"In his four-year tenure, Randy has elevated USPA's stature in the world arena of skydiving competition and records," said USPA Executive Director Ed Scott. "We thank him and wish him well."

Photo by Tom Sanders  |  D-6503
Jumpers fly a round over the Great Blue Hole, a large submarine sinkhole in the Caribbean, during the Boogie in Belize.

Photo by Raymond Adams  |  D-30158

Devin LaMon and Ashley Maurice enjoy a freefly jump during the Pepe's Island Boogie in Panama. 

Photo by David Lake  |  D-30458

Damien Ettema swoops the pond at Skydive New England.

Jumpers fly a hybrid during the SIS of ArOZona Sisters in Skydiving event at Skydive Arizona in Eloy.

Photo by Gen Montreuil  |  D-31992

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.

While it generally does not cause a malfunction, a stuck slider can greatly affect the performance of the canopy. Following a main canopy deployment, jumpers should perform a thorough visual inspection followed by a controllability check immediately after ensuring that the airspace is clear around them. 

Over the years, many hoped that the wingsuiting community would develop safely without the need for heavy-handed regulation from USPA. Those who opposed a wingsuit instructor rating argued that USPA does not—and should not—require specific training for or regulate advanced skydiving such as freeflying or high-performance canopy piloting. The best example of a skydiving discipline that developed excellent training methods and safety guidelines without requiring USPA regulation is canopy formation skydiving. The pioneers of canopy formation skydiving learned what worked well and what didn’t work well and formulated the best processes and techniques for teaching jumpers who are new to the discipline. Those guidelines continued to evolve and improve, and now it is very rare that a fatality occurs during a canopy formation jump. 

Several changes that came out of the March 2-4 USPA Board meeting in San Antonio, Texas, affect USPA rating holders.

During an AFF Instructor Rating Course at Skydive Phoenix in Maricopa, Arizona, candidate Jason Allison (top) exits with AFF Instructor Examiner Dave Lepka for an evaluation jump. 

Photo by Jeff Agard  |  D-16906

San Antonio, an anchor of the Texas Triangle (an area of the state containing five major cities and 70 percent of its population), attracted Texas-sized crowds for the USPA Board of Directors meeting March 2-4. The winter meeting, one of the most well-attended USPA meetings in history, contained three days of full agendas and an evening of camaraderie along the Riverwalk after Saturday’s annual USPA General Membership Meeting.

It is just before 7 a.m. at Homestead Air Reserve Base in Florida. Sergeant Kyle Pratt, smartly dressed in a black flight suit with the words “U.S. Army Parachute Team” embroidered in gold on his back, glances up at the C31A Fokker aircraft positioned 25 meters in front of him.

Hey you, reading this … can you define the term “MARD”? Do you know what it does, how it works and what distinguishes it from similar systems? If you answered no to any of these questions, you are not alone! As it turns out, jumper knowledge of MARD systems is surprisingly marginal. (Or should we say, MARDginal?)

Operation Enduring Warrior Helps Combat-Wounded Veterans Take Flight

Skydiving Makes a Difference: A Parachutist series on nonprofit organizations that give back to their communities

Photo by Andy Farrington | D-19747

Jumpers take a break from Safety Day activities to make a head-down jump at Kapowsin Air Sports in Shelton, Washington.

On March 10, skydivers across the U.S. and around the world made their way to one of the hundreds of drop zones that hosted a Safety Day event. Now in its 22nd year, Safety Day continues to be a favorite event that draws jumpers both new and old to the drop zone for a day geared toward making everyone smarter and safer. Whether attendees listened to presentations about managing canopy traffic and avoiding collisions, practiced emergency procedures (in a hanging harness using traditional methods or the virtual reality videos newly available on USPA’s website) or learned how a main-assisted-reserve- deployment (MARD) device works to extract a reserve, those who attended Safety Day thoroughly enjoyed it.

Anna Rocca, B-47038, makes her first rodeo jump with Eric Peterson at Skydive City Zephyrhills in Florida.

The International Skydiving Museum and Hall of Fame recently announced the names of those it will induct into its Hall of Fame class of 2018.

Florida Skydiving Center in Lake Wales once again hosted the annual Parachutists Over Phorty Society SpringFest meet. The February 28-March 4 event brought jumpers from around the country together for friendly competition. It also gave POPS members a chance to remember Bob Rhyne, TopPOP #5, who had recently passed away.