The PD Blog

USPA Canopy Piloting Nationals : Day 2 is over, one day to go!

The alarm clocks went off at 5:30am again this morning at the hotel, room after room, filling the hallways of the hotel with a buzzing echo.  The alarms could only mean one thing, it was time to get up and prepare for Day 2 of the USPA Canopy Piloting Nationals at Skydive Spaceland in Rosharon, TX.

One after another competitors and judges alike descended down to  the lobby, grabbing a quick breakfast before heading out into the darkness to make their way back to the center of the universe for all things SWOOP right now, the gigantically tidal Spaceland pond.  Despite the darkness, everyone leaving the hotel picked up on a subtle top secret preparation technique used by the PD Factory Team, the pre-dawn Starbucks run........

The competitors got to the course properly caffeinated and meet director Albert Berchtold began the day with the distance round to take advantage of the ideal wind conditions over the pond.  The sun was soon up and the Spaceland Super Otter rolled out of the hangar and into the boarding area to start the day.

While yesterday saw some ridiculously fast speed rounds and some great zone accuracy runs, today was the day for the competitors to go long and hit the distance course.  Despite the sun and brutal temperatures the first day of the event, day 2 proved to be more manageable as the thermometer stopped just shy of 100 degrees farenheit.  The gate buzzers rang over and over again during the distance rounds as the Advanced class competitors came down one after the other making the 10ft gates and the Open division brought some big turns down for the 5ft gates to enter the course.  The morning winds started as a 3-4 m/s crosswing and turned to a 5-7m/s headwind as the morning progressed.

The winds were held at bay long enough for the competitors to make it through the first two distance rounds.  At that point, just before noon, the winds started pushing over the limits during the third round.  After the need to award a few rejumps the meet director elected to put the competition on a weather hold until late afternoon to see if the event could wrap up the distance rejumps and the two outstanding zone accuracy rounds that were left unfinished.  They held hopeful until about 20 minutes before sunset but unfortunately the winds decided not to cooperate.  The final zone accuracy rounds and distance rejumps were rescheduled for 7:30am which meant two things for the competitors and judges alike:

1) Another 5:30am wake up call across the hotel

and

2) The post event celebrating would have to wait one more night.

We're seven rounds into this nine round competition and it's FAR from over.  Nick Batsch, Jonathan Tagle and  Curt Bartholomew are leading the pack.  They're followed closely by Sergey Fedotov, Ian Bobo, Jessica Edgeington, and Scott Harper.  There should be some big changes come tomorrow when the great equalizer event of zone accuracy continues.

The Pearland, TX Starbucks opens at 6:00am. If you drive past tomorrow at 6:00am, you just might see  JT or Bobo walking out with a Grande.

 

 

PD Big Boy Pants concludes with numerous records set!

What an amazing series of days at Mile-Hi  Skydiving Center in Longmont Colorado.  448 competition jumps were performed over the last three days by 25 competitors from 5 countries including Brazil, USA, Canada, Spain and Germany.  16 new records (world, continental, and national) were performed during this spectacular event.

The first day saw the world distance record of 181 meters broken twice.  First by PD Factory team member Jonathan Tagle with a distance of 195 meters and then by Nick Batsch with a distance of 222 meters. 

With new national and continental records being set and bettered each day of the competition  applause from the spectators and competitors alike were heard with each round of competition. 

As the last day of competition began everyone wondered if Greg Windmiller's speed world record of 2.093 seconds would stand, or if it would be toppled.   Jonathan Tagle and Nick Batsch came very close to it on Friday morning with times of 2.096 and 2.095 respectively.  Greg himself even "suited-up" with his tight red US Army style suit on Sunday morning hoping to better his 2009 record.  At the end of the event, it looks like Greg will hang on to his record title for a bit longer. 

Here's a list of the top 10 places from the event.

1. Gold-Nick Batsch-Alter Ego
2. Silver-Curt Bartholomew-AlterEgo
3. Bronze-Jay Moledzki-PD Factory Team
4. Greg Windmiller-US Army Golden Knights
5. Pablo Hernandez-PD Factory Team
6. Tommy Dellibac-PD Factory Team
7. Justin Thornton-Slipstream
8. Bryan Buechler-Slipstream
9. Ian Drennan-PD Factory Team
10. Sergei Fedotov

Full results from the event can be found here and photo's from the event can be found here.

