funneling.  We DID IT.  

    I was sloppy, the video showed my instability as I caught
    the other skydiver, but I felt I played “hero” on this jump – helping other new
    big way jumpers like myself complete the formation.  While I was not ready to
    truly play the role of hero, I had so badly wanted the formation to be complete
    – and it was my job in the weed whacker of last resort to try to make it
    succeed.  On the other hand, skydivers are supposed to look towards the center
    of formation.  Despite this succeess, I still had lots to learn.   But it was
    time to celebrate – I was so happy I was part of a complete 49-way formation!
     






    photo by T.C. Weatherford


     
     
    Perris P3 100-Way Camp September 2008
    Now reaching the 100-way level
    By now, I was starting to think I might make it into the
    next World Team if I tried hard enough.  I started to hear that the next World
    Record might be happening in year 2010.   I then made a decision to gamble and
    “go for broke” for the Perris P3 September camps, and try to bring myself to the
    100-way level.  The Perris camps were organized as a 50-way camp the weekend
    prior and a 100-way camp the weekend after.   I had only gotten a conditional
    invite for the 100-way camp based on the performance of my 50-way camp, but
    planned my vacation as if I was going to possibly be accepted into the
    100-way.   As a deaf skydiver, I hunted down interpreter help to try and
    decrease my maintenance level even further.  Jan Meyer stepped up to the plate
    and offered to be my debrief-room interpreter and to double as a dedicated big
    way coach.   I surpassed the performance of my previous Perris May 2008 visit. 
    It worked – I qualified for the 100-way camp.  The next week, I finally did my
    first 100-way as I had dreamed of doing someday. 
     
     
    The Future...
    Even though I am still very much a relative newbie to
    bigways still yet to be part of an invitational big way event, I now have a new
    goal: Be part of The World Team within my lifetime, whether in 2010 or later! 
    Although I now have enough experience to be invited to the smaller invitationals
    listed at the bigways.com site, I still have a long way to go, and lots yet to
    learn!

    By Deleted, in News,

    Aerodyne’s Internet Tombola makes a US skydiver happy!

    Jennifer Panicorp of Covington, Washington (USA) is the happy winner of a free complete Aerodyne parachute system, consisting of an Icon harness-container system, a Smart reserve and a main canopy of her choice. On January 6th Jennifer’s e-mail address was drawn as the winning entry in the tombola which Aerodyne organized on its Internet site over the Christmas period.
    The tombola was open to all website visitors and only required the submission of an e-mail address. The only rule to comply with was that the winner must show a valid parachuting licence in order to claim the prize.
    With a modest 50 jumps to her account Jennifer is a relatively newcomer to the sport. She received her USPA A licence in September last year. As one would expect Jennifer was quick to return a happy reply to Aerodyne: "OH MY LORDY THAT IS BEYOND COOL!!!! Thank you so much!!!! … I just can't believe this, I'm so excited!! ".
    Aerodyne’s marketing director, Edward "Bushman" Anderson stated: "The internet is a key element in our communication and we will continue to drive skydivers to our website with these type of events. Within the next month we will introduce a new and more dynamic version of our website. The new site will enhance user experience with a more intuitive user interface and navigation system, The new site is also designed for those users still using dial up connections and loads considerably faster than the existing site".
    For more information about Aerodyne and our products please go to www.aerodyne-int.com

    By admin, in News,

    Aerodyne Sponsored Instructor Program (ASIP)

