A USPA Staff Report with contributions from Team Managers Eli Godwin, Karl Meyer, ShawnaRae Miliano and L.J. Wobker

The world’s most elite skydivers representing more than 40 nations made their way to Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, for the 2018 Fédération Aéronautique Internationale World Parachuting Championships of Artistic Events, Canopy Formation, Formation Skydiving and Speed Skydiving October 6-13 to vie for World Champion titles. The U.S. showed up with a healthy delegation of 12 teams and six speed competitors to compete in 10 events.

Photo by Michael Tomaselli  | D-18530

During the USPA Nationals, members of the gold-medal-winning 4-way sequential canopy formation team the Dawgfathers take in the view at Skydive Sebastian in Florida.

On September 27, USPA Director of Competition Steve Hubbard called Greg Windmiller, D-20004, to the podium during the awards ceremony at the USPA National Championships of Canopy Piloting to receive a gold medal. It was not Windmiller’s first gold. In fact, it wasn’t even his first gold that day, as he had just won the canopy piloting speed event with a perfect-300 score.

USPA held its 2018 National Parachuting Championships at sunny Skydive Sebastian in Florida September 19-28. This was the first USPA Nationals for DZO Amanda Smalley and staff, and they did a spectacular job handling all of the expected (and unexpected) issues that arose.

Jump for the Rose is a skydiving charity that raises funds for a beautiful facility called the Rose, a nonprofit breast cancer clinic that Dorothy Gibbons and Dr. Dixie Melillo founded in 1986. The Rose helped Marian Sparks, the founder of JFTR, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009 and had no insurance. Sparks paid it forward by creating a fundraiser to help uninsured women (and men) get help at the Rose.

Being a new jumper can be overwhelming. You graduate from AFF and are constantly learning new information about disciplines, the flow of the drop zone, landing rules and more. On top of that, you have a big choice to make: What canopy should you buy? To be fair, this will continue to be a significant question all the way throughout your skydiving career.

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.

A Federal Aviation Administration Senior Rigger opened this pilot emergency parachute system, which had seen many years out of service and was stored in an unknown manner, and found that all of the rubber bands had rotted and that many of them had melted onto the suspension lines.

Q: Some rigs have the main bridle routed top to bottom over the closing flaps, and some rigs have bridles that come out from underneath the closing pin and then back down the same direction. Which is more correct?

“The Front Office” answers questions about jump pilots and piloting. You’ll learn what pilots do behind the scenes to make your favorite time of week happen, and you’ll get a one-of-a-kind view from the one seat in the airplane you never get to be in.

Dear Santa,

2018 really flew by! I can’t believe it is already time for another wish list, but hopefully you can see to it that all my wishes come true. It’s a long list (and it’ll be my last one as director of safety and training for USPA), but it’s all pretty important stuff. This past year brought a lot of lousy weather, so first of all, I would like to see a bunch of sunny weekends so jumpers can get to their drop zones frequently and the drop zones can stay busy flying lots of loads.

One of the simplest ways to become a stronger instructor and a better leader is to change ineffective speech patterns. Three common habits can cause a noticeable lack of clarity. Once coaches and instructors correct these habits, they instantly add power and confidence to their lessons.

Niklas Daniel practices a head-down outfacing carve around a skyball over Skydive Arizona in Eloy.

Photo by Steve Curtis | D-20818

Grace Dobosz, C-47029 and a video editor, founded the Wild Women Film Collective to spread the word about women in skydiving and other extreme sports. The group officially launched during the Chicks Rock Boogie at Skydive Elsinore in California on October 5. The collective announced its upcoming film festival and debuted its first short-film submission—“Moms in Skydiving” by Sophee Hillyard—at the event.

Stan Shepherd, D-28911, released the book “Skydiving Full Flight” in August. As a memoir of Shepherd’s 50 years of jumping, the book relates his worst mistakes and close calls, as well as the joys of the sport. He describes the lure of skydiving, his experience jumping both round and modern parachutes and his ideas on how to improve the sport. The book is intended for the average fun jumper of any experience level who want to gain from another jumper’s experiences in the sport. The book is available for purchase at Amazon.com at a price of about $7 for the Kindle version or $10.50 for a paperback.

Advanced Aerospace Designs released Public Service Bulletin PSB-02-2018, which requires owners to send all Vigil II automatic activation devices with serial numbers from 16,000 to 21,999 to the manufacturer for inspection. After an AAD malfunctioned, the manufacturer traced the problem to an unreliable electrical connection. The company has inspected 200 units without finding a similar problem but has decided to check all of the affected units as a precaution. The PSB describes the process required for each affected unit. The inspection is mandatory, and owners should complete it at the next reserve repack or by no later than December 31, 2019. The company will also update the software and replace the battery, since the affected units are within two years of a required battery change. More information is available at vigil.aero/service-bulletins.

In 2001, a jumper who worked at Skydive Elsinore in California convinced DZO Karl Gulledge to host a boogie centered around women. And so began the Chicks Rock Boogie, which celebrated its 18th anniversary October 4-7 this year. Although the boogie attracts many men, it emphasizes female empowerment and creates an environment where jumpers learn from some of the leading ladies of the skydiving world.

Jack LaLonde, D-6875, made his first jump on Saturday, October 6, 1968 at South Florida Parachute Inc. in Clewiston. On Saturday, October 18, he made his 50-year anniversary jump at Skydive Palatka in Florida. The 79-year-old LaLonde and seven friends flew an 8-way formation skydive (snowflake to round, then LaLonde flew to the center) to celebrate the milestone