      

PDFT Training Camp

Its 6am here at Skydive City and the PD Factory Team is getting ready to start their 5th day of a 6 day training camp.  The PDFT devotes training time to a number of things, including team flying, demo practice, enhancing their coaching techniques and many more.  But this week is all about one thing, Competition training.  Each day begins with morning stretches as the sun rises, and the team promptly heads into jumping after that.  Finishing up jumping in the early afternoon, the team continues each training day with a rigorous PT session led by Jessica.  Yesterday they finished up their second day of training the speed event and today they move into training Zone Accuracy on these last two days of the camp.  The conditions all week have been ideal for the team to hone their skills and they look stronger than ever.  

 
 Photo's by Tony Hathaway

PDFT's Pablo Hernandez takes gold at FLCPA meet #1

 
This past Saturday was the first of a series of five FLCPA meets that will be held around the Southeast US over the next few months.  The meet was held at Skydive Deland on the opposite side of the airport from the regular jump operations over one of the retention ponds on the airport.  Thanks to the torrential rains earlier in the week, the once dried up area was about 8-10 inches deep with water. 

There were 25 competitors at this event ranging from the highly seasoned Pro competitors to a number of folks who were out for their first swoop competition.  After a full day of jumping, Greg Windmiller from the US Army Golden Knightswas in third place, Brian McNenney from Slipstream was in second, and Pablo Hernandez from the PD Factory team lead the pack by a wide margin to take the gold medal.

This meet also brought a new record to the state of Florida for longest distance.  Greg Windmiller of the US Army ripped through the entry gates on his Comp Velocity 84 during the first round of distance and headed down the course to 147.30 meters setting a new state record.  This retired the long standing record of 146.24 meters set by Jonathan Tagle in 2005.  The distance, along with the course and conditions, were reviewed by the nationally rated judging staff on site to confirm that everything was compliant for the new record. 

The full results for the meet can be found here.  Enjoy the short teaser for the event video that is currently in production, stay tuned to the PD Blog for the full video...

 

XRW Elsinore Video

For those of you looking for some sweet video to check out this morning.  Here's about 5 minutes of wingsuit/canopy footage from the XRW project in Elsinore with the PD Factory Team.

Project XRW: Elsinore 2010 from Raise the Sky.

Swoops up South Africa!

Its a Monday morning and for those of you sitting at your desk looking for something to distract you from your work, we're here to help!  We present for your viewing pleasure, about 20 minutes of entertainment from last years World Cup of Canopy Piloting in South Africa. Video brought to you by Airsports.tv

Sending Good Vibes

One of our PD Factory Team members, Shannon Pilcher, was recently injured while flying his canopy in the Swiss Alps. His road to recovery is going to be a long one and we here at PD wanted to let him and the rest of the team know that we have them in our thoughts and want to wish Shannon a speedy recovery and safe travel home.
Get well soon buddy!
If you are interested in following Shannon's progress, please read the PD Factory Team's Notes on Facebook.

 

PD Factory Team Swiss Alps Expedition: Day 9

Day 9! Jay Moledzki and Ian Drennan have given us their reports on the latest activities. Let's see what the crew has been up to...

From Jay-

"Well, heavy grey skies, fog and cold temps meant another morning for catching up on much needed sleep. By far the least exciting day of the trip so far, but by no means a day unappreciated. With the pace that we tend to move at most of the time, I look forward to the "down days." It gives me a chance to get caught up on all the background tasks necessary to keep this machine and the rest of my life oiled and running properly. A favorite is the Skype video call to the wife or family while working on the computer to clean out the inbox. It's a standard way of life for PDFT members who spend much of their lives on the road and far away from home. Another common one, searching for and buying tickets for upcoming trips. Anyone else going to the competition in Dubai in January? Ticket prices are looking pretty nice right now, about half of what they were last year! Lots to do between now and then though... we've got or annual retreat and planning session booked for next week and 5 different educational camps planned to take place between then and the Holidays. No rest for the wicked they say... I beg to differ."