    Aerodyne proudly announces the launch of a sponsoring program aimed at professional skydiving instructors and coaches around the world. The Aerodyne Sponsored Instructor Program, or ASIP, is a comprehensive program developed to offer unparalleled support to those who provide training to other skydivers and contribute to the safe practice of skydiving.
    "The ASIP program is designed to build longtime relationships that are beneficial to all involved: the individual instructor, their home drop zone, Aerodyne authorized distributors and our company. It was our aim to create an environment that encourages mutual cooperation between all those involved for the betterment and progress of each", explains Aubrey Easterlin, sales manager of Aerodyne Research in Florida. "It doesn’t stop with giving a good deal on equipment. We give our ASI’s the opportunity to actively promote our products and they are rewarded for the sales they generate. That way they become longtime partners and there is more to be gained by all".
    How does it work?
    Under the program an Aerodyne Sponsored Instructor will receive a full compliment of Aerodyne equipment at 50% of the manufacturer’s suggested retail price. He or she will also receive a package of product information, a stock of promotional material, a set of referral cards and an ASI identification number. The ASI will use the identification number to refer interested customers to the selected Aerodyne distributor. For every order that is received as a result of such a referral Aerodyne will credit the ASI’s account with 5% of the cash value of the MSRP. The ASI can use the accumulated credit for future purchases of Aerodyne products.
    Who are eligible?
    The ASIP program is open to instructors that hold a current rating issued by or on behalf of their National Aero Club. Because of the nature of the program Aerodyne seeks to support individuals that demonstrate a positive attitude and professionalism in their relationships with people. "The idea is that an ASI serves as a sort of ambassador for Aerodyne, for our distributor and for the dropzone he or she works at. Therefore we require every applicant to submit a letter of recommendation by the distributor and by the dropzone manager or operator", says Arnold Collenteur, who is Aerodyne’s European sales manager and one of the initiators of the program. "Although we like to stress the fun side of the program, it is still a business arrangement and we must make sure that the applicant meets our criteria so that we may expect our sales to increase because of his or her contribution."
    Why the ASIP?
    Although Aerodyne may still consider sponsoring competition teams on an ad-hoc basis, the company feels it has better chances to promote its products via instructors, who are in direct contact with potential buyers. When choosing equipment most skydivers look closely at the products jumped by the best or most experienced jumpers on their dropzone. The ASIP program builds on these premises by creating a world wide community of Aerodyne sponsored instructors with a local reach.
    By offering to the ASI the opportunity to refer sales leads and generate additional earnings the ASIP also ensures that Aerodyne distributors benefit from the program. By helping Aerodyne to select the right individuals distributors create a small network of local ambassadors and increase their chances of selling to customers they might otherwise not reach.
    Furthermore, the ASIP program aims to facilitate communication between individually sponsored instructors, their drop zones, Aerodyne’s distributors and Aerodyne through a sharing of information, educational material and media. Aerodyne intends to make its website play an important role in this communication process.
    Enrollment
    Interested instructors may request an ASIP application package from an Aerodyne distributor, via our website www.aerodyne-int.com or via one of these contacts:
    North and South America: Aubrey Easterlin [email protected]

    Europe and Asia: Arnold Collenteur [email protected]

    Africa and Indian Ocean: Dave Macrae [email protected]


    For more information about Aerodyne and our products please go to www.aerodyne-int.com

    By admin, in News,

    Skydiving and the Recession


    I have noticed in my travels that many drop zones are a little slow these days.
    The student numbers are down, and we are blaming it on the economy. We have
    convinced ourselves that there is no way to get blood from a stone, and if the
    students feel broke, they will not want to spend the money to jump out of an
    airplane. I’m not buying it.

    It is true that the world is caught up in negative thinking. It is true that people are scared. But the question I would ask is this: What do people want more than anything in a time of worry? They want a feeling of release. They need to let go of their mundane perspective, filled with
    limitations, and do something that shifts them into a state of absolute joy. We have exactly what they need.

    So, now that we know we have the solution to all the world’s problems, we have a job to do. Unfortunately, just because someone needs something doesn’t necessarily mean they will take it. We need to get the horse to water, but we also need to make them want to drink. In other words, we
    need to inspire them. In order to do that, we need to tap into our own authentic inspiration.

