The PD Blog

Competition Velocity now available with Orange Vectran lines

Attention Swoopers!!! We're happy to announce that Orange Vectran will be available in 300 and 500 sizes for the Competition Velocity, both utilizing 750 for the lower steering lines(LST).

Through our rigorous research and development process we have found that this new line; 1) Yields a longer line life than HMA line previously used as the default line on this product, 2) Is smaller in size/diameter than comparable sized HMA, 3) Is more resistant to abrasion and maintains its strength better than comparable sized HMA.

Any new Competition Velocities (VC's) ordered or which are currently in production will be outfitted with this new line. This will also become the primary line type for VC's placed into stock. We currently have 79, 84, 90, & 96 sizes scheduled to make it to the stock shelves with this new line in November, so if your interested, get in touch with your favorite PD dealer to order yours soon!

Relines with 300 Orange Vectran will be available through PD's maintenance department in Deland, or European Center in Belgium. Those two locations have 300 Orange Vectran linesets being built this week and next to meet the upcoming demand for relines from the competitive CP community preparing for the Dubai Championship meet which begins at the end of November. 500 Orange Vectran relines may be done in either of the above mentioned facilities or may be ordered as field replaceable line kits to be installed by a qualified rigger.

More Good News! The price for the 300 & 500 Orange Vectran relines will be the same as the current 300HMA relines. That means your lines should last a bit longer, and won't cost you any more pocket change.

Field replaceable line kits for the 500 Orange Vectran are available and are listed on the updated Parts & Maintenance Price List.

Official Press Release.

USPA Canopy Piloting Nationals : Day 3 is over, 2011 CP Nationals at Skydive Spaceland is in the books!

And that's it!  2011 CP Nationals is complete!

Congratulations to all of the competitors and medalists!  You guys and girls brought some serious power into this years event and it showed through the three days over the pond.

Day 3 of the event saw the day start with some of the best wind conditions for the course.  Light winds held out for most of the morning and the competitors were able to finish most of the remaining zone accuracy runs before the weather rolled in and brought an early afternoon rain shower.  Skygod must have been favoring the competition though, because the rain only lasted a short time, and the sky opened up long enough for the last jumps to be made, including the few rejumps that were scheduled to be made.

And with those jumps made, the 2011 USPA Canopy Piloting Nationals hosted by Skydive Spaceland finish yesterday afternoon with all the rounds being completed.

The Advanced division saw 17 competitors in the field, and man, did they show up to swoop.  From local favorites to competitors as far away as California, the Advanced division remained competitive throughout the entire event and at the end of the competition, Joe Ablen was standing on the top of the podium as the overall winner of the Advanced division.

WAY TO GO JOE!

The Open division saw 33 competitors bring some of their best games into town, especially in the Zone Accuracy rounds.  For the first time in the history of the event, a competitor scored a perfect 100 in each of the 3 rounds of the event.  Distance and Speed rounds also saw some amazing runs and when it was all said and done, Alter Ego's Nicholas Batsch was standing on top of the podium as the the 2011 Open division overall winner.  

CONGRATS NICK!

So, what else?  In addition to crowning the top US CP competitors this year, USPA CP Nationals also set the roster for the Dubai International Parachuting Championships USA Canopy Piloting Team.  The top eight competitors of this event are now making travel plans to head out to Dubai and represent the USA.  They are:

Nicholas Batsch, Jonathan Tagle, Ian Bobo, Sergey Fedotov, Justin Thornton, Curt Bartholomew, Ryan Brownlow and Greg Windmiller.

This team is strong and we look forward to seeing the results of that competition.

The 2011 USPA Canopuy Pilot Nationals ran smoothly and aside from the occassional weather issues, the event went off without a hitch.  The pond was perfect and the aircraft were available throughout the event, even if that meant sending up the Super Otter with only 4 competitors for rejumps.  What this meant to the competitors is that they could focus on the one thing they came there for, to do their best to win the event.  Skydive Spaceland went beyond the call of duty in setting up the event and preparing for every need of the competitors through the program.  When you looked past the wind blades, tents and course markers, you saw the people behind them, the staff of Skydive Spaceland, and it is the Boyd family and the staff at the dropzone that made the 2011 USPA Canopy Piloting Nationals the success that it was.  Everyone at the dropzone went out of their way to make sure  that the competitors and judges alike got everything they needed to make this event as safe and memorable as possible.  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

While Nick, Joe and the US team heading to Dubia deserve the spotlight they rightfully earned through blood, sweat and a whole lot of sand in their sneakers, make sure you all drop a big THANK YOU to Skydive Spaceland the next time you get a chance.  They made the event what it was, and turned Rosharon, TX into Swoop-ville USA!

At the closing ceremonies, Meet Director Albert Berchtold, USPA Director of Competition Jimmy Hayhurst and Chief Judge Eric Florio took to the microphone to share their common message:

Canopy Piloting is a big part of the future of our sport and everyone in attendance was helping to bring it to the next level.  Onward and upward.

For more great pictures, check out our event photo gallery.

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.

 

 

2011 USPA Canopy Piloting Nationals Scores

 

We'll do our best to keep you all up to date on all the scores from this years CP Nationals.  All scores listed are unofficial.

