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Skydive Spaceland 2008 News Highlights
- Big-Way Camp and Invitational Report
- 2008 USPA National Collegiate Parachuting Championships Report
- Texas Team Elite 40-Ways Report
- Packing Room Expansion
- Hurricane Ike Report: Spaceland's OK, Shelter Available
- Back to the Future: 100-Way Diamonds a Success!
- Speed Star Results
- TSL Meet Results
- Congratulations...
- Archived news, events, and photos
Big-Way Camp and Invitational Report
Skydive Spaceland hosted its annual winter Big Way Camp/
Invitational November 5th-9th with 120 participants in total. Event
captains include Kate Cooper-Jensen, Tom Jenkins, Larry Henderson, and
Scott Latinis. These captains are very accomplished current World Record
Holders and competitors with approx. 35,000 jumps between them. The
first 3 days were focused on the 60 way camp where skydivers receive
training on exit techniques from both right and left trail aircraft,
tracking tips, canopy control in large groups, and just about anything
else you might have questions on when it comes to big way formations.
The proven model the team of organizers use allow smaller formations, 20
- 40 ways, to duplicate all the jobs, visuals, and responsibilities of a
100+ way formation. This is a "no fault" approach to teaching where you
are encouraged to push your limits while learning.
The last 2 days were focused on more experienced jumpers looking to push their skydiving skills in larger, more complex 60 way formations. Event participants had a great time challenging themselves and are looking forward to next year's event.
2008 USPA National Collegiate Parachuting Championships Report
While virtually the entire country is covered in piling, blowing
snow, 110 college-age skydivers from 15 institutions of higher education arrived
at Skydive Spaceland for the 51st annual USPA National Collegiate Parachuting
Championships. Temperatures were in the mid-60s, perfect skydiving weather. With
two twin Otters and a super Caravan, every round of the seven-event meet was
finished by the closing banquet/New Year's Eve party planned for Wednesday,
December 31. Medals and championship titles were up for grabs in classic
accuracy (both individual and team), sport accuracy, 2-, 4- and 6-way formation
skydiving, and 2-way vertical formation skydiving.
We had 3 days of beautiful weather for the competition and the facilities and
aircraft were in pristine condition. With perfect weather, jumping started at
the crack of dawn and the last load exited just at sunset.
The 2008 USPA National Collegiate Parachuting Championships came to successful
conclusion Wednesday, New Year's Eve, in time for the barbeque banquet and
action-filled awards ceremony. The Anvil Brothers took care of the BBQ banquet
while Craig Floyd and Eric Boyd put a little fun into the awards presentation
with a compilation video of the winning teams. Addison Schenk from the U.S. Air
Force Academy took home the highest honor of "Most Competitive Collegiate
Competitor" and the Andre Istel Memorial Scholarship award. Because he's on a
full-ride scholarship at the Academy, Schenk opted to transfer his award to
another very deserving competitor, Justin Beaudreau from UConn. See the results at USPA.org and watch for a complete write-up in Parachutist.
There are many people to thank for making this happen:
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Manifest | Steve Jr. and Cheryl |
| Grounds | Hoop and Billy | |
| Pilots | Rabbitt, Matt, Jason and Steve Sr | |
| Food | The Attic Deli, The Anvil Brothers | |
| Volunteers | Marian, all camerafliers, Ori, dive engineers | |
| USPA | Judges, Staff, Keith Bergeron, Larry Bagley | |
| Party | Ron, DJ Dave | |
| Event Organizer | Eric Boyd | |
| Meet Director | Bill Wenger |
And last but not least... The Competitors!
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If you missed it, Collegiates '09 will be held here again in December. Form your college team and represent H-town!
Texas Team Elite 40-Ways report
Guy Wright came to Texas to see what all the talk is about. He saw it first hand as many great formations were completed. The goal of the event was to challenge the group with turning multiple point 40 ways. The dives were engineered to challenge big way skills and the group handled it great. The weather on Sunday was beautiful and I think we made 10 jumps with the 40way group. Great skydiving, guys!
We are going to have multiple events with Guy Wright this year so stay tuned and check our calendar of events frequently. Check out the photos.
So you get to the DZ and the parking lot is full.
How can that be? It's 8:00am and you were trying to show up
early to get that perfect spot in the packing room before it got
busy. There's usually tons of gear and several teams
training/debriefing including a 16 way team. AHHHH.
But as you walk up you notice a huge growth on the outside of the packing room. What is it? You approach cautiously and then, Steve has answered your prayers. There lies before you double the square footage, 5 large flat screens displaying the departure viewer and a satellite manifest so you don't have to run across the hangar to get on a load. So I ask this, what has your DZ done for you lately? Thanks for all your support, and enjoy!
