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News

    Performance Designs gives back to the community

    Performance Designs donates masks to first responders and healthcare workers in their hometown. PD employs just shy of 200 folks in VolusiaCounty. In late March, when the Coronavirus concerns began to close in on the area, PD closed their production facility. After a couple of weeks of planning, they reopened, primarily for the manufacturing of Defense Industrial Base products, and with many new health and safety guidelines in place. Constant cleaning in the factory continues, in addition to other changes in the "new normal" work environment. Many folks working at PD wanted to help the community and do something for local first responders.
    Performance Designs reached out to another local Florida business that manufactures masks and partnered with them. The goal is to support local manufacturing, as well as to provide masks to first responders and healthcare professionals. For every mask sold, a mask is donated. It has been 2 weeks and more than 400 masks have already been donated. PD anticipates many more donations in the coming weeks.


    "Performance Designs is part of the skydiving community, and we're also part of the local community as well. The opportunity to bring those two communities together in this endeavor has been great. Every little bit helps, and we want to do our part."
    - Albert Berchtold/Marketing Manager
    This week they have shipments of masks going across the US as well as Great Britain, France, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Mask donations were provided to AdventHealth Foundation (Deland Hospital), Deland Police Department, and Deland Fire Department, as well as local assisted living facilities.

    By Administrator, in News,

    Double Fatality at Skydive Chicago

    DAYTON TOWNSHIP. Two people, including an Ottawa woman, plunged to their deaths Saturday morning in a skydiving mishap north of Ottawa. Deborah Luhmann, 27, of Ottawa, formerly of Lake in the Hills, and Steven Smith, 44, of Ohio, Ill., were pronounced dead at 10 a.m. Saturday in the emergency room at Community Hospital of Ottawa, said La Salle County Coroner Jody Bernard.
    Bernard said witnesses reported Luhmann's and Smith's parachutes became entangled about 75 to 100 feet above the ground, causing the chutes to deflate.
    Luhmann and Smith landed on Skydive Chicago property, north of the hangar.
    The two victims were were part of a 20-person team practicing for a national competition to be held in a few weeks.
    Local weather conditions Saturday were sunny, temperatures were in the mid-50s and winds were up to 20 mph.
    Autopsies were performed Sunday, but the results will not be available for some time. The La Salle County Sheriff's Department is investigating the incident.
    Luhmann was an experienced, certified skydiver with 200 jumps, according to her brother, Paul Luhmann, of Chicago. She started skydiving last year and usually jumped every weekend.
    "It was a very freak thing," Paul Luhmann said. "My sister was very responsible. Skydiving wasn't a stupid thrill for her. Strangely enough, for a skydiver she wasn't a risk taker. She was very responsible and logical."
    Luhmann was engaged to marry Donovan Bartlett, of Ottawa, formerly of Barrington, on June 22, 2002. She worked as a systems program manager for Hewitt Associates in Lincolnshire.
    Skydiving was the latest manifestation of Luhmann's passion for athletics, according to her brother. She was an All-America swimmer at Denison University in Ohio and later a swimming coach for the Palatine Park District.
    Paul Luhmann said that although his sister's time was cut short, she packed a lot of experiences into her life.
    "She had so much ahead of her, but had already lived so much."
    With the deaths of Luhmann and Smith, 10 people have died in accidents at Skydive Chicago since the facility opened near Ottawa in 1993. The most recent previous victim was a Pennsylvania woman who was killed July 9 when her chute failed to inflate.

    By admin, in News,

    Third Fatality in Eight Days at Skydive Chicago

    DAYTON TOWNSHIP. The third skydiver to die in eight days at Skydive Chicago in Dayton Township was killed Sunday afternoon. Bruce A. Greig, 38, of Jacksonville fell to earth at about 12:46 p.m. when witnesses reported his parachute failed to properly deploy, according to La Salle County Coroner Jody Bernard.
    Greig landed on Skydive Chicago property south of the hangar. He was taken by ambulance to Community Hospital of Ottawa, where he was pronounced dead at 1:30 p.m.
    An autopsy was scheduled for today and the Federal Aviation Administration was notified.
    Greig was an experienced jumper, according to his father, Curt Greig, of Jacksonville.
    "He loved skydiving and talked about it all the time", Curt Greig said in a subdued voice. He was there (Chicago Skydive) every weekend and loved that group (fellow parachutists) up there.
    Curt Greig said his son was a friend of Deborah Luhmann and Steven Smith, who died Oct. 6 in a skydiving mishap at Chicago Skydive and attended their funerals last week.
    Bruce Greig was a program installer with AGI based in Melrose Park.

