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Launch Full Issue in Flipbook

Flip through the pages of back issues from September 1957 to today as if you were holding the real magazine! Once you open an issue, swipe the hand icon to the left to begin reading. (You may need to disable your pop-up blocker to view.)

Mixed Formation Skydiving Block 10 (Flat Stairstep)   (Dec 2017) Foundations of Flight
Axis Flight School Skydive Arizona

Brought to you by Niklas Daniel and Brianne Thompson of AXIS Flight School at Skydive Arizona in Eloy. Photos by David Wybenga. Information about AXIS' coaching and instructional services is available at axisflightschool.com.

Logan Donovan | D-31751 by Brian Giboney   (Dec 2017) Homepage Profiles

Logan Donovan, D-31751, is an Ivy League-educated software engineer who is using her skills to benefit skydiving. Along with being a competitive canopy pilot and national canopy piloting judge, she created the Control Tower scoring system used to judge CP events around the world. Donovan has medaled numerous times in Northeastern Canopy Pilot League and Florida Canopy Piloting Association meets. In September, she earned her first medals at a USPA Nationals.

Seatbelt Usage   (Dec 2017) Safety Check

Has this happened to you?
You’re hot loading a full turbine aircraft, and you’re one of the last on. You scrunch onto that last seat on the straddle bench and scramble to find your seatbelt just as the door shuts, only to discover that someone at the front of the plane skipped a belt. What do you do?

Anastasia Uglova | A-84045 | Rwanda How Skydiving Changed My Life   (Dec 2017) How Skydiving Changed My Life

“What on Earth—or in the sky—was I doing?” I asked, staring at RwandAir’s confirmation email for my flight to the Kenyan coast to begin AFF. Instead of the excitement that accompanies a trip to white-sand beaches and warm waters, I felt trepidation. Fear.

Gaining Experience   (Dec 2017) The Rating Corner

Good judgment comes from experience, but for many, a lot of their experience comes from bad judgment. Regardless of whether you are just getting started in teaching skydiving by gaining a USPA Coach rating or have been at it for years and are receiving an Instructor Examiner rating, working toward a goal and earning a new rating is a challenging process that requires hard work and dedication. It is the end of one process (preparing and completing a certification course) and the beginning of another (the real-world environment). You have proven you deserve the rating with your knowledge and flying skills, but now is when learning really begins.

Practical Tips for Cloud Clearance   (Dec 2017) Features

Most jumpers have a difficult time remembering the cloud clearance regulations, but understanding the reasons for the different altitude requirements can help you remember the necessary information.

Clint Vincent Retires (again)   (Dec 2017) Gearing Up

Recent and long-time members alike will know the name of Clint Vincent, one of the association's longest-serving employees. He's actually served two 10-year stints at USPA; the first from 1985 to 1995 and the second between 2007 and 2017. Sadly but deservedly, Clint is retiring from USPA at the end of this year.

Container Lock   (Nov 2017) Safety & Training Keep An Eye Out

A jumper flying her wingsuit attempted to deploy her main canopy at 3,500 feet. A few seconds after she threw her pilot chute, she saw the pilot chute trailing behind her, so she pulled her reserve ripcord. The reserve deployed and was fully inflated by 2,000 feet. The main canopy remained in the container after the reserve deployed.

What kind of hardware is best for my rig?   (Nov 2017) Safety & Training Ask A Rigger

When choosing a new or used rig, the metal hardware used in the 3-ring assembly and for harness adjustments matters a lot. Inattention to this detail can make or break a good used gear deal. If you’re getting new gear, some of those great sales and discount deals might be due to hardware choice.

Winter Is Coming   (Nov 2017) Features

Winter comes for all of us, whether you’re of the Great House of Chicagoland or the Great House of Perris. While the season’s arrival clearly hits the Lords of the North hardest, every skydiver in the 50 Kingdoms needs to maintain at least some awareness of cold-season strategy.

November 2017 Cover   (Nov 2017) Featured Photos Covers

Photo by Daniel Angulo | D-28777

On his way to taking the gold medal in accuracy landing, Rick Kuhns approaches the tuffet during an 11th-round jump-off with fellow competitor Jimmy Drummond at the 2017 USPA National Parachuting Championships at Skydive Paraclete XP in Raeford, North Carolina.

Canopy Collision Decisions by Steve Smith with contributions from Greg Jack and Jules McConnel   (Nov 2017) Features

by Steve Smith with contributions from Greg Jack and Jules McConnel

The original version of this article appeared in the July/August/September 2017  issue of Australian SkydiveR Magazine. 