Hurricane Ike Report: Spaceland's OK, Shelter Available
Our thoughts and prayers are out to the millions of people affected by Hurricane Ike as rescue and cleanup efforts continue. This was a devastating blow to Gulf Coast communities and many thanks go out to the thousands of people who are working in the recovery process.
The drop zone weathered the storm quite well and we are now open for business. We flew the airplanes back in and have plenty of aircraft fuel for the next month. We want to reach out and let everyone know that if you need shelter, we are here. We have electricity (air conditioning!), sewer, showers and Internet access available for you. Our deli is also open with food and drink so come out to the DZ, grab a shower, and check your emails while you have a hot meal in the AC. If you need a place to stay, come on out and stay with us; there are plenty of beds available. Just let us know you are coming by making a reservation. Email Ron or Miranda, theatticdeli@yahoo.com or call 651-303-5213. They live in the house on the property and have plenty of room available for you.
Back to the Future: 100-Way Diamonds a Success!
Skydive Spaceland hosted the Back to the Future 2008 100-way diamonds event April 17-20. The goals were to successfully build a 100-way opposing diamond and a 100-way facing diamond, neither of which have ever been completed. The event attracted 153 jumpers who participated in the 100-way formation event including the Alpha team, which was organized by Scott Latinis, Kirk Campbell and even Lee McMillian.
The planning for this challenge began several years ago with the intent to take big way formation skydiving to next level. The Organizing Team & Captains consisted of BJ Worth, Tom Jenkins, Larry Henderson, Kate Cooper, Roger Ponce de Leon, and Jim Jenkins. Also Jim Alkek can't go without mention, as he was responsible for lots of the organizing and communicating between the team members prior to the event.
Grounded by weather the first day of the event, the 100-way participants performed meticulous dirt dives and safety briefings. They focused on honing their techniques: Fly quickly to your slot, maintaining eye contact with the proper lines of the formation, stopping with no momentum, picking up the appropriate grips, and flying the full formation. As Kate Cooper stated, "you need to fly your booties off" on these dives.
Thirteen structured jumps were completed with each skydive having a specific objective to conquer the diamond challenges. The 100-way Opposing Diamond was completed on Saturday afternoon on the seventh skydive. The completion of this great challenge was a testament to the excellent talent of the big-way skydivers and the preparation of the Organizing Team. The 100 jumpers worked together by reading the status of the entire formation and adjusting their body positions subtly and correctly throughout the dive. Then it was onward to the next objective, the Facing Diamond.
The record for a completed facing diamond is 64, which was built in France approximately 10 years ago. The degree of difficulty increases tremendously with 50 people backing into their slot. The closest 100-way facing diamond was attempted on Sunday afternoon on the last skydive (we had to stop for weather). This formation was so close to completion. One jumper was low and a few jumpers were just about to finish off the formation, but then it was time to break off.
Just as the captains were top shelf, so were the videographers. Andre Veselov (Russia), Willy Boeykens (Belgium), Dave Ryder (Dallas) and our very own Brett Thomas and Eric Boyd (Spaceland) did an amazing job documenting this event. Special thanks goes to Brett for his extra efforts and for taking care of the captains during special viewing.
The event was an overall great success and addition to big way history. Thank you to all involved and especially the packers for no malfunctions!
Note: A Spaceland visitor posted some photos of the breakoff, etc., on Flickr.
Back to the Future Participant Statistics
- Total number of jumpers: 107 (153 including the Alpha team)
- Total number of jumps reported: 464,972
- Average number of jumps per jumper: 4,346
- Minimum jumps: 703 (Donna Jernigan Palmer)
- Maximum jumps: 14,273 (Mary Bauer)
- Number of countries represented: 13
- Number of US states represented: 28
On June 14th, Havoc and Skydive Spaceland staged a FS Speed competition. Jumpers of all experience levels from 200 jumps to 10,000+ jumps - showed up for the meet. Houston jumpers, Austin jumpers, and others, combined to form two eleven-way teams, as they squared off for 4 rounds of fun and challenging dives. Teams were formed after all jumpers had registered, with the goal of ensuring that both teams had a good mix of experience (the old farts) and not-so-much-experience (the kids). The two lowest experienced jumpers from each team were moved to the other team after round 1, with the idea being to let them benefit from the wit and wisdom of experienced jumpers on both teams. The plan was to move them back to their original team for round 4, but scheduling didn't quite match up with planning (Hey, just like real life!).