    Do you remember what it is about skydiving that you love? If you are like me, there are a great many things. There is the social aspect; the people that skydive are the coolest bunch of weirdoes that I have ever met. If the world was made up of just skydivers, life on this planet would be a lot more fun. Then there is the unbridled euphoria that we experience when we are up there. Let’s face it, there are very few experiences that make a person feel like that. Beyond that, there is the never-ending process of learning that makes
    us realize that we are not done living. The more you learn, the more you want to learn. It is this kind of passion for more that draws a person out of the depressing feeling of “today is yesterday” into a deep desire to push forward
    into the exploration of what is possible.

    Once we reconnect with our true love of skydiving, all we need to do is share that feeling selflessly and fearlessly. There he goes again, droning on about fear. Yes, fear is the only thing that is holding us back from talking about skydiving with everyone we meet. Yes, part of what stops us from bringing it up is because we get a bit tired of the feeling of rejection when a die-hard whuffo gives us that eyes-rolled-back “you are crazy” look. If you think about it though, even that aversion has fear at its root. We are afraid of the feeling of rejection.

    If you hate being told that you are afraid, as I do, you will get off your ass and talk about skydiving to strangers. You will accept that you are in love with the whole thing, and come out of the closet. You know that this is the source of your joy. The more you talk about it, the happier you will be. Hang posters at work and hold informational meetings, perhaps with a few short videos and a real rig for them to see. Sit in a booth at a fair or university and talk about the experience to those who have not yet been there. You will be deeply glad you did.

    Then I often get the response: “what’s in it for me?” My DZ doesn’t have a finders-fee for bringing in new students. I’ll tell you what’s in it for you. You will get to be your higher self more often than before. You will get to keep your head in the clouds by talking about your true passion. As a secondary benefit, you will inevitably bring in more students. They will help to pay for the aircraft, the repairs to the hangar, the new bunkhouse at the DZ, the new fire pit, the new creeper-pad and even keep the jump prices reasonable despite rising gas prices. Imagine that. 
    We can alter the worldwide trend toward fear-driven hoarding, at least in our little corner of the world. We have the antidote to fear and unhappiness. All we need to do is remember what we have, and share it. The world is in your hands. Get out there and be yourself!


     

                                                   
    --BSG

     

    Transcending Fear Specialist Brian
    Germain is the author of several books, including Transcending Fear,
    Green Light Your Life, The Parachute and its Pilot, and Vertical
    Journey. His psychology background, combined with over 14,000 parachute
    jumps makes Brian uniquely qualified to discuss the important and pivotal topic
    that he refers to as “Adrenalin Management”. Learn more about Brian Germain
    here:



     


    www.GermainSeminars.com


    and here:

    www.CanopyFlightInstructor.com

    By Deleted, in News,

    Florida Skydiving Center at Lake Wales Destroyed

    As many of you already know, on Friday, August 13th, the category 4 Hurricane Charley hit Florida's west coast with winds of 145 mph. It cut through the state, right through Lake Wales, destroying the Florida Skydiving Center. The US CF Skydiving team was at Florida Skydiving Center, practicing for the upcoming World Championships in Croatia next month, when the hurricane hit. Thank God no one was killed or injured at the drop zone, although we are getting reports now that, so far, 16 people throughout Florida were killed by "Charley".

    The past two days, the US team has been there with the owner, Betty Kabeller-Hill and Roger Hill, going through the debris, searching for whatever they can salvage and cleaning up the terrible mess left by this destructive storm. They've had no power in the area for 3 days now and their cell phones are not getting a signal. Raul said the top half of the tower was on the ground. The phone line is working now. Betty said half the hanger is gone. "We've lost everything", she said. She also told me that there is no insurance. Some of the Mobile homes at Florida Skydiving Center were smashed to pieces and some were flipped over. People who lived at the drop zone are now homeless and I guess jobless too.
    The Skydiving community has been a family, always helping each other out in times of need. Here is an opportunity for us to reach out and help these people, our family, in their time of suffering and need. We've set up a "Florida Skydiving Center Disaster Fund" and a "FSC Employee Disaster Fund" for the people who lost their homes there. If you can help, please specify on your check or money order, the Disaster Fund you are contributing to and send your donation to Betty's home at:

