Well, just a quick update to let you know about this link:
Max Haim's pictures of the event.
Have a look, Max, as always, does a very good job ! 
No need to tell you the weather is warm and the sky beautiful...
Ever wanted to know more about what goes on behind the PD walls during the day? It can be pretty interesting with the many characters and legends (even if only in own mind) that work here. The PD Blog feels the need to share, so we decided to launch this new feature on the blog to quench the thirst of inquiring minds.
This first time around, the PD Spotlight shines on Donna Wagner, our trusty PMD Supervisor (keep on reading to find out what PMD really stands for).
How long have you been at PD?
For 6 years and to be honest I have never worked at one company for over 3 years. This is a first for me.
How the hell did you end up at PD? Err, we mean…. What brought you here?
This was to be my in-between job after burning out in a Public Relations job previously held. I was asked if I knew anything about Skydiving and I did know a little as I had spent time on several drop zones. It’s been fun ever since.
Any hidden talents, pet peeves or passions?
I play Handbells, flute and love music – all kinds. I think I only have one pet peeve and that is littering our earth. I am passionate about education, for myself and teaching others. Reading good books and spending time at the beach and doing so at the same time every chance possible!
What is most rewarding about your job? (apart from working with the lovely people in Marketing)
PD is a company that allows me to personally serve the needs of our customers. I really enjoy the interaction with the customers.
What is the toughest part of your job?
Making sure that all of our work goes through in a timely manner. (is she suggesting skydivers can be impatient??)
Have you made a skydive? If yes, give us the details!
Tandems! I’ve done six total and I really love it, but that adrenalin rush lasts me a long time and only need it once every three years. : ) My favorite Tandem Master is Art Shaffer at Skydive Palatka.
Most bizarre (or funny) canopy problem sent in?
We had a canopy come in with bikini wax on it! Determining what it was, and if we were going to remove it was a challenge. By the way, we were not able to get it off (and no, we are not telling you whose canopy it was). Cats also seem to like canopies, we get lots of requests to wash the canopy to remove kitty tinkle. PEEYEW!!!
What do people send their canopies in for?
Relines, patches, repairs, new skins, washing, permeability testing and any other issues with the canopies.
What makes Donna tick?
I just enjoy working with people. I Love to laugh but I am very serious about my work.
Why is there a baseball bat next to your desk?
“No Comment”
Suggestions for a proper maintenance routine?
Keep your canopy out of the sun as much as possible - UV rays are not good for parachtues. When packing, take care to orient fabric and lines properly to lessen the likelihood of line burns. Also, wear a shirt to keep your sweat from getting on the fabric when packing. The salt in our sweat weakens the fabric over time. At the end of your jumping day, clear out all of your line twists. When walking back after a jump, pick your canopy up off the ground - don’t drag it through the rocks, grass, dirt etc (prevents snagging of fabric).
Watch your lines closely and reline when the performance starts to diminish or lines look worn or frayed.
What is PMD?
PMD stands for Parachute Maintenance Department. We inspect the canopy, slider, lines and slinks/links for any damage or deficiencies. We advise the customers on what we see and let them decide what course of actions they would like to take. We do our best to educate our customers on what preventative steps if any, can be taken. I highly recommend an inspection before buying a used canopy unless inspected by a trusted rigger. Oversews, replacing illegible warning labels, old logos, and many other things can be done at no charge to the customer while his or hers canopy is here at PD. We keep the canopy up to date with any changes that may be available and we are ready to help with any issues the customer may have in the air or on the ground with their canopy.
Many thanks to Donna for taking the time to chat - we hope you enjoyed this mini-tour of PMD.
If you have any other questions about PMD feel free to post a comment and we will do our best to find you an answer!
Welcome to BFU International Boogie, 2nd edition in Reggio Emilia, Italy.
This time again all conditions are here to make it a very successful event.
As you can see on the picture, there is tons of famous load organisers, FF and RW, and well known Videographer and Photographer:
Fred and Vince from Babylon,
Ippo, Manuel and Luca from Aria,
Philippe Valaud, Tim Porter,
Livio from Sinapsi and Patrick Passe for Formation Skydiving,
Wendy Smith and Max Haim as photographers.
The plane fleet is just perfect:
The famous Beech 99, Jan's rocket machine,
an Antonov 28,
a Pilatus Porter,
and a balloon !
I'll try to keep you updated on what's going on here, but the best is just to come !!
Dedric,
enjoying the Italian style and amazing food !
Well the Midwest weather didn't cooperate this weekend for the Jump start boogie. Friday was the only real "nice" day of jumping, and I use the word "nice" loosely. Jumpers and 4-way teams traveled from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Nebraska for the event. I gotta hand it to those hardcore jumpers, they showed up even though the weather report called for rain. There were a handful of loads put up on Friday afternoon and a couple on Saturday before the rain started.
Chromy, the event coach, put on a seminar about body position and 4-way technique. A lot of great information was covered in that seminar.
Greg, from UPT, spent most of the time on the phone with UPS trying to locate his bins that didn't show up. Needless to say Greg is not happy with them right now.
Ward, with Mirage systems, did one intentional cutaway and managed to land the main canopy on his tent! All I can say is that he knows how to spot, or he is really lucky....
