December 2011

Brought to you by Niklas Daniel of AXIS Flight School at Skydive Arizona in Eloy with his teammate from Arizona Arsenal, Steve Curtis. Photos by Travis Mills. more »

For many students, video demonstrations of what they need to accomplish during their skydives are very helpful. Until now, there have been plenty of video demonstrations of various freefall maneuvers, such as turns or back flips, but very little canopy-control footage. more »

*Special online content available for download.*

Dear Santa,

Sorry about the buzz job! It was the fastest way I could think of getting my list to you. It’s been another busy year, and I have been behaving most of the time. But it is frustrating to see so many jumpers injured or killed because of canopy accidents. This year, my wish list is all about improving canopy control. I want jumpers to: more »

Q:

How long does a main pilot chute last? more »

USPA just received the National Transportation Safety Board’s final response on USPA’s initiatives to address the safety board’s concerns about jump-plane inspection and maintenance issues. The safety board was clearly pleased with USPA’s efforts to both educate operators about inspection and maintenance requirements, as well as our effort to verify each jump plane’s inspection method. The safety board closed the recommendation and classified it with a rare “Exceeds Recommended Action.” USPA’s board and our Group Member operators should be proud of taking decisive industry action to address the safety board’s concerns. And skydivers of every level can have greater confidence that the jump planes at Group Member DZs are meeting FAA inspection and maintenance requirements. more »

by Laura Bonner | Richmond, Virginia

I don’t skydive. As a friend of mine says, I stay on the ground and collect life insurance. And I have my reasons, none of which matter to you junkies out there, but I can admit that skydiving has irrevocably altered the course of my existence in ways that somehow mesh with nostalgic memories from childhood and then push me into the wondrous exploration of the unknown. more »

John LeBlanc, D-10824, is a legendary parachute designer and test jumper. While earning his Bachelor of Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), he met Bill Coe and in the mid-1980s joined Coe’s fledgling company, Performance Designs. Since then, he’s designed and tested numerous landmark canopies, including the PD nine-cell, Sabre, Sabre2, Stiletto and Velocity. more »