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College Spring Break Special 2012College Spring Break Special!

Are you looking for something extraordinary to do this spring break? Let's go skydiving—the deal just doesn't get any better than this! Whether you'll be making your first jump or your 500th, we have you covered! Do your first skydive, get your skydiving license in just a few days, and/or make fun jumps with your friends in South Texas this spring!

March discounted jump rates for students and university employees with valid student/university IDs:

* Reservation and $50 per person deposit required for tandem discount.
Call 281-369-3337 to schedule tandem and Skydiver Training Program jumps.

We'll also have organizing, fun events and competitions including 4-way scrambles, hoop dives, tracking dives, accuracy/sport accuracy meet, and more co-hosted by the Texas A&M Skydiving Club, so stay tuned for more details!

Other benefits:

We hope you can join us for some spring break fun! If you'd like to promote this event to your friends, here's a Spring Break Special Flyer you can use to do so. Thanks for helping us get the word out about this event!

Landing Areas: Divide and Conquer

You know how the first time you came to a busy drop zone, it seemed like all the parachutes were flying randomly around the sky? But now that we are skydivers and understand flight plans, we see some degree, at least, of order in the chaos. We'd like to further increase the amount of order in our canopy flight traffic by reminding everyone that we have three separate landing areas at Skydive Spaceland: One for jumpers with C license experience to address the tighter area, obstacles, and increased traffic; another for students and slower traffic east of the hangar; and the swoop pond/alternate landing area across the runway. 

One of the often-missed aspects of separate landing areas is that they're not just about where you plant your feet--separate landing areas are designed to manage canopy traffic all the way down. Imagine there's a 1000-foot tall wall separating each of these landing areas, and whenever possible fly your patterns under 1000 feet so you don't fly over the landing areas you're not targeting. This keeps students and lower-performance parachutes flying together, and the same for swoopers, so we don't have large discrepancies in canopy speed and approach type that can lead to someone getting "run over."

Also, remember to fly a predictable pattern regardless of where you're landing, so other skydivers can have a reasonable expectation of where you're going. It's fairly common for newer canopy pilots to arrive in the pattern too high and sashay back and forth to kill altitude, but this forces all the skydivers above you to continually adjust because they can't tell where you're going. If you find yourself high in the pattern, learn from that for next time, and for now use a deep brake approach or your front risers to lose that extra altitude.

Landing area 1: High-Performance Landing Area (purple)

Landing area 2: Student/Low-Performance (blue)

Landing Area 3: Swoop Park/Alternate Landing Area (yellow)

Thanks to instructor Kritter Weiss for this week's tip!

Skydive Spaceland landing areas

Safety Tip: Brake Line Length

Are your parachute landings not as nice as you'd like? Have they gotten a little worse over time? The problem may be with the pilot... but then again, it might be with the brake lines you use to control your parachute. As the parachute opens, the friction from the slider grommets traveling down the lines heats the lines, and over time and hundreds of openings, the heat will gradually shrink the outside/inside and brake lines of your canopy.

Also, as you land and drop your toggles, twists commonly occur if you don't stow your toggles straight on your risers right away. These twists add up quickly to shorter brake lines as well.

Yet another cause of "short brake lines" could be a riser change... if your new risers are longer between the guide ring and the canopy attachment loop than your old ones, your brake lines will seem shorter.

The result? Your canopy will be more "cupped" and not fly quite as efficiently as it was designed to do. Also, your shortened brake lines might be pulling down the tail in full flight, reducing the speed your canopy needs for lift to flare at the ground.

How do you know if your brake and outside lines are too short? For your brake lines, take a look at your canopy on your next jump. With your hands all the way up at the guide ring, are your brake lines bowed/slack or tight? You should be able to drop your hands 2-3 inches from the guide ring before you see the tail deflecting. If your brakes are too short, they need to be let out. If you see twists in your brake lines, simply untwist them before your next pack job; I prefer to untwist mine before my last packjob of every day. For your outside lines, take your canopy up to the loft and get the lines measured. You're in luck, the Skydive Spaceland loft is offering free main inspections with your reserve repack through January (a $15 value)!

Thanks to The Ratings Center for this week's tip!

Safety Tip: 3-Ring Release System Maintenance

3-ring release systemThe three-ring parachute release system was brought to the skydiving world by Bill Booth (the guy with the ZZ Top beard from the tandem video you probably watched at some point) to replace the Capewells that were in common use. For any more questions about history/function, feel free to drop into the loft to see Kyle or Rory. And don't miss the 3-ring maintenance video!