    By admin, in News,

    Two fatalities in Australia

    The double tragedy of two experienced skydivers plunging to their deaths in separate accidents has failed to deter hundreds of other thrill seekers taking to Sydney's skies. Brendan Cook, 34, from Griffith in Canberra, and Jethro Thornton, 24, from Ermington in Sydney's west, died yesterday after their parachutes failed at the Sydney Skydiving Centre in Picton, on the city's southwestern outskirts.
    Jumps were suspended yesterday, but Sydney Skydiving Centre owner Phil Onis said it was business as usual today with about 400 people expected to jump.
    "The investigation is still underway ... (however) we are operating as per usual ... (with about) 400 jumps per day," he said.
    Police and paramedics were called to the centre yesterday when the first man fell to the ground sustaining critical injuries.
    Then, to their horror, a second man fell to his death as they watched.
    The first accident was about 11am (AEST) when Mr Cook's parachute failed.
    He had notched up hundreds of jumps and held an international skydiving licence.
    He later died in Liverpool Hospital.
    Three hours later, the equally experienced Mr Thornton fell to his death when his parachute failed to open.
    There had not been a fatality at the centre for 15 years and staff were still in shock, Mr Onis said.
    Police were still gathering evidence for a coronial inquest into the deaths, a police spokeswoman said.
    Australian Parachute Federation NSW safety officer Leigh Shepherd said skydiving centres observe strict safety measures.
    "The extremes we go to for safety are very high," Mr Shepherd said.
    "Obviously, two incidents have now happened but until that's investigated we can't say why.
    "My understanding is there's nothing the drop zone could have done to supervise it any closer or prevent it."
    He said there was a 0.03 per cent chance of being injured during a solo jump and even less probability in a tandem jump.
    There has not been a skydiving fatality in NSW for two years.
    "I'm still confident that the most dangerous thing we do each weekend is drive to the drop zone rather than the actual skydiving," Mr Shepherd said.
    "I'd still encourage people to come and try and when you try tandem, it's still the safest way to do it."
    It is standard practice for skydivers to sign an indemnity form acknowledging they risk serious injury or even death when they skydive.
    Westpac Lifesaver Helicopter which airlifted Mr Cook to Liverpool Hospital, said it has airlifted three patients involved in serious skydiving incidents since March.

    By admin, in News,

    Red Beans & Ripcords

    Mike Marcon has written of a time in the 1960's when sport parachuting, or "skydiving," as it is called today, was just starting to come into its own as a sport. In the U.S., Europe and across the world, even in the Soviet Union, small groups of jumpers would gather at local airports and grass airstrips on the week-ends. The equipment they used was usually military surplus -- their aircraft, a mixed bag of smaller airplanes.
    Mike's early days as a jumper took place mainly in the south, starting first in Mississippi and later, in Louisiana. Mike revelled in the sport as a young guy with nothing on his mind but jumping, girls and partying. He was the master of practical jokes. The characters he recounts in "Red Beans & Ripcords" are varied and slightly off-balance.
    There was Major Goody who tried to kill a cat with home-made nitroglycerine, and Swartz who jumped with his dog. There were the first-jump students he trained and the jumpers who became his extended family. There were the ocelots kept as pets that terrorized the various visitors that visited his parachute center. There were outrageous drinking games and eating unbelievable amounts of a southern staple, red beans and rice. You'll roar with laughter at the story of "Eddy and the Body." And, through it all, there was Leon, the Cajun, his mentor and friend. You'll most likely hear the sound of Zydeco music in the pages of this book.
    Mike Marcon resides in Virginia with his wife, Marianne. He has written professionally since 1984. He has been published by Random House, Prentice-Hall, and Hilltop Publishers. He also writes for many regional magazines and newspapers.
    Today, he operates Marcon Publishing, helping new writers bring their words to readers worldwide. He is currently co-authoring another book to be debuted later this year. Marcon Publishing can be found on the internet here: www.mikemarcon.info