    Florida Skydiving Center

    c/o Betty Kabeller-Hill

    400 El Camino Drive #203

    Winter Haven, FL 33884
    If you want to use a bank wire transfer, Florida Skydiving Center already had an account set up for event registrations that you can use. Just specify in the Special Instructions that it is for the Disaster Fund. The account for bank wire transfers is:
    Wachovia Bank

    Routing # 063000021

    Acct. # 2090002569803

    Acct. name: Phoenix Air, Inc.
    If you have any questions, you can call the Florida Skydiving Center at 863-678-1003. Keep in mind that they are overwhelmed and hard at work trying to clean up.
    Anyone who can come out to help in the cleanup efforts, your help will be appreciated.
    Thanks!
    Gail Ramirez
    Forum Discussion and Updates

    PayPal Donation Information

    Lake Wales, Florida Skydiving Center Web Site

    By admin, in News,

    Being COOL on the Dropzone

    Skydiving has come a long
    way since the first (recorded) jump was made from a hot air balloon in 1797.
    Only being practiced as a special stunt on public events, it was far from a
    public sport at that point.

    The silk envelope used to safely descend from 3000 ft on that first jump
    wasn't much to look at in terms of design, but the design and materials used
    formed the basis for the parachute as we know it today.

    The military were the first to develop parachuting as an emergency escape
    procedure for balloon and aircraft pilots, and later as a means of
    delivering soldiers to the battlefield.

    In
    the 1960s, skydiving ventured outside its military use and started to become
    seen as a sport in its own right.

    As the sport grew, so did the research and development of the materials
    used.

    The harness, cutaway system and parachute itself underwent major changes and
    upgrades, resulting in the gear that we all now accept as commonplace as we
    exit the aircraft.

    Due to these advancements in the materials used and their design, our gear
    has actually passed the point where it is now safer than its end user.

    Getting into the sport

    Skydiving
    was once
    a sport which was considered pretty extreme in itself, but as the years went
    by, and due to the gear and teaching advancements, it
    became more and more safe,
    and was
    marketed as a sport for everyone.

    In the media, the growing attention for the more extreme disciplines and
    variations of our sport have led to a large group of people who no longer
    see the basic sport of skydiving itself as the goal, but rather as an
    intermediate training, or even an obstacle in the way of what they really
    want to do.

    These predetermined goals on what somebody wants to accomplish within the
    sport often form before or during a skydivers first few jumps.

    Not being a huge sport with millions of participants worldwide, we tend to
    enthusiastically take in new people, and sometimes pull them into our sport
    deeper and faster then they should be.

    With every year that goes
    by, people seem to be in more and more of a rush to jump with a video
    camera, downsize their canopy, learn to fly a wingsuit, freefly in bigger
    and bigger groups, fly head down straight from AFF and starting BASE jumping
    with the bare minimum, if indeed any at all, experience. Sadly, the growing
    trend is to encourage this behavior, and try to facilitate them in getting
    there as soon as they can, instead of trying to make people understand the
    potential consequences of the rushed path they have chosen.



    Photo by Costyn van Dongen

    Video

    For
    many,,
    the media creates the image that a lot of the extreme variations of our
    sport are things you can take up as easy as a bungee jump from a local
    bridge, or a ride in a theme park. When people look at some of the 'big
    names' in our sport, its easy to forget almost all of them put in many
    hundreds, if not thousands of jumps to acquire the skills, precision and
    experience to excel in their field of expertise. The PD factory team didn’t
    start swooping on sub 100 sq/ft canopies straight from AFF, just as Loic
    Jean Albert didn’t start flying wingsuits within touching range of cliffs
    after his first skydive. There are many more examples like this within our
    sport.

    Here, I think,
    lies our biggest responsibility:

    Trying to help
    people new to this sport understand the work it takes to reach a certain
    level.