Event though the weather was bad it was nice to see a few old friends. I event packed a tandem to help the DZO out. I had forgotten how big those things are. Well I need to go catch my flight. Check back later this week and hear about our event in Kamloops!
Those skydivers that subscribe to the New York Times woke up to a pleasant surprise on the front page of the Sports section this morning - an article on skydiving!!
We at PD have known it was coming for a little while, but didn't want to spoil the surprise.
A few weeks ago Matt Higgins, a NY Times reporter, started working with Shonda Smith (Communications Director at USPA), writing a story about skydiving. As a part of his research, Matt even did an AFF jump at Skydive DeLand, visited PD to learn more about building parachutes and finally came to watch a swoop competition at Skydive Palatka. Matt said he really enjoyed the jump even if his landing was a little bit less than graceful - but hey, we've all had those right....
We here at PD are quite impressed with the enthusiasm and dedication Matt and Diane put into this project. It is great example of professional journalism when compared to many other times skydiving shows up in the media. We must also send some props to Shonda and the gang at USPA for help making this happen - we may not always see it, but USPA Headquarters staff is hard at work behind the scenes, serving the members and promoting our sport. Go Team!
Since I'm not sure that too many skydivers subscribe to the NY Times (even if it's a stellar publication), without further ado - I present you the very fabulous NY Times article. It also features an awesome video put together by Diana Olivia Cave, who followed Matt on his journey armed with a giant high def camera (except suspiciously she didn't seem to catch Matt's landing... hmmm!!). You can either check it out as a part of the article or go straight to it here. There are many familiar faces to be seen in that video, cool interviews and some fun stuff as well. Enjoy!
Well I just got off the plane he in Iowa. For those of you that may not know, Iowa is my home state. Skydive Iowa throws a spring boogie every year in the small town of Brooklyn. Rook Nelson, from Team Mandrin, flies one of his otters over for the weekend. This weekend is the first NPSL meet of the season.
This year Skydive Iowa has a few guests from the Deland area. Ward, with Mirage systems, Greg with UPT Vector and free fall coach, Chromy all made the trip for the event.
It's great to be able to come back and work an event at my old DZ.
Hope you guys like the picture of me and my mom. Check back later for pictures from the event.
I'm sure you have by now heard all about our Test jumper rockstar, Eric Heger.
But, you might remember that the 2nd prize in the Rockstar Sweepstakes was an Optimum reserve - and the lucky winner of that one was Henrik Csuri, from Woodridge, IL.
When Henrik was notified by Morten, his first response was as follows:
- we got a good chuckle out of that one :)
Henrik started jumping in 2005 when he got bored one Sunday afternoon (we have heard of worse reasons to go jumping...). His friend (busy working towards his A-license) invited Henrik to come along to the DZ to check it out, and the rest is history.
In Henrik's own words:
Everybody seemed to have fun, and I decided: "what the heck, I'm already here, might as well" As with many of us, I was hooked after the very first jump. Not only on skydiving, but also the community itself!
I'm currently a C license holder with 200+ jumps. I prefer freeflying, but mainly just want to be in the air having fun. When others ask me about skydiving I tell them to look at the sky, and tell me what do You see?! What I see is a playground, where I can meet with my friends!
I've decided to buy a PD Sabre II as my first canopy to the recommendation of Doug Smith (CSC DZO), and I love the canopy, although in down the road (with more jumps) I would like to test the Katana.
I'm one of the "fortunate" to have already tried my own PD Reserve (once), and I was very satisfied with it. Looking forward to become the owner of a new Optimum Reserve, and hopefully not having to use it!
PD, thanks again! What a way to start the season!
Enjoy the groovy pictures, but remember not to try this at home (unless you are at Henrik's house and can be supervised by him). He also noted that the canopy was removed from the box before the candle stunt, phewww :)
Henrik, enjoy your new Optimum and thanks for playing in the Sweepstakes!
The next installment in the Rockstar saga is ready - this one features Eric having a good time at Skydive DeLand, getting to experience what it is like to be a PD TESTJUMPER (the coolest of the cool... yeahh....).
Check it out.
Last weekend Sebastian Tempest held a 4 way skills camp at Skydive Sebastian. 10 participants attended and did mostly 2-on-2 skydives with members of the team. 
The weather was perfect and allowed the skills camp to proceed as planned and all jumps were completed on schedule.
Saturday night there was a group dinner followed by the traditional Sebastian Tempest ice cream cake for dessert (part of the teams very strict training diet).
Everyone had a great time and improved their 4 way and relative work skills. The weekend was a success for both the participants and team Sebastian Tempest, as they got to try out their new PD sponsored canopies. The Sebastian skies were filled with orange, silver, and white. 
Ari, Crash, and Pat even shared the PD fun with the cute Red Bull girls wandering the landing area (very altruistic of them, trying to get some exposure for PD. The PD Blog doesn't think for one second that they were just trying to chat up the Red Bull chicks... or... maybe... hey... wait a minute.....!!).
Tempest is planning on more skills camps in the future and will announce those through the Skydive Sebastian website. Get in on the next one for some 4-way fun!