Q: How often should I service my three-ring?

A: Most manufacturers recommend servicing the three-ring release once a month, but make sure to check your manufacturer's manual for a definitive time frame.

Q: HOW should I service it?

A: Pull your cutaway handle and safely set your risers aside under a weight or rubber-banded together. You will need a paper towel and a lubricant spray like silicone or teflon. Spray about a quarter-sized area of your spray onto the paper towel and draw your cutaway cables through the lubricant. You will probably see a black residue left on your paper towel. We usually give two or three pulls through and then find a clean spot on the paper towel and do a pull or two to clean off excess dirt.

After that, you can feed your cables back into your rig (make sure to thread it properly if you have a Skyhook/Collins lanyard). Once that is in place, it is time to massage your rings. Grip the rings on your risers in turn between your thumb and pointer finger and wiggle the ring around in as many directions as possible. What we are trying to do is break the memory of the fabric that has it held in position for how it normally rests. In a low-speed partial malfuntion like an out-of-sequence horseshoe, your risers may not release if they are too set in their shape. Get the end of the riser straightened, so that the middle ring lies flat out. Reattach your risers and then do a full line continuity check to make sure that you put them back on straight.

Q: Why do we do all of this?

A: To prevent a hard cutaway. Aside from the memory built into your risers and the previously discussed possibility of them staying in place, we lubricate the cables so that they slide easier when we need to use them. Also, that black residue that was on the paper towel can build up in your cable housing and cause a harder cutaway.

If you have any questions or need a demonstration, please come upstairs and see your friendly riggers, Rory and Kyle, and we will be happy to help you keep your rig in tip-top shape.

Lockers are done!

Finally, the new lockers are DONE and ready for moving in RIGHT NOW! We've contacted everyone who reserved lockers in this section to let you know you can move in. If you reserved a locker but we haven't contacted you, then you are in phase 2, which will start construction next week. Enjoy!

USPA B License Requirements Changing

As of January 1, 2012, the USPA B-license requirements will change for the first time in decades. In addition to the B-license application, a completed and signed USPA Canopy Piloting Proficiency Card will be required. More information from USPA...

Safety Tip: Put Your Rig on Right

Have you ever felt like your leg straps were sliding up your legs while sit flying? It's a horrible feeling! Maybe it's because, like many skydivers, you're not putting your rig on quite right. If you tighten up your leg straps before your chest strap, chances are your container and hip rings will sit lower on your body, making it easier for your leg straps to get out of position when you're sit flying.

Instead, tighten your chest strap first. This will keep your container and hip rings higher up on your body and make it harder for your leg straps to slide up.

Another tip is to use a bungee cord of the proper length through the tiny loops on your leg pads to keep your leg straps from spreading too far apart and sliding up your legs.

Thanks to Instructor/Examiner DJ Marvin for this week's tip! If you have any questions about rig fit or adjustment, just ask one of our instructors for help.

Skydive Spaceland Teams Rock the USPA National Skydiving Championships!

Congratulations to our home teams! Skydive Spaceland teams seriously cleaned up last week at the 2011 United States Parachute Association National Skydiving Championships! Congratulations to everyone who won medals and competed; there was a lot of hard work showcased on the podium this year. Skydive Spaceland is extremely proud of all of our jumpers who competed this year; you represented us well!

Spaceland Lite, gold medalists in advanced 4-way

Spaceland Lite took home gold in the Advanced 4-way formation skydiving division,
beating Fallout by a single point (whew!).

SPX8, gold medalists in intermediate 8-way

SPX8 scored gold medals in the 8-way Intermediate division.

Spaceland Lite & Mamba, bronze medalists in intermediate 8-way

Spaceland Lite+Mamba followed up with bronze medals in the same category.

Deguello 17, bronze medalists in 16-way

Deguello 17 also scored bronze medals, in the 16-way event.

Spaceland Havoc, advanced 4-way competitors

Spaceland Havoc

Spaceland Mamba, advanced 4-way competitors

Spaceland Mamba

Sunshine/Buttercups 4-way team

Sunshine/Buttercups

Point Taken 8-way team

Point Taken

Texans 10-way team'

Texans

We also had a number of jumpers competing with non-local teams, most notably Brian Ball (Honey Badgers, bronze in 4-way vertical formation skydiving) and Bart Stonestreet (silver in Canopy Formation Rotation with Too Wrapped Up). Congratulations, everyone, and thanks for competing!

