berchtoldaj

I've put a series of videos up on my FB page that give a bit more info about me and my candidacy.

1. Who I am.
https://www.facebook.com/skydivinal/videos/vb.1134921379/10216049176118929/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

2. How the election works
https://www.facebook.com/skydivinal/videos/vb.1134921379/10216097907497183/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

3. What I've done on the board
https://www.facebook.com/skydivinal/videos/vb.1134921379/10216150349928211/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

4. What I plan to do in the future
https://www.facebook.com/skydivinal/videos/vb.1134921379/10216173848115651/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab


5. Step-by-step online voting
https://www.facebook.com/skydivinal/videos/vb.1134921379/10216204348518142/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

Hope this info helps you all in being more informed members and voters!
Happy voting!

Can a moderator unsticky the 2014 events and sticky the 2018 please.

FLCPA #1 Skydive City Z-Hills February 24-25
FLCPA #2 Skydive Sebastian March 24-25
FLCPA #3 Skydive City Z-Hills April 21-22
FLCPA #4 West Tenn Skydiving May 19-20
FLCPA #5 Skydive Paraclete XP June 9-10
MWCPA #1 Skydive Midwest July 28
NECPL. Old school pond swoop comp. August 11th. Skydive Cross Keys
Pink Open 16-19 August Klatovy
MWCPA #2 Skydive Midwest August 25
French Nationals September 7-9 Orleans - France
FLCPA #6 Skydive Sebastian September 22-23
USPA Canopy Piloting Nationals 2018
- Registration and Practice, September 24
- Competition, September 25 - 28
PD Tveir 2018 Sebastian Sept 28-30

topspark101

The information you have given , in my respect, doesn't equate to the information, PD you tell you when downsizing/changing canopy...... is it the same stand point if you wish to transfer from a VK to PE...?.... if I am wrong... I apologise..?

The info above is in relation to a Katana and Velocity. I would not give the same advice to someone going from a Valkyrie to a Peregrine(PI). Completely different canopies.
There are different considerations to be made in selecting a Peregrine size. We work directly with those who are ready for a Peregrine to assist them in selecting the right size/sizes for their competition goals and their personal flying style.

Hope this info helps.

Albert

Going from the KA 120 to a VE 120 the Velocity will feel sluggish. same size for same size, the Katana will seem like a much sportier canopy. The KA will turn faster, dive harder, and accelerate quicker. Where the Velocity will excel is the slow flight characteristics, which is why the Velocity is better as you get into smaller sizes/higher wingloadings. For example, you may find a Katana 107 seems to loose bottom end flight/lift sooner than the Velocity 103, simply because the slow flight characteristics are better on the Velo. So if your going to make the switch, most people choose to downsize, unless your looking solely for the better slowfilght and don't want to go faster.
The Velo is a great first crossbraced if your ready to take that step. With the release of the Valkyrie, their are loads of used ones out there if you want to do gradual step downs in size. If your looking to pick out something to last you a bit longer and are planning on going new, I would recommend going for the Comp Velo. It is very similar to the regular Velo, but it opens better, has better rear riser performance, and better slow flight. Standard they both have regular sliders and 500 or 700 weight line.
You can def try a few things out when your here in Deland and we can discuss further in person. Give us a call a little before you get here and we can get a few canopies ready for you to play with.

Albert Berchtold
Performance Designs

FLCPA #1 Skydive City Z-Hills February 24-25
FLCPA #2 Skydive Sebastian March 24-25
FLCPA #3 Skydive City Z-Hills April 21-22
FLCPA #4 West Tenn Skydiving May 19-20
FLCPA #5 Skydive Paraclete XP June 9-10

Pink Open 16-19 August Klatovy
FLCPA #6 Skydive Sebastian September TBD (Pre-Nationals)

Pop me an email. I can hook you up. [email protected]

FLCPA Meet #1 Skydive City Z-Hills February 25-26 Coach: Curt Bartholomew

FLCPA Meet #2 Skydive City Z-Hills April 1-2 Coach: Justin Price

FLCPA Meet #3 Skydive Sebastian April 29-30 Coach: Curt Bartholomew

FLCPA Meet #4 West Tennessee Skydiving May 20-21 Coach: Paul Rodriguez

FLCPA Meet #5 Skydive Paraclete XP June 24-25 Coach:Greg Windmiller

FLCPA Meet #6 Skydive Paraclete XP September 1-2 (Pre-Nationals)