    By admin, in News,

    Inside The Funny Farm 2015

    You know that one time of the year where you are forced to go home and spend time with your family and you have to do it but don’t really want to? Yeah funny farm is nothing like that. At all!
    Mid April, 120 excited farmers travelled from all over the world on the yearly pilgrimage to a cattle farm near Westmar, Queensland, for a week of kick ass jumping and a lifetime of fond memories. The coach line up this time consisted of return farmers, Domi, Mox, Anna, Reader, Dougs, Jeff, Boagsy, Munting, Blakey and Macca.
    New recruits Luis Prinetto and Jason Petters joined the Farmily this year too. For the first time farmers it can be a daunting boogie, as its 6hrs from Brisbane, no flushing toilets, no reception and the nearest pub/store is 30mins drive away. But those who dare to brave it are richly rewarded.
    Mad Skills From All Around The World
    This year differed from previous years. It was open invite and the concept of this year’s farm was to not only keep improving the level of flying, but to also incorporate multiple disciplines in each jump. At the start of the week it was kept simple and easy, combining only two types at the same time. Woody and Griggsy helped skill up the XRW crew and the Dubai wingsuiters added another layer of innovation as people got their skills and confidence up the complexity of what was being attempted increased. By the end of the week it became important to get to the emplaning area early because it was a creative process to work out exit orders because the normal assumptions about exit order did not apply.
    Some old farmers returned which added the special vibe that is Funny Farm. Douggs was in charge of everything comical, so that the hot shots didn’t take themselves too seriously (which becomes challenging when Elad is slow mo-ing every rad manoeuvre and bathing you in day tape glory). Swoop comps involved directives like the running man, the turtle and some other crazy names which were always accompanied by laughter and an animated explanation of how they were to be performed, including historical information of who won these comp categories in farms gone by.
    After a recommendation from Robbie that only already competent swoopers participate, this advice was ignored by Spready who though he would give it a go anyway, not successfully. The comps were embraced by the mega swoopers who added entertainment to their exceptional skill and created a daily gathering at the pond to watch the triumph and failure. Luke Scab was a key leader in the commitment to running the pond every jump and quickly ran out of dry shoes but was a crowd favourite and didn’t need the services of Kenny the Gold Coast lifesaver who was on standby.
    No Shortage of Variety
    The day tapes were epic and long trying to keep up with all the new and cool things that were being done by so many groups each day. There were wingsuiters chasing the Yak. XRW with wingsuiters, canopies and planes. Full loads of Static mixed formations being carved around by a plane loads of movement flyers. Heaps of wingsuiters and freeflyers tearing it up in every orientation. Douggs’ ‘barely moving forward jumps’, Ariel silks from a tandem with canopies, and much much more. The United Nations could take a leaf out of our book for bridging the cultural divide. Just watch the video its MEGA!
    With the exception of Spready’s inspection of the bottom of the pond and Jeff’s in-flight seminar on drag differentiation. Everyone was safe during the week which keeps the event in good spirits and stops Robbie from increasing his angle as he stomps across the landing area towards the jumper who has made a questionable safety choice. You know if you are getting out the protractor as he approaches and it is anywhere from the 80-45 degree angle you need to start making excuses fast. The Convery brothers are always manage to rile up Robbie and Irish continued to stir up Robbie after hours with his MC gig, must be something about the Irish Ranga combo that causes fireworks and entertainment to the crowd.
    Ready was the hero of party night for epic vision that at first glance appeared to be a dead tree. Which he erected in the landing area and set it alight, a leaf blower turned into a flame thrower as they pumped oxygen into the burning 3m log. With the regular camp fire covered in cooper flakes burning green, the flaming tree spewing heat and light into the sky, some flares being thrown around and the flashing lights on the drone flying overhead, was visually spectacular and was quite an experience for everyone with a bit on.
    Funny Farm is hard to describe accurately, just trust me when I say if you ever get the chance to come, make it happen.
    This is one event that for sure couldn’t happen without endless support from sponsors the Australian Parachuting Council, South Queensland Parachuting Council, Cookie, Downward Trend Rigging, LVN lifestyle and NZ Aerosports and the Mulckey Family who allow their normally tranquil farm to be turned into our playground for one week a year.
    Stats from the Week
    2992 slots, 225 loads, 14500 litres of fuel, 224 Cartons of beer, 120 Jumpers, Two Caravans, One 182 and a YAK 52. Heaps of Kouta, Feckin Bewm. Who’s Hungry and gooood could be heard too.
    And Major Lazer ‘Lean on’ played approximately 45 times.
    *** Disclaimer: some of these stats might not be entirely accurate*****