More information:

Drop Zone Improvements

LockersWe have a little remodeling going on in the packing area! We're building bench lockers along the west wall so more people can store their gear here at the drop zone. The lockers will be $100/year, same as the tall ones on the south side, and they will be 24" tall x 24" deep x 30" wide. Call manifest at 1-800-SKYDIVE / 281-369-3337 to reserve one, as they're almost half gone already!

Individuals' portable locker cases will be moved out of the way for now, and once the bench lockers are done they will be moved to the maintenance hangar. You're more than welcome to continue storing them there and roll them out to the packing area when you come out to jump.

There will also be pipe rig posts mounted up high near the ceiling along parts of that wall, so the wooden rig racks will be going away as well.

For the teams and other skydivers using video, there will be additional wall-mounted debrief stations set up on that wall with shelving for HD video boxes, etc. So pardon the improvement dust--we hope you enjoy the changes! Let us know if you have any questions.

Lastly, we've been updating our records on the tall lockers on the south wall and we have a few that are occupied, but we don't know by whom. If you are using a tall locker, please give us a call at 281-369-3337 to bring us up to speed; otherwise the unidentified ones will be cleaned out on January 1.

How much can you get in a 24x24x30-inch locker? Four small/medium-size rigs with room to spare.

 

Christmas giftChristmas is Coming--Need Gifts?

The time for Christmas gift shopping is approaching--do you know anyone who could use the gift of freefall? Or better yet, is there anything skydiving-related that YOU'd like for Christmas? Gift certificates for tandems, Skydiver Training Program jumps, and/or money on account for you to spend on jumps, rigging, or gear as you like can be purchased online at SkydiveSpaceland.com.

Free STP Refreshers in December!

Are you in our Skydiver Training Program, but had to take some time off? Come on back and see us! We're offering free STP course refreshers ($50 value) in December to anyone whose last STP skydive was more than 30 days ago. Call us at 281-369-3337 to schedule your refresher!

Free Money on Your Jump Account!

Want a few free skydives? Grab a bunch of the Skydive Spaceland referral business cards we just printed up and hand them out to prospective new jumpers at work, at social outings, or distribute them at local businesses. For every new tandem skydiver that brings us one of those cards with your name on it, you'll get $10 on your account. No bag limit!

Safety Tip: Save a Life!

Want to be a hero? Keep an eye on your friends' gear when they're getting ready to skydive or sitting in the plane. It can be easy to misroute a chest strap when you're inexperienced, in a hurry, or just plain not paying attention, but this error can be caught with a careful inspection.

Here are a few examples of misrouted chest straps, which could result in falling out of the harness on deployment (talk about ruining your day!):

Misrouted chest strap

Chest strap needs to go around the friction adapter first (vertical bar).

Misrouted chest strap

Chest strap needs to pass between the friction adapter and the square ring.

Misrouted chest strap

Correctly routed chest strap.

If you're not sure if your chest strap is routed correctly, try to pull it loose from the center. If it's routed properly, the friction adapter will push the webbing against the square ring and it won't loosen unless you lift the square ring. If it's misrouted, it will loosen.

Should vigilance fail and you end up in freefall with a misrouted chest strap (!!), hook your left hand around your right main lift web as you deploy to hold your harness on. Hopefully, this last tidbit is one you'll never need!

Thanks to videgrapher Ori Kuper for this week's tip!

Right Seat Safety

Riding in the copilot's seat is a treat, but this seat requires a bit more attention to safety than a spot on the benches in the back of the plane. Here are a few tips on right seat safety from air boss Rabbitt Staib:

Women's Texas State Record/Jump for the Rose: New Record!

Women's Texas State Record, 2011On Oct. 9 at Skydive Spaceland, in Rosharon, Texas, two amazing events occurred together—a new women's skydiving Texas State Record was set, and nearly $13,000 was raised for The Rose, a Houston-based nonprofit breast cancer screening, treatment, and awareness organization.

Two women's state skydiving records (2010 and 2011) and nearly $25,000 raised for The Rose isn't a bad performance record for an organization that's barely a year old. Jump for the Rose is a nonprofit organization that was established to combine skydiving and fundraising for breast cancer by skydiver Marian Sparks, a breast cancer survivor and former patient of The Rose.