All skydivers—no matter what discipline they pursue—learn how to avoid canopy collisions. Yet collisions remain one of the most likely ways to die in the sport. Part of the problem is that not everybody knows how to correctly perform emergency procedures after a collision, and the procedures are not common sense. You can only learn them on the ground.

T.J. Hine | D-13580 by Brian Giboney   (Nov 2017) People Profiles

T. J. Hine started skydiving in 1985, and his love for the sport and its people continues today. A well-known formation skydiver at Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, Illinois, Hine has set many state, national and world big-way records and has medaled in 8-way and 10-way at the USPA Nationals. As one of his colleagues said, “T. J. has always balanced his work and his passion for skydiving. His longevity and enthusiasm in the sport inspire many to keep going.”

Paul Herrick | D-6835 | Jupiter, Florida How Skydiving Changed My Life   (Nov 2017) People How Skydiving Changed My Life

In 1962, on a demo for a company picnic—a water jump in Palm Beach, Florida—I was nearly arrested by the Secret Service for "trying to assassinate President Kennedy." As an aeronautical engineer at Area 51, I volunteered to test eject from the Mach-3 SR-71 Blackbird spy plane in June of 1964. (Lockheed, the Air Force and the CIA turned down my offer.) My crop-duster tow plane caught fire and was out of control and going down in flames when I bailed out at 700 feet and landed in a tree next to the forest fire started by my crashed airplane.

Your First Priority   (Nov 2017) Safety & Training The Rating Corner

An ever-increasing number of tandem accidents are attributable to the use of handcams, either as a direct or indirect cause. Sadly, the mistakes leading to these accidents are easy to see in high-definition video, as the tandem instructors continue filming with a straight left arm even as the world around them is going to hell.

Wingsuit Collisions   (Nov 2017) Safety & Training Safety Check

Hard-impact freefall collisions resulting in serious injuries and fatalities were once a common issue with formation skydivers and freeflyers, and now they’re an issue with wingsuiters. Modern wingsuit flying—which now has had more than 20 years to develop training methods and equipment and build a foundation of knowledge—cannot truly be considered a new discipline any longer, but it continues to struggle with injuries and fatalities from collisions in freefall, as well as collisions with the aircraft on exit.

Sit-Fly Fall-Rate Changes (Leg Mechanics)   (Nov 2017) Safety & Training Foundations of Flight
Axis Flight School Skydive Arizona

Brought to you by Niklas Daniel and Brianne Thompson of AXIS Flight School at Skydive Arizona in Eloy. Photos by David Cherry. Information about AXIS' coaching and instructional services is available at axisflightschool.com.

The Growth of the AAD Fund   (Nov 2017) People Gearing Up

USPA’s Airport Access and Defense Fund started in 1991 with the primary purpose of helping DZs fight governmental decisions that unfairly or illegally interfere with or negate skydiving operations on airports. As it has been from the start, one condition of using the fund is that winning the battle would set national precedent so that other DZs and skydiving in general derive future benefit. The AAD Fund is entirely dependent on donations from skydivers, who give about $20,000 annually. The fund has now grown to just over $344,000. 

USPA Call to Action: Oppose ATC Privatization (Updated 10-3)   (Oct 2017) Industry News

THIS MAY BE OUR LAST CHANCE TO SAVE SKYDIVING FROM DIRE CONSEQUENCES
The proponents of the bad idea of stripping air traffic control from the FAA, and handing it to a new private corporation are planning to have the House vote on their bill--HR 2997--next week. All of the general aviation (GA) groups, including USPA, are opposed. If you have not called your Congressional Representative and secured their "no" vote on HR 2997, please do so now!

Nationals Comes to a Close   (Oct 2017) Competition Industry News

Two weeks of non-stop action completed Saturday night at Skydive Perris in California, as the 2017 USPA National Skydiving Championships came to a close. More than 500 competitors from across the U.S. and abroad filled the skies over Southern California each day, vying for the title of national champion in multiple events—wingsuit flying, artistic freeflying and freestyle, formation skydiving, vertical and mixed formation skydiving, and speed skydiving. Skydive Perris proved to be a superb host, holding Nationals for the first time since 2005.
The final events—16-way and 10-way formation skydiving—were a fun finish to the excitement, with GKXP winning gold in 16-way and Arizona Airspeed taking the top spot in 10-way. Competitors, judges, staff and friends celebrated at the final awards ceremony and banquet poolside Saturday night.
Full scores are available on OmniSkore.com, and Skydive-TV’s daily broadcasts of all the action appear at skydive-tv.com. Look for a complete report in the December issue of Parachutist.

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