FLCPA #1 21-22 February @ZHills, FL
FLCPA #2 14-15 March @ZHills, FL
FLCPA #3 23-24 May @Raeford, NC
FLCPA #4 12-13 June @Raeford, NC
USPA Nationals 15-18 June @Raeford, NC(not positive on exact days)
European Cup 12-14th June @ Dunkeswell, Devon UK
UK Nationals & Open 24-26 July @ Dunkeswell, Devon, UK
Pink Open 13-16 August @ Klatovy CZ
8th World Cup of Canopy Piloting 23 - 29 Aug @ Farnham, Canada

While we usually do our best to keep the new R&D stuff under wraps, yes, we’ve been letting our new toy out to be seen a little more.
Some of the first Peregrine prototypes were made with ZP material and opened awesome at terminal or subterminal speeds. We then started adding a sail material to the top skin leading edge. When we developed prototypes using more of the heavier sail fabric we began to focus on the competition performance of the wing and less on terminal deployment performance. At this point the engineering project split into two: the project that produced the Peregrine and another project to complete the X-braced Schumann planform “freefall canopy”.

We’ve continued to build ZP versions and have been fine tuning it for a while now. I’ve attached a pic of JC flying one of the ZP prototypes with a sail leading edge at the 2012 World meet. He preferred the ones with the longer snivel since he was jumping with lots of camera gear…at the time, often with a RED on his head. We’ve built many other versions with different ZP/Sail configurations, 7 cells, 9 cells, and sizes in the range of 60-100 sq. ft. Recent versions are doing great. The openings and slow flight characteristics are better than the Velocity or Comp Velocity, and they are also more aggressive, more powerful and more capable.

These ZP Freefall canopies are doing everything we want them to. We’re like kids with a new toy and would love to let everyone play with it, but then we remember there’s a lot that our customers expect from us. There are quality standards that must be met, inspection criteria to be completed, longevity testing to be performed, and documentation to be produced. We do this to make sure we are keeping to the high standards that PD is known for.

In short, we love this canopy, it’s worth waiting for and it shouldn’t be long. Our current lead time is 9 weeks, and this new canopy will have the same production time as all our other products when it becomes available. Exciting times ahead!!!
Al

Tommy Dellibac USA
Greg Windmiller USA
Albert Berchtold USA
Paul Rodriguez USA
Erwin Baatenburg de Jong NL
All four hover in the 250-260 exit weight. I have seen "fat guy binge eating" in the weeks preceding US Nationals or World Meets.

Hans Paulsen was on a whole other level. He was around a 290 exit weight.

There certainly are a bunch of multicolor PD Reserves out there. PD moved to solid colors only and reduced the available color pallet to LBL,WHT, YEL a few year back. The company still has the capacity to build multicolor, and the fabrics to do so, but found that most customers that were requesting it were doing so from lack of knowledge. (ie. First time gear buyers wanting to match their gear.)
Having a reserve that tells others on your load, and those on the ground "hey look out, I'm on a reserve" certainly seems like a good idea.
If tomorrow someone wanted something other than a solid LBL, WHT, or YEL we would certainly entertain the discussion with them and build it if there was a valid reason to and thorough though process in the decision.

Al

Dubai International SL #2 - Jan 26
FLCPA #1 Feb 8-9 Z-Hills
Dubai International SL #3 - Feb 23
FLCPA #2 Mar 15-16 Z-Hills
Dubai International SL #4 - Mar 30
FLCPA #3 APR 5-6 Raeford NC
Australian Nationals - April 16-21
FLCPA #4 APR 26-27 The Farmwww.swoopleague.com
Dubai International SL #5 - Apr 27
South African Nationals Apr 28 - 1 May Pretoria
FLCPA #5 May 17-18 Z-Hillswww.swoopleague.com
USPA Nationals May 21-23 Z-Hills (Practice days May 19-20)
Danish Nationals Open 7.th of June - 9.th of June NJFK
NECPL meet #1 June 14-15. Skydive Crosskeys
NECPL meet #2 July 12-13 Skydive Crosskeys
UK & Irish Nationals & Open July 18-20 Dunkeswell, UK
King Of Swoop 2014 July 21-27 - Empuriabrava, Spain
NECPL Meet #3 Aug 9-10 Skydive Crosskeys
Italian Canopy Piloting Nationals & Open - August 9-10 Ravenna Italy
Pink Open, Klatovy CZ, 14-17 August
French Nationals & Open, Castelnau-Magnoac, 5-7 September, France
NECPL meet #4 Sep 13-14. Skydive Crosskeys
2nd Annual Sun Path Products Canopy Piloting Open - Oct 8-12 Raeford, NC
World Cup 2014 1st-7th Nov. ZHillshttp://skydivecity.com/FAIWorld2014/FAIWorld2014.html
PD Tveir Tvo; Nov 8th-9th ZHills www.swoopleague.com
Dubai International Parachuting Championships #5 Nov 26 - Dec 7, Dubai