"Besides being a fabulous fundraiser, this support means an awful lot of mammograms for an awful lot of women," said Dorothy Gibbons, CEO and co-founder of The Rose. The organization is dedicated to providing screening, diagnostics, treatment, and support to all women regardless of their ability to pay for services. For example, women with health insurance who undergo mammograms at The Rose enable doctors to provide the same service for another woman who cannot pay. Since early diagnosis and treatment are key to treatment success, insured women who are screened and treated at The Rose are literal lifesavers.

"After The Rose took care of me with no insurance," said Sparks, "I told the doctor (Dixie Mellilo, co-founder of The Rose) I was going to pay her back by raising money for her. That's what this is all about. These girls that jump with me are just so grateful and delighted to help." "Marian was in a really bad place, affected by breast cancer with no insurance, so she was one of our sponsored women," recalled Gibbons. "Her generosity and willingness to give back to an organization that helped her at a bad time so someone else could be helped in the future represents what our community is all about. These are tough economic times for a lot of people, but there is so much paying it forward in this community, it's so awesome! We are so appreciative of her for raising this money and setting that example. She exemplifies where any of us could be and what any of us could do with that gift of generosity and caring."

The new state record skydive consisted of 27 women performing three separate, intricate formations in a single skydive. The previous record set at last year's Jump for the Rose event consisted of two formations, called points, flown by 38 women. The new record skydive flown on Sunday, Oct. 9, was dedicated to Karl Edmunds, who died from breast cancer just one week before the record was set.

"We wanted to dedicate this jump to him because people tend to think of Jump for the Rose as a women's event, but this cancer can get men too," said Kara Latimer, owner of Rio Vista construction and secretary/treasurer of Jump for the Rose. "What better way to memorialize lives lost to breast cancer than to have this awesome living tribute?" Many men supported the event as well by buying event merchandise, purchasing raffle tickets for items donated by local businesses, flying in their own challenging skydives, and making donations.

All Jump for the Rose events provide a supportive learning environment for the women involved in the jumps, featuring experienced female skydivers with several thousand skydives coaching and mentoring newer skydivers with as few as 208 jumps. This approach built the team that set a new state record even with limited skydives due to the much-needed rain that rolled across the drop zone. "I was amazed at the number of survivors in this group," said Gibbons, who is hoping to make her first skydive this weekend. "This disease knows no boundaries of age, race, or economic factors. It's a disease (primarily) of women and all women have to work together to enjoy the long lives that are possible when the disease is caught early."

More information:

Breast Cancer Facts (from the National Cancer Institute and PubMed)

Women's Texas State Record group, 2011

Who's That Kid in the Red Suit?

Congratulations to Nick Reyes, winner of last weekend's raffle for a jump with the Deguello 17 16-way team. Nick did a fantastic job, flying his slot for a slick 6-point 16-way jump. Not bad at all for 51 jumps!

Let's see, first 16-way, first jump with Deguello, first jump with weight... too bad he's too young to buy beer. ;)

Nick Reyes with Deguello 17

Achievement Awards: Bob Domeier

Congratulations to Bob Domeier, who received a slew of skydiving achievement awards last weekend in the company of his team, Deguello 17:

Bob Domeier receiving his skydiving awards

Costume Jump Safety Tips

Mark Keller=SpidermanWhy not skydive in your awesome costume? It's a ton of fun (and a great way to get your picture in Parachutist or Blue Skies Mag!). Here are a few things to keep in mind when planning your costume jump to make sure all goes well.

Have a safe, spooky skydive!

 

Basic Canopy Courses

The 2nd Saturday of every month, The Ratings Center is offering Basic Canopy Courses. These courses are designed for all skill levels, wether you are a recent graduate or a seasoned jumper. Course Topics include: Basic Aerodynamics, Canopy Anatomy, The Flare, Accuracy, Flight Discipline and more. October 15, November 12, December 10. For more information or to sign up: dcmarvin@gmail.com or see sign up sheet in manifest.

Texas Team Elite and Spaceland 4S Events

On January 19-22 we will be hosting Texas Team Elite, 36-ways organized by Guy Wright. Registration is through bigways.com. Guy organizes some very challenging formations so this is for experienced jumpers looking to test skills and build some cool formations. Then on April 5-8 Guy will be organizing even more complex, sequential skydives. Sure to be a great time. Register for both events at bigways.comCP Nationals

2011 USPA National Canopy Piloting Championships: Report

Our Facebook Groups and Social Media

We are utilizing Facebook and Twitter to keep people informed on updates, events and even giving away FREE skydives (Tandems, STP's, and experienced skydives)

Please consider joining us on our pages to stay informed:

Other Events

Please like us on Facebook to stay informed on upcoming events and offers.