From Ian-

"Well, Day 9 brought with it the worst weather we've had on the trip so far, with low fog and clouds settling in. Bummer.
The team decided to use the time to visit, and harass, Brian Vacher who was injured in a minor speed flying accident. Brian dislocated his right hip while performing a landing in difficult terrain after making the decision to abort his run when he felt unable to safely make the next ridge line, forcing him to land in a sloped landing area where he struck his hip while doing a PLF. A few nearby hikers helped Brian into their car and drove him to the hospital. The Dr's are happy with his progress, and he will be up and about tomorrow to begin working the area affected. Besides the ever present handicap of being British (just kidding to all our Brit readers out there!), Brian will be out for a few weeks, but will be 100% in no time. JC also took to roaming the halls gathering various pieces of Dr's garments for amusement. 
Things are starting to look really good over the next few days with the weather, and I'm excited to get back in the Alps - it already feels like it's been way too long. Drennan, out."

PD Factory Team Swiss Alps Expedition: Day 8

Today we get to hear from Ian Bobo about speed riding, touristy hot spots, and much more while the Factory Team continues to explore Switzerland.

From Ian-

"The weather is still transitioning here in the region as the south winds continued to blow through the morning. Winds weren’t as excessive as they have been, but everyone needed some more downtime due to the stresses of the week so far. It was nice to sleep in a bit and let the group just “be” for a day. No firm plans or schedules to keep, very nice.
A group went cruising through the town this morning and perused the local shops, playing the part of tourist for the day... instead of extreme athlete. Of course, the local fare provided ample entertainment for the group. They walked around Interlaken enjoying the scenery, drinking coffee, eating more Swiss cheese and salivating over the slabs of the Swiss chocolate in the window. Shannon and Tommy played tourists and bought some books showing the mountains in the Jungfrau region, and everyone tried on the warm weather clothing in the local stores.
 

Later, JT and I decided to cruise back over to Neisen, the local speed-flying hill, or mountain I should say at 2200m in elevation. The conditions were absolutely stunning in the afternoon and we got two epic flights to top off our day. JT followed me through both launches with video so it was awesome to share that airspace with him (check the vid). Pascal joined up with us on the final flight. We yahooed and flew together most of the way down that massive “hill” to this nice little field shared by some of the local livestock. They didn’t seem as impressed as I felt about myself after our 6-8 min flight :’)
Weather forecast shaping up for the rest of the week, so stay tuned as we get back to the mountain flying..."

PD Factory Team Swiss Alps Expedition: Day 7

Let's start by first looking at the photos from yesterday that Bobo was referring to...classic!

Alright, now on to reports of day 7 by Shannon Pilcher and Pablo Hernandez...

From Shannon-

"We woke up this morning knowing we would be blown out. As expected, winds at the peaks had reached record-highs durin g the night, and were steady at nearly 100 kph. Not to worry, as Switzerland is a 
parachutist's playground. Having satisfied our BASE cravings yesterday, we set out today on a speed flying mission, with intentions of launching from a common launch point atop Niesen, at about 2300 meters MSL. Moderate easterly winds allowed us to get a few people in the air, but the day became mostly a kiting session with a spectacular view. Other highlights included an ascent (and descent for some) aboard one of the world's steepest and longest cable-drawn railways, the Niesenbahn, and a delicious meal on the peak at the Berghaus Niesen-Kulm.
High winds are expected again for tomorrow, but should move out by mid week, leaving just enough time for the Eiger! Stay tuned…"

 

 

From Pablo-

"What a trip! Today conditions were not OK for mountain flying, very strong winds at the peaks so we
decided to try some speedflying from the Niesen Mountain. The 2,362 mts high Niesen Mountain at Lake Thun is striking because it is nearly perfectly shaped like a pyramid. The steep slopes are not climbed on foot, but are traversed by cable car. The world's longest staircase was built to parallel the course of the cable car so that maintenance work can be carried out on the cable car when needed.

At the top of the mountain there is a very nice restaurant where we had lunch. After the lunch, we walked a few hundred meters to the launch point and we practiced some kitting with JC as a coach, who is very experienced in that field. Bruno was the first to take off, it's the first time I saw Bruno running and have to say that he was quite fast. Just after Bruno, Brian, JT, our guide Pascal, and JC launched. Stay tuned for more."