    Trying to teach
    them
    to
    respect and honor the
    effort people put in, and
    helping them
    understand that’s what they need to do to reach their goals based on skill,
    hard work and determination, not do everything as fast as they can and for a
    large part trusting on luck to come out of it alive. Often thinking their
    experience or exceptional abilities in other sports set them apart from
    normal people, allowing them to progress much faster and skip steps. While
    in truth, they are exactly the people the rules were made for.

     

    Photo by Costyn van Dongen

    Respect the rules


    As with any developing
    sport, rules and safety procedures were created over the years based on
    experience. Some of the rules and safety recommendations where literally
    written in blood. Learning lessons the hard way.

    These days many people new to the sport tend to look at these same rules as
    a means of holding them back. Stopping them from having the same fun as the
    people on the dropzone who have been jumping many, many years already.

    We live in a fast society.
    Everything has to be done quickly
    and with instant gratification. When we experienced jumpers
    start talking to young skydivers about certain goals, this can develop
    frustrated views on the sport for some of them. They get into a mindset
    where they feel
    skydiving isn’t fun until they have their A license, or how its isn’t really
    fun until they are swooping a small canopy, taking up BASE jumping or flying
    a wingsuit. If we go along with that line of thought, and acknowledge those
    statements, we then suddenly turn skydiving into a point of frustration for
    these newer jumpers.

    Instead of enjoying their
    first few hundred jumps, and slowly learning more and more about our sport,
    they start seeing it as a big waiting game where they can’t wait start
    jumping that same tiny rig and sub 100 sq/ft canopy as the cool guys who
    have been around a bit longer.




    Photo by Stefan
    Smith
     

    The road is more important
    than the destination.

     Allowing people to cut
    corners in reaching certain goals, is not only dangerous to them, but also
    undermining the authority of people teaching.

    It’s the image more experienced jumpers
    portray to the newer
    people in
    our sport that determines how they in turn,
    will approach the sport.

    As an example, being in a
    rush and boarding a plane without a pin check is not only dangerous to
    ourselves, it’s also a bad example to the kid fresh off AFF who's on the
    same load. The same goes for many aspects in our sport.

    Realize that it’s not just the people who give instruction that are
    teaching, it’s the way we as
    individual skydivers
    approach, talk about,
    and treat our sport that ultimately sets an example that
    the new flyers
    will follow.
     


    By Deleted, in News,

    Girl Gear Blues? Problem Solved (and Then Some)

    Aeronautrixx Literally Has Your Back
    Life in the sky just keeps getting better for the 13% of us who fly under the influence of two X chromosomes. The latest development? Aeronautrixx -- a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, founded by skydiver//adventurist Karen Woolem. The org’s goal, as Karen puts it, is “providing education, guidance, sponsorship and resources to help women pursue their aeronautical dreams in a fun and safe manner.” Those are lofty goals, indeed, but Karen -- who is as well-organized as she is dynamic -- isn’t the type to shoot low. 
    To understand where Aeronautrixx is coming from, of course, you first have to understand a little bit about its founder. Karen started jumping 28 years ago, led by the example of her skydiver father. She was 15, and they’d make the long trek down to Skydive Paso Robles from the Monterey Bay Area because Paso was the only driveable DZ that would let such a young pup jump. She made a few less than 100 jumps in that first phase and stopped jumping in 1993, when her rig was grounded.