Final scores:

Download OPEN_RESULTS

Download OPEN_Summary

Download ADV_RESULTS

Download ADV_SUMMARY

2011 USPA World and US National Records 

 

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.

      

PD Big Boy Pants list of attendees

The PD Big Boy Pants is coming up in just one week!  The final preparations are being made for the event at Mile-Hi Skydiving Center.  Below is a list of confirmed recordbreakers who will be taking their best shot at the world records in Longmont Colorado.  Click on their name to see their event profile.  Some of the profiles include interviews discussing strategies, plans, and training that the competitors have working on in preparation for this event. 

Jay Moledzki

Pablo Hernandez

Jonathan Tagle

Ian Bobo

Ian Drennan

Jessica Edgeington

Tommy Dellibac

JC Colclasure

Nick Batsch

Justin Thornton

Stuart Schoenfeld

Matt Shull

Dan Raymond

Dave Billings

Curt Bartholomew

Bryan Buechler

Edson Pacheco

Sergey Fedotov

Ryan Brownlow

Bart Rogowski

Hans Paulsen

Greg Windmiller

Justin Price

For those of you who can't make it out to Mile-Hi Skydiving Center to watch the event, you can check out the FLCPA live feed here. We'll see up "up there" in a week!!!

2011 Canadian Nationals Score Page

Scores listed below are from the 2011 CSPA Nationals at Edmonton Skydive Centre July 16-24.  We'll do our best to update these at least once per day. All scores are unofficial

Canopy Piloting (final)

Classic Accuracy(final)

Formation Skydiving OPEN(final)

Formation Skydiving SENIOR(final)

Formation Skydiving FEMALE(final)

Style(final)

Vertical Formation Skydiving(final)

Canopy Formation(final)

Team Accuracy(final)

Sport Accuracy(final)

Freefly(final)

8-Way(final)

Black Mountain Canopy Piloting Competition 2011 & 3rd Belgian Nationals

  The competition was held from the 10th of June  till the 12^th of June and 27 swoopers attended this first competition in Europe. We had pilots from  Austria, Belgium,Switzerland,Holland,France,Sweden,Germany and even from Israel and Australia. 

90 % of the competitors was flying Competition Velocities and a couple were flying Velocities.

Friday we started the training day and after a little rain we finished the day with enough jumps. The competition briefing was held in the world famous “Horse friends”

Saturday we started at 9 and after the first jumps we knew that it was a little challenging due to the headwind.So no big scores were put on the  score sheet.First round was won by Wuzi Wagner from Austria.

Round 2,3,4 was the speedevent with a lot of headwind , so all the scores were 3 seconds +,even some as high as 10 seconds!

Round 2 was won by Daumerie Anthony from Belgium,round 3 was won by Erwin Baatenburg de Jong from Holland and the 4^th round was won by Dominic Roithmaier from Austria.  When the last pilot landed from round 4 meet director Jurgen Camps called it the day.

On Sunday it was very nice weather to go on with the meet.  We started the day with round 5 which was distance and this round was won by Marcel Hotz from Switzerland. The next 3 rounds were zone accuracy and the 6^th round was won by Tobias Koch from Germany  with a perfect 100 score, so stand up in the box!! Round 7 and 8 of zone acc. was won by the accuracy King Wuzi Wagner with 84 points in each round.

After a short break  head judge Els Geveart explained the reverse exit order for the final round.

The last round of distance was won by Arno Declercq from Belgium with 82 meters and this was his first competition!! Nice job!

 

Overall standings open

1^st Grim Swinnen Belgium

2^nd Wuzi Wagner Austria

3rd Dominic roithmaier Austria

 

Overall standings Belgium nationals

1^st Grim Swinnen

2^nd Steve Braff

3rd Nicolas Tombari

I would like to thank to organization and all the volunteers and of course skydive Flanders to make this possible and I think that we just have to do this again next year. See you all at the next black mountain canopy piloting competition!!!

 

 

Tekst:Erwin Baatenburg de Jong

Video Marcel Leën

Pictures:Maya van Campenhout/Ellen de Grauwe

 

 

2011 FLCPA season wraps up

The FLCPA just wrapped up their fifth and final meet of the 2011 season at Skydive the Farm.  This season seems to have been another very sucessful one for this small quite large regional  league.  Sixty three competitors attended at least one meet this season with guests from Qatar, Spain, UK, Denmark, France, and around the US(from Hawaii to Boston) 

Here's a few of the new records set this season:

Georgia state speed record 2.621 seconds-Greg Windmiller-Comp Velocity 84

Georgia state distance record 143.61 meters-Warren Cleary-Comp Velocity 79

Florida state speed record 2.584 seconds-Greg Windmiller-Comp Velocity 84

Florida state distance record 147.30 meters-Greg Windmiller-Comp Velocity 96

 

We're very to happy to have had the opportunity to support the FLCPA again this season and look forward to seeing it continue to help in the development of the canopy piloting disclipline in a safe manner. 

Next month the FLCPA will be hosting the PD Big Boy Pants World Record event in Longmont Colorado.  Check back here to the PD blog for updates on this historic event.

 

ToraTora flying their Velocities

This video pretty much speaks for itself....

Mountain Velocity