The PD Blog

Performance Designs Attends Volusia County Job Fair

On Friday March 23^rd, Performance Designs, Inc. attended the Volusia County Job Fair at the Deltona City Hall in Deltona, FL.

  PD already employs a large number of local talented sewing machine operators and production staff members and thanks to all the canopy orders that continue to keep coming into the factory, the decision was made to expand the company's work force in an effort to keep delivery times as short as possible. The Central Florida region has always been known for having an extremely talented workforce, and it's no coincidence that the majority of the world's parachute components and systems are hand crafted in this region as a result. The production of modern ram air parachutes requires an artist's touch and being able to join individual fabric components that go on to become a singular aerodynamic fabric wing is in effect, an art form. And thanks to the diligent efforts made by the PD Human Resources department day in and day out, the company continues to be able to bring on board the most talented fabric crafters in the region.

Performance Designs, Inc. is a modern production facility that employs and utilizes a vast array of specialized talents across a broad spectrum of job needs. While the production staff is the most visible branch of the company, easily recognized by the products that they produce, a seldom seen, yet equally vital role at PD is that of the materials testing engineers. Raw materials testing is critical to establishing the longevity of the parachute systems produced by PD, and a tremendous amount of behind the scenes research and testing is continually done to ensure the integrity of the raw materials being used.

 Who then are these testers?

 They are the PD materials engineers. They have a behind the scenes, almost silent role in a massively complex production process, but without them, the production process could not occur effectively or efficiently.

As Reba MacLagan and Victoria Katz from the PD Human Resources department surveyed the attendants of the Volusia County Job Fair, they looked for a broad spectrum of talented candidates, from sewing machine operators to material testing engineers. As the job fair came to a close, the select group of candidates that may go on to become the future employees of Performance Designs, Inc. had a wonderful opportunity to learn about PD and the parachute industry as a whole. As they engaged the company's HR department, they learned about the world's leading parachute manufacturer that just happened to be a few miles up the road from this quiet little Central Florida community that is enjoying a much needed growth in the economy and job market.

 

Bill Coe and John Leblanc receive the Stefan Banic Award

Stefan Banic (1870-1941), was a Slovak inventor credited with the first US Patent (1,108,484) for a parachute design. He first jumped his parachute from the 41^st floor of a building in Washington DC in 1913 outside of the US Patent Office, and a year later made his first parachute jump from an airplane in 1914. He then donated his patent rights to the US Army Air Corp (which would evolve into the US Air Force) and the American Society for the Advancement of Aviation, and his parachute design would go on to play an integral role in military operations and general aviation safety for decades to come.

Stefan Banic was a pioneer in the field of parachute design.

In 1997, the Stefan Banic Parachute Foundation was created to honor the legacy and memory of Stefan and his enormous contribution to the aviation and parachute industry world wide. Today, the foundation awards  the world's leading parachute industry professionals and manufacturers, past or present, with the Stefan Banic Award.

At this year's Parachute Industry Association (PIA) meeting held recently in Daytona Beach, FL, Performance Designs, Inc. owner Bill Coe and company Vice President John Leblanc were awarded the Stefan Banic Silver Medal award. This prestigous award was presented by PIA Chairman Cliff Schmucker at the Saturday evening PIA dinner. In attendance of the award presentation were perennial parachute industry publisher Dan Poynter (past Stefan Banic award recipient) as well as dozens of current and former parachute industry professionals and parachutists,

Performance Designs, Inc, would like to congratulate Bill and John on receiving this prestigious award as they celebrate the 30^th Anniversary of the company in 2012.

 

 

 

Big Way CReW Camp concludes at SD Arizona

This past weekend Skydive Arizona hosted the first(beer) big way CReW camp of the 2012 season.  Brian Pangburn and Kirk VanZandt organized the event which officially began on Friday, but that didn't stop the CReW dogs  from hooking up canopies throughout the days leading up to the camp.  

The canopy of choice was the PD Lightning with wingloadings ranging from 1.3-1.4 and sizes from the 113-193 sq. ft.  The skill level at the camp ranged from the newest PUPS to the seasoned CReW DOGS.  Formations ranged from the more technical "thread the needle" to the 34 way diamond attempt.    The event certainly had its share of "YAHOO" moments with wraps, entanglements, cutaways and reserve rides.  

Laszlo Andacs was on hand to capture the event with his amazing photography skills.  For more pictures check out Laszlo's website.

 

 

2011 3rd DIPC Day 7- FS 4 way concludes!

The 4 way Formation Skydiving event here in Dubai concluded today with the 8th and final round.  The final standings:

Open:

Gold-France

Silver-Belgium Hayabusa

Bronze-USA SDC Rhythm XP

4th-USA Perris Fury

Gulf Cup:

Gold-Qatar Tigers

Silver-UAE Red

Bronze-UAE Gold

4th-Oman National Team

The CF 2way and 4way  portion of the meet is scheduled to complete their 8th and final round tomorrow.  Classic Accuracy finished up the 6th round of competition this morning and was released for the day.  Tomorrow they'll head into the 7th round.  The German team is holding onto the top spot with 18cents, followed closely by Russia with 19, and China with 20.

In the CP event 2 rounds have been completed in each event, with 1 round of speed, distance, and accuracy left to go

3rd DIPC 2011-Day 4- blazing distances in CP and battling CF!