2009 USPA National Skydiving Championships

logoThe 2009 USPA National Skydiving Championships was a BLAST!!! Thanks to all the competitors and visitors for coming, congratulations to all the medalists, and a big THANK YOU to all the staff, volunteers, and sponsors who helped make this event a success!

More Nationals info:

Most Recent Accomplishments

Amputees Skydive for Prosthetic Legislation at Skydive Spaceland 2009

Josh Wells lands with a big smile at Skydive Spaceland

Josh Wells lands with a big smile at Skydive Spaceland.

Wounded Warriors and other amputees jumped to provide hope for amputees worldwide

Many people make their first skydive to challenge themselves or seek thrills, but not so many jump to provide hope for others or raise awareness of life-changing legislation. Mar. 28-29th, at Skydive Spaceland near Houston, Texas, the second annual Amputee Skydive (organized by Limbs of Love) did just that, bringing in nearly 50 amputees including 15 Wounded Warriors and several firemen to show everyone that there's still life, excitement, and fun after amputation.

They also jumped to raise awareness of the proposed Prosthetic Parity Act of 2008, which would require health insurance companies to provide coverage for prosthetics on par with that provided by Medicare. Many prosthetics cost $8,000-$80,000 according to Limbs of Love founder Joe Sansone, but health insurance plans may only cover a bare fraction of the cost, maxing out at $1,000.

The event kicked off with the arrival of the Wounded Warriors via bus and a police lights-and-sirens/Marine Corps Reserve Color Guard escort, followed by a motivational speech and flag jump by Golden Knight Dana Bowman, who lost both legs in a midair collision during a diamond track in 1994. A drawing for a flat-screen TV (conducted by two Houston Rockets Power Dancers) raised nearly $22,000 for Amputees in Action, a Houston, Texas-based support and social group.

The amputees' tandem skydives had to wait due to winds, but the weather cooperated beautifully on Sunday and everyone who stuck around was able to jump. They were joined in many cases by spouses who also made their first skydives, and many are hoping to come back for more.

"We'll be back after Jessica delivers our baby," said Josh Wells, an Army veteran who lost both legs above the knee to a roadside bomb in Baghdad two years ago. Jessica was there to support Josh, but opted not to skydive due to her pregnancy. "She's so jealous of me right now," he added with a smile after his skydive.

"This was so beyond what I could have ever imagined," said Heather Gardner, a therapist with Center for the Intrepid, which provides physical rehabilitation services for veterans who have suffered amputations or serious burns. "We were so prepared, we had great contact with The Amputee and Prosthetic Center who sent us videos of landings from the first time they worked with wounded warriors skydiving, so we knew what to expect. It was amazing from before we even got here, the convoy was amazing, and it was all so worth it. We couldn't have asked for a better staff.

"And I'm bringing my fiancé to jump here at Skydive Spaceland next week," she said with a grin.

More information:

By Christy West

Spaceland Anomaly Freefly Coaching Available

Spaceland's own 3-time national champion freefly team, Spaceland Anomaly, is offering top-quality freefly training. Want to get some coaching with these gold medal and world record holders? Get a few coach jumps for $45 plus your slot. You pay your slot, you pay us, and we go. Contact trent@spacelandanomaly.com for more information or to schedule your jumps.

Archived News, Events, and Photos

  • 2008 Spaceland News Highlights
    • Hurricane Ike Report: Spaceland's OK
    • Back to the Future: 100-Way Diamonds a Success!
    • Speed Star Results
    • TSL Results
    • Congratulations...
  • 2007 Spaceland News Highlights
    • Freefly League Results
    • Lew Sanborn Accuracy Meet Report
    • Spaceland Starts a Flight School
    • SkyFest report
    • Texas State Record report
    • Spaceland gets the Nationals, times three!
    • Spaceland Anomaly Sets WORLD RECORD!
    • Congratulations to our Nationals teams!
    • Announcing our Newest Student Program: Get Your Skydiving License in a Week!
    • Congratulations...
    • and more...
  • 2006 Spaceland News Highlights
    • SkydiveSpaceland.com Updates
    • Spaceland Teams Rock the Nationals! 
    • Texas State Record Invitational
    • Past Events and Photos: Parachutists over Phorty (POPS) State Record Attempt, Skyfest, Women's Texas State Record, Texas Head-Down State Record, Spaceland's largest number of tandems in a day
    • Congratulations...

Questions or comments? Email eric@skydivespaceland.com.

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