FLCPA Meet #1 / Skydive City Z-Hills / February 2-3
FLCPA Meet #2 / Skydive City Z-Hills / March 2-3
FLCPA Meet#3 / Raeford Parachute Center / April 13-14
CRCPL Comp1 / Skydive Sacramento / April 20th, 2013
FLCPA Meet #4 / Skydive City Z-Hills / May 4-5
US CP Nationals / Skydive City Z-Hills / May 6-12
Danish Nationals / NJFK Jutland / May 18 - 20
FLCPA Meet #5 / Skydive The Farm / June 1-2
Black Mountain CP comp / Zwartberg, Belgium / June 21-23
CRCPL Comp2 / Skydive Sacramento / June 29th, 2013
CRCPL Comp3 / Skydive Sacramento / July 13th, 2013
CSPA Canadian Nationals / Nouvel Air Skydiving, Farnham, Quebec / July 18-20
Pink Open / Skydive Pink, Klatovy, CZ / August 15-18
CP World Cup / Kolomna, Russia / August 24-29
4rd "PARA-SKUF" Association Canopy Piloting Open Cup / Kiev, Ukraine / September 5 - 8
CRCPL Comp4 / Skydive Sacramento / September 21st, 2013
BPA British Nationals & Open / Dunkeswell, UK / 20-22 Sept
French Nationals / Castelnau Magnoac, France / 27-29 Sept
SunPath Products Canopy Open, Raeford Parachute Center, October 10-13, 2013
PD Project Orange-Lord of the Strings/Zephyrhills October 16-19, 2013

If I were that savy, I'd have written some code into the score sheets that would have had me finishing in the to 8 last year.
Its partly because of the WM dates for Russia, but also for weather reasons. May is actually the best weather time down here in FL. Aug/Sept is hurricane season. June/July it rains like a SOB. TK put a lot of thought into selecting the month that would be best for our event and the weather in Zhills.
It is tougher for training for the northerners, but most people who are serious about competing and set a goal of competing(whether at Pro or advanced level) seem to stay current anyway thrrough the winter.

2013 is May 8-10.
2014 hasn't been selected yet. I would guess there will be bids presented for it at the March 2013 BOD meeting in Daytona Beach.

Learning how to fly a pattern in any wind speed and direction.

I'll start by saying this is NOT the actual budget for STF's nationals. I threw this together for those competitors looking for a bit more insight of what some of the costs are that go into this type of event. It certainly isn't complete and not provided to be picked apart for details. Like Eric said, USPA doesn't see the reg. fees, just the sanction fee. And our organization ends up spending much more than the $10 per competitor that the sanction fee brings to the organization.

Revenues: Registrations (60*$280) 16,800

Total Revenues 16,800

Per Diems:
Meet Director 600
Chief Judge($100 per day) 500
5 official judges 2,500
USPA Controller($35 per day) 175
Course director 500

Flights:
Meet Director 400
Chief Judge 400
3 official judges 1,200
2 local judges 0
USPA Controller (uspa covers)

Hotel:
Meet Director 250
Chief Judge 250
5 official judges 750
USPA controller 250

Meals:
Breakfast $5*16people*5days 400
Lunches $5*16people*5days 400

Rental cars: 1 car for a week 400

Misc:
Packing tent at pond 1,000
Timing system 0
PD Markers 0
Timing system(mounting) 200
Misc course materials 500
Banquet 2,500
Bus rental 1,500
Porto Bathrooms 500
USPA medals($20*24) 480

Trip to present to board:

flights 500
hotel 400
car 200
meals 150

Total Expenses 16,905
Balance -105

there are many other things that go into the process to make it happen. If anyone ever wants to know more, any USPA member is welcome to come to the Board meeting and hear how the venues are selected. Per the SCM your also entitled to request copies of the bids if so so feel it necessary.

Hans did a great job this year with our nationals. I doubt he has added up all the costs but as the person who helped him with initial budget, I can tell you I watched him shell out money during the event for things I didn't anticipate.
STF is without a doubt one of the most swoop friendly dz's in the world. Thank you again Hans.