Just when it didn't seem to be able to get any more amazing here in Dubai, the competition continues!!  2Way CF continues to be a tight race between the Russians, French and Aussies.  With only one round left to go in the 4-way FS the French are in first, Belgians in second, and the USA holding third and fourth.  With three rounds left to go in Accuracy, the Germans are in the lead with 12 cents followed closely by China and Slovenia at 13 cents, Its still anyone's game there!

There were a few tough landings in the Distance runs of CP today with over many competitors visiting the medical tent to have their bumps and bruises attended to.  Our good friend and PD rep Dedric also had a hard landing at the end of his distance round and was taken to the hospital to get checked out.  Luckily nothing broken, just very sore! 

Without further delay, Here's todays video!

 

 

The Grand folks at Skydive Dubai are also putting together daily video blogs which can be found here.

3rd DIPC 2011-Day 3-wet swoopers!!!

It was another amazing day here in Dubai.  In the Female Classic Accuracy, China and Russia are in a tight race for the gold, only 2 centimeters separate the teams.  In the Open Classic Accuracy, Russia leads with 16 cents after 4 rounds. France, UAE, and Oman are right on their heels with 18 cents.

In the 2 way CF, the Russians, French, and Aussies are all within 2 points after 2 rounds fighting it out for the top spots.  The 4 way Female category is a tight race after 6 rounds with the UK Team Blue leading the French National team by only 2 points.  Enjoy today's video for some more detail!

 

 

2011 3rd DIPC-Day 2 Competition continues!

The weather today was wonderful here in Dubai. It was the National Day here celebrating 40 years of the UAE. The folks here have a great sense of pride in their country hanging UAE flags on the roof of their cars, sides of buildings, and wherever you can think of. The competition continued throughout the day halting only temporarily for a brief airshow in the middle of the day which featured a 40 way making a giant "40" in freefall, a spectacular 16 way diamond by the CF competitors, and the amazing flying of Zoltan Veres. You can check out the most up to date scores here.

The 4 way FS competition has completed 4 rounds and its fierce competition for the top spot with Belgium trailing the French by only 3 points. For the 3rd place position, the two teams from the USA are only a few points apart.

The CF 2 way portion of the meet has the Aussie's battling with the French in a tight race for the gold. And if you enjoy watching classic accuracy, It's amazing to watch the China female team getting one zero after the next. But consistency is what pays off so they'll have to keep up performances if they want to hold on to the top seats in the female category.

3rd DIPC 2011- Day one of competition 12.1.11

It's Day 1 of competition here in Dubai.  The day started with the finish of the Accuracy practice round that started yesterday.  With the winds picking up and Accuracy put on a hold, the CP competitors were given the opportunity to put down the practice round that they missed yesterday.  Most competitors ran the speed course with a few taking a crack at the distance course.  With a few marker strikes and one heart wrenching canopy collapse(3:20), these disciplines ended without injury.  The competition in FS and CF began today and ran clear through sunset.  Scores for those two disciplines can be found here. Here's some footage for the day from Dubai...Enjoy...

 

3rd DIPC 2011- Practice Day

The Opening Ceremonies just came to a finish here in Dubai. Skateboarders, flaming horses, children with numerous countries flags, Zoltan, and a night swoop by Marat and Billy Sharman from Fazza Sky were some of the attractions.  What an amazing opening to a funfilled week.  This morning brought high winds which cleared for some practice jumps for FS and Accuracy in the afternoon.  Tomorrow begins with the completion of the practice round for Classic Accuracy.  CP is scheduled to begin a bit later in the morning and FS will begin around 10am.

 

Dubai International Parachuting Championships and Gulf Cup less than one week away!

We're less than one week out from the beginning of the Dubai International Parachuting Championships (DIPC) and Gulf Cup.

For those who have attended or watched this event in past years, you know it’s a long event, with nonstop activity. Depending on the discipline, some competitors will only do one or two competition jumps per day. This makes the mental challenges of this event much different than a meet that is completed in a day or two. Lets have a look at some of the events and the teams/countries in attendance….

4-Way (Open & Female)

38 teams from 23 countries. In the open class, the French, Belgians, Russians and USA will all be presenting teams that will be pushing for top spots on the podium. Qatar and UAE were both present as guest teams last month at the US Nationals and put up some impressive scores. Both countries have up’d their averages since last years Gulf Cup and will be competing for the top spot this year as well.

 

Classic Accuracy (Team, Male, Female)

45 teams +23 individuals from 31 countries. In the Female category the Russians are expected to bring a strong team again and will surely be the team to beat. In the mens field it will surely be a fight to the finish. Italy, Czech, France, Slovenia, Russia have all been known to bring strong contenders to such an event.

 

Canopy Formation (4-Way & 2-Way)

13 teams from 9 countries. This will be the first year that CF will be included at the DIPC. The French & Aussie teams have been looking very strong recently with their Storms. But the Russian teams are known to be strong in the CF events and are planned to have a full line-up in Dubai.

 

Canopy Piloting

120 competitors from 28 countries. The who’s who of the swooping community is planned to be out in full force. There was some talk about some changes to the events this year but after further review the DIPC has decided to keep the traditional speed, distance, zone accuracy, and freestyle events.

 

We'll be keep you updated daily via our Facebook with tib bits and more, and daily scores and video updates on The PD Blog