The rules for each round were different, keeping things interesting. Round 1 (otherwise known as the "so you think you wanna be a super floater" round) had 3 floaters leaving the plane 2 seconds before the rest of the team. Round 2 used the US Nationals 10-way exit rules. Round 3 involved a no-show, no-grips exit. Round 4 had the teams designate a "base" person who the other members of the team had to touch before they could enter the formation.
Brett Thomas and John "Demo" McDonnell donated their video skills and services, while Joe Harris, Scott Elmer, and Scott Latinis alternated as team captains. Stevie Boyd was masterful with the manifest duties, juggling the Speed jumpers, Spaceland SPX 8-way team, Flash Point 4-way, 9 Feet Over Texas 4-way, tandem jumpers, and fun jumpers.
The competition was close with Joe Harris' team finally coming out on top, earning them the right to wear the medals proudly proclaiming "We One". Joining Joe were Wendy Wilkinson, Rich Parrish, Harry Hopkins, John Pety, Weldon Herchek, Susan Caracio, James Parham, John Lunning, David Heinrich, Matt Strohmayer and Brett Thomas on video.
Havoc and Skydive Spaceland would like to thank all of the jumpers who came out to play. For anyone who didn't make it out this time, it's not too early to start working on your speed skills for the next competition.
--Scott Latinis
The Texas Skydiving League is off to a great start this season! Nine teams were registered on Saturday morning and wheels were up before 9 am. "There's no better practice for competition than competition itself," as one team member stated. Everyone was focused on the task and good vibes were spread at the same time. There was even free coaching by Spaceland Directe as they walked around and helped any team that needed a little advice.
Through the day, dives were judged and rounds were posted by Judge Henry Butler (thanks Henry). Thanks to all the teams who competed, and CONGRATULATIONS to class winners SPL Directe, Flash Point, and BS 5!
If you have some friends and want to come play, come out to Spaceland for TSL Meet 2 on June 28-29. This is also an 8 way meet on Sunday, so put your four way teams together for some good ol' 8 way fun.
Scores from Meet #1: Spaceland, May 31, 2008 (Draw)
| Team Name |
Team # |
Rd 1 |
Rd 2 |
Rd 3 |
Rd 4 |
Rd 5 |
Rd 6 |
Total Score |
Average |
Handicap |
Handicap Score |
Handicap Place |
Raw Place |
| OPEN CLASS | |||||||||||||
| SPL Directe |
401 |
15 |
16 |
20 |
17 |
16 |
18 |
102 |
17 |
1 |
102 |
1 |
1 |
| Southern Cross |
402 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
7 |
5 |
4 |
34 |
5.7 |
2.25 |
76.34 |
4 |
2 |
| INTERMEDIATE CLASS | |||||||||||||
| Flash Point |
301 |
9 |
8 |
9 |
15 |
7 |
7 |
55 |
9.2 |
1.78 |
98.12 |
2 |
1 |
| Mystique |
302 |
5 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
5 |
6 |
33 |
5.5 |
2.37 |
78.18 |
3 |
2 |
| 9 Feet Over Texas |
303 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
21 |
3.5 |
2.61 |
54.72 |
8 |
5 |
| Unleaded |
304 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
6 |
28 |
4.7 |
2.48 |
69.56 |
6 |
4 |
| Paso Doble |
305 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
7 |
4 |
5 |
33 |
5.5 |
2.31 |
76.15 |
5 |
2 |
| ROOKIE CLASS | |||||||||||||
| BS 5 |
201 |
4 |
6 |
8 |
5 |
1 |
5 |
29 |
4.8 |
2.25 |
65.11 |
7 |
1 |
| Wyred |
202 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
7 |
1.2 |
7.50 |
52.50 |
9 |
2 |
For results and draws of later TSL meets, visit http://www.texasskydivingleague.org/ and click on the Scores link.
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Steve Boyd: 30 years in the Sport |
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Texas State Record Largest Formation |
Texas State Record for Freeflying |
Texas State Record for Largest |
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DJ Marvin: 5,000 jumps |
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Rich Delgado: 2,000 jumps |
Dennis Anderson: 6,000 jumps |
| GRADUATES | ACCOMPLISHMENTS |
January/February:
March/April:
May/June:
July/August:
September:
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Dee gets congratulated for her SCR |
When you accomplish something great, please email me and let me know. We don't want to leave anyone out! eric@skydivespaceland.com.
Archived News, Events, and Photos
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Questions or comments? Email eric@skydivespaceland.com.