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2. Having a larger pool of qualified judges would mean that the host may not need to fly in as many certified judges which would lower costs. this isn't directed at any one person, but ask yourself when was the last time you brought out a friend, girlfriend or wife who became a rated judge?
.

How does one go about qualifying as a judge?

Here's an article with some good info in it about becoming a judge.
http://parachutistonline.com/feature/becoming-a-judge
If someone is interested in learning and they're in the southeast, have them get in touch with Eric Florio or myself. If they're out in California/west coast I would get in touch with Marcel who runs the meets out west.

The Zhills bid for 2013 is $300 registration and $20 jumps if my memory suits me correctly. I don't think the costs have doubled in the last 5 years as looking at the figures alone may suggest. Some of the requirements have changed which has contributed somewhat, but the bigger portion of the difference is that I think SDC in 2007 and Spaceland in 2009 bid amounts that were lower than their costs. I would guess this was done because they may have not had, or been provided a detailed understanding of what would be required of them and the financial costs of those requirements.
Spaceland increased their price the second two years once they had made the mistake of loosing money the first time through.
182's are a bit cheaper and I'm a big fan of using them for swoop meets as we did at Last Big Splash. Quicker and more efficient than big turbines for the way we(swoopers) operate. They can also be a logistic nightmare at a dz who is also running full altitude loads. Imagine Zhills with 3 182's of swoopers and 1 or 2 otters running to full altitude at the same time. At some point you start to have too many planes flying around.
Many of the other events(like 4-way for example) are less expensive per competitor partly because your splitting the cost between 250-300 competitors rather than 50-60. If you look at CP cost compared to Style and Acc. which also has lower attendance and higher logistical costs you'll find the registration costs are comparable.
We usually have a meeting after nationals to discuss improvements etc. Last year in Spaceland the concensus was to add Advanced medals across the board, the consensus was to have more judges, these things come at a cost in $.

How do we make it cheaper?
1. 182/206's would help if they can be fit into the dz operations.
2. Having a larger pool of qualified judges would mean that the host may not need to fly in as many certified judges which would lower costs. this isn't directed at any one person, but ask yourself when was the last time you brought out a friend, girlfriend or wife who became a rated judge?
3. Increased attendance. Most of the costs that recouped through registrations are overhead in running the meet and don't increase as attendance rises. You need the same judges, equipment, meet management for 50 competitors as you need for 80.

Just my 2 cents....

FLCPA Meet #1 / Zephyrhills, FL / Jan 21–22
Australian Canopy Piloting Nationals/Sydney Skydivers/Feb 8-12
ISM Meet #1 / Perris Valley, CA / Feb 18
FLCPA Meet #2 / Zephyrhills, FL / Mar 3–4
NCCPA Meet #2 / Skydive Sacramento / Mar 17–18
Canopy Piloting Training Series Event Three @ Raeford Parachute Center, Nort Carolina March 23-25
FLCPA Meet #3 / Skydive The Farm- Rockmart, GA / Apr 14-15
ISM Meet #3 (NorCal) /Skydive Sacramento / Apr 21-22
FLCPA Meet #4 / Raeford Parachute Center, NC / May 5-6
Danish open nationals (Denmark) cp-danmark.dk May 17-20
BlackMountain CPC (Belgium) / Zwartberg, Belgium / May 17-20
NCCPA Meet #4 (NorCal) / Skydive Sacramento / May 19-20
Kiev open Cup / DZ Borodyanka Ukraine / May 24-27
OPEN DUTCH NATIONALS / Blauwestad Netherlands / May 31 - June 3rd
FLCPA Meet #5 / Skydive The Farm, GA / June 9-10
USPA 2012 CP National Championships / Skydive The Farm, GA / June 13-16
Ukraine Nationals / DZ Borodyanka Kiev Ukraine / 28 June - 01 July
British & German Nationals / RAPA Germany / 28 June - 01 July
Norwegian Nationals / Voss, Norway / June 25 - July 01
Italian Swoop Open / Bologna, Italy / Aug 15-19 (free bus/shuttle A/R
from Bologna AIRPORT to DZ, 25minuts)
Paraskuf 3rd CUP / DZ Borodyanka Kiev Ukraine / Aug 22-26
Pink Open / Klatovy, Czech Republik / Aug 24-26(moved bec. of X games trial)
French Open / Castelnau Swoop contest (France) / Sept.28-30
PD Tveir(Pro 2-way competition)Z-Hills, FL Oct.4-7 http://swoopleague.com/2012/04/24/pd-tveir-2012/
World Championships 2012 / Dubai UAE / Nov.28-Dec.9