Three board members and one staff member make up the Compliance Group, which conducts investigations on allegations of member misconduct.

Francesco Cipollone, D-31600, is a highly respected angle-flying coach and organizer who hails from Italy but lives in the U.S.

I have always been shy and introverted. I was a quiet kid, and I grew into an even quieter adult. In college, my introversion escalated into social anxiety.

Over the last weekend in January, the USPA Board of Directors held its second hybrid-format meeting, meaning that some board members attended in person, while others attended virtually.

Photo by Gen Montreuil I D-31992

(From front) Wendi Corbin, Ashley Jordon, Hailee Tashnick and Rob Johnson execute a train exit during Sisters in Skydiving’s Golden Girls Boogie at Skydive Arizona in Eloy.

During the New Year’s Beach Boogie hosted by Skydive Cuautla in Mexico, Caroline Layne (left) and Amanda Hart sit-fly over Puerto Escondido and have so much fun that they laugh out loud.

Photo by Alex Swindle | D-31305

Wingsuit skydiver Karlee King back-flies over Skydive Arizona in Eloy.

On February 11, United Parachute Technologies announced that it had identified problems affecting the reserve deployment on some of its Vector SE student containers and has offered a field fix, as well as a permanent fix.

In 1997, Patty Chernis, newly elected to the USPA Board as a regional director, suggested that USPA create a special day to get jumpers current and prepared for the upcoming skydiving season. Now in its 25th year, Safety Day has grown increasingly popular, morphing from year to year to address current trends.

A hard-opening parachute is certainly not a new phenomenon. Skydivers have been dealing with hard openings throughout the history of sport parachuting—particularly during the early 1970s when the first ram-air main canopies and the various devices used to try and tame their openings were developed.

I’ve renamed this column “Anemometer,” as I intend to convey how the wind blows by providing information that USPA members will want to know.

Each year, roughly 55,000 Oahu locals and tourists visit Dillingham Airfield to skydive, glide and fly.

During the 2019 summer board meeting, USPA adopted and implemented an updated PRO-rating program with new jump requirements, qualifying areas and distances (the old standard of 10 accuracy jumps into a 32-foot circle no longer applies) and types of qualifying canopies.

From time to time, knots like the ones shown in this photo can magically appear in brake lines.