    By admin, in News,

    Edmonton skydiver dies in first jump

    Beiseker, Alta. Witnesses looked on in horror as a skydiver plunged to his death in a parachuting accident Saturday night during his first-ever jump. "We saw the parachute spiralling down and then we hear a loud pop," said a 19-year-old witness, who also had just finished his first jump at the Skydive Ranch, which operates out of the Beiseker airport, about 50 kilometres northeast of Calgary.
    "It's something you don't want to see on your first time out."
    An air ambulance was called to the scene about 7:40 p.m. but declared the man dead on arrival.
    RCMP Constable Wayne Greaves said there was no initial indication of equipment failure.
    He also said it wasn't confirmed whether the man actually died from the impact, and that there will be an autopsy.
    Jim Mercier, tandem instructor with the Skydive Ranch, said the man hit the ground hard at the end of a jump in which he opened his parachute with no problem.
    But during the last part of his dive, he began a "hook turn," said Mr. Mercier, who witnessed the accident while acting as a radio controller on the ground.
    "In the last 100 feet, he did a 500-degree turn," Mr. Mercier said. "A hook turn is when you pull down on the toggle and spin vigorously around."
    But another witness who asked not to be identified said the man seemed to be spiralling close to a one-storey airport building on the ground.
    "It looked like he was going to smoke that building," said the witness, adding that he looked like he was turning to try to avoid a collision.
    In July, 1998, first-time skydiver Nadia Kanji, 18, died at Beiseker when she abandoned her main parachute and activated her reserve chute too late.
    Last September, Jean-Guy Meilleur, 30, died after he attempted a hook-turn landing at a Calgary Parachute Club event near Drumheller, Alta.
    The Skydive Ranch has adopted improved safety regulations since the high-profile death of a Calgary man at the site eight years ago.
    Kerry Pringle, a 29-year-old accountant, plunged to his death on his first parachute jump in August, 1993.
    A lengthy fatality inquiry into his death assigned no blame to what was then called the Calgary Skydive Centre for the tragedy.
    But a series of recommendations were made by a Calgary provincial court judge including leaving a larger margin of safety when setting automatic activation devices on parachutes.

    By admin, in News,

    Dropzone.com Premier Membership Launched!

    Dropzone.com today launched its voluntary Premier Membership service! The decision to move forward with voluntary user supported subscription services was made for a few reasons: I want to keep Dropzone.com on the web and without this, I can not pay the bills. We want to keep advertising content low and we want to provide you with the best possible service and the coolest features we can! That's it.
    Dropzone.com is a very advertising-lite site. We don't bombard you with pop-up ads. Even though we serve millions of pages every month we choose not to join large advertising syndicates and expose you to streams of irrelevant non-skydiving promotions and ads. We want to keep it that way. This also provides the highest value to our advertisers as their ads are not lost in a flood of outside noise. We continue to appreciate the support we receive from the skydiving industry in this.

    Rather than turning to large corporate sponsors from outside we'd chose to come to you, the community, for support. People have shown over the years that they are willing to donate and get involved.
    We very deliberately made a decision that nothing that has been free in the past will become part of the Premier services. You will be able to continue enjoying Dropzone.com exactly as you have without ever giving us a penny. That's the way I want it. We will create additional Premier features, and those users who find them valuable can subscribe on a voluntary basis. We think they're pretty neat!
    Thank you to everyone who have supported me through the years in all manner and ways. I hope you enjoy the Premier Features.
    As part of our Premier launch we have partnered with Aerodyne and one of our new premier members will win a complete system - container, main and reserve - from Aerodyne's line of products. Click on the link below for more information.
    More information and how to Subscribe for Premier Membership

    By admin, in News,

    Aerial Photographer Killed in Florida

    PENSACOLA, Florida. (AP) - An experienced aerial photographer plummeted 11,000 feet to his death Thursday after his parachutes became entangled and failed to open.
    John Foster, 37, was videotaping a skydiving instructor and a student when his main parachute became entangled with his reserve chute, and both failed to open.
    He landed in a field in Elberta, Ala., and was taken to a Pensacola hospital, where he died. He had head and leg injuries, a hospital spokeswoman said.
    The chutes getting tangled was a freak accident, said Pat Stack, who works for Emerald Coast Skydiving and was the drop zone manager for the jump.
    "It's just not something that happens," she said.
    Stack said Foster had made 6,000 to 7,000 jumps and often was hired to record other divers' jumps.
    "He jumped all the time. He loved the sport," Stack told the Pensacola News Journal.

    By admin, in News,

    American Woman Dies in Italian Alps

    ROME (AP) A 27-year-old woman from San Francisco died Sunday after her parachute failed to open fully during a jump in the Italian Alps, news reports said. Erin Aimee Engle plunged to her death on Mount Brento while base jumping, an extreme sport in which people jump from cliffs or other fixed objects using parachutes.
    Mount Brento is one of the sport's most popular and dangerous locations. Engle was the fourth skydiver to die on the mountain since May 2000. The last incident took place two months ago when a Belgian jumper's parachute did not completely open.
    Engle's boyfriend, whom authorities would not name, immediately jumped after her in an effort to revive her, the ANSA news agency said. She was pronounced dead at a hospital in Trent, the main city of the northern Italian region of Trentino.

    By admin, in News,

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