    “The question was,” she remembers, “Do I buy new gear, or do I go to college?’
    Objectively speaking, it wasn’t really a question. Karen was the first in her family to go to college, and she wanted to place her focus there. As it turns out, a full 15 years passed before she got back into the sport, though she made a few feints in that direction. Finally, in 2009, she got recurrent -- at Hollister, where her dad learned to skydive back in 1988 -- and she’s been jumping ever since. Mostly, Karen describes herself as an RW kinda chick. (Fun fact: When I talk to her, she has just returned from skydiving over the Egyptian pyramids.)
    Aeronautrixx, interestingly enough, was born of that other major step forward in female-focused skydiving: the Women’s Skydiving Leadership Network. Back in 2016 (when the WSLN was first officially formed), Karen was selected for the first WSLN leadership symposium. She spent a week at Raeford with the event, soaking up the skills, the vibes and the connections. As part of that program, Karen designed a logo for a WSLN t-shirt. The image was strong, feminine, colorful and balls-out bold. She loved it.
    While a different logo was selected for that original purpose, Karen couldn’t help but realize that she’d created the logo for an effort that was gathering steam in her own imagination. Specifically, she was pondering a personal challenge she’d faced as a female, coming back into the sport: Finding a used container that fit both her and the canopy size she was comfortable with. She’d found it damned near impossible.

    “Finding a used container that fit me was no problem,” she mueses, “but they were all made for sub-100s; for super-swoopers. When I first came back, was under a 170. I ended up having to rent for what seemed like forever. It was so expensive.”
    She realized that there was a solution -- and that she could catalyze it.
    “I knew there were plenty of people out there that have gear to donate,” she adds, “And I thought -- hey! -- if I set up a non-profit, it can be a win-win. People can donate gear that fits smaller people jumping larger canopies -- or any gear they have gathering dust in a closet. Then I can give those guys a tax write-off and get that gear out to women who need it. Now [the recipient is] paying $25 a jump instead of $50 and can take her time to either wait for a long delivery on custom gear or piece together a used setup that fits.”
    “It’s so expensive getting started in this sport,” Karen adds. “Aeronautrixx aims to make the potential financial burden less of a deterrent for women.”
    So far, it’s a home run. Aeronautrixx just got a complete setup donated and matched it with a woman who just graduated AFF. Boom.
    It’s not just containers, either. Karen has partnered up with a craftsman who completely refurbishes and repaints helmets with airplane-grade paint, and those helmets have been gracing the sky in larger numbers with each passing season. In addition to that, Karen is currently working on getting a few complete demo systems co-sponsored with manufacturers.

    Of course, it’s not just gear that makes a skydiver — so Aeronautrixx covers the skills bases, too. These days, Karen is a WSLN mobile mentor, dually based at Skydive Sebastian (near her current home) and Skydive California (near her west-coast roots). For the past three years, she’s been using Aeronautrixx as a platform to host female-focused skills camps and boogies on both coasts. In October, there’s the Unicorn Boogie at Skydive California; in April, there’s the Mermaid Boogie at Skydive Sebastian; this February (coming right up!) there’s going to be a gold-lamé-festooned disco party at Z-hills. 
    The boogies’ shared core value? Bring women together -- from all over -- and encourage growth and fun in equal measure. The response so far has been phenomenal. 
    “I try to get an all-female roster of organizers,” Karen adds, “to show the newer jumpers that it’s not only men that are leading the pack. And I always try to bring in non-local organizers to give the ladies the chance to jump with other females in the sport that they might not get a chance to jump with.”

    The formula is certainly working. At the first Mermaid Boogie, Karen was standing in a packed hangar. Stopping in the middle and looking around, she suddenly realized something amusing.
    “I looked around and it occurred to me, there were no men. We’re turning the Otter with all chicks.” They turned 22 loads that day.
    At the end of the day, Karen insists that Aeronautrixx is about inclusion. Men are welcomed at Aeronautrixx events -- even issued cheeky “man cards” -- and the sea of costume onesies now includes a fair number of male humans. That’s not at all surprising, considering the unequivocal language of the Aeronautrixx mission statement: “We believe that women can be just as, if not more, badass as our male counterparts.” Well-put and well-proven, no?
    ----
    To donate to Aeronautrixx (or get involved with an event or two), visit the org’s website or Facebook page:
    https://aeronautrixx.com/
    https://www.facebook.com/pg/aeronautrixx/
     

    By nettenette, in News,

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