The PD Blog

Official Riggers

Well, after a long week in the cold town of Elizabethtown, PA we got our rigger tickets.  Dave DeWolf really put us through the ringer.  With all the packing, sewing, finger trapping and knot tying he had us doing, were wore out.  I am still amazed that neither one of us put a stitch in our fingers.  Thanks to our good friend and co-worker Rags, we were able to sew our patch, worry free.  Rags made sure we were well prepared before the course, it has really made a difference. 

So, it's official, we're riggers.  Isaiah and I have both our chest and back ratings.  So if anyone needs their old 28 foot round packed up, give Isaiah a call, he loves to pack those things.  We were able to take a few breaks in between pack jobs to take some pictures.  The one of Isaiah is during his practical test, as you can see, he is in the zone.  And of course Dave him self, giving us a big thumbs up.

When I get back in the office I will be updating the tour calendar with the dates we have set.  Be sure to check it out to see when we will be near you.  In the mean time, stay safe.         

   

My name is Bond.... Jesper Bond!

European PD Rep Jesper (in gray and orange suit) recently visited the Bedford tunnel along with some Danish skydivers.  They found themselves sharing the tunnel with James Bond (Daniel Craig - in the blue & yellow suit, right next to Jesper), who was in Bedford preparing for his next Bond movie - Quantum of Solace (or if not that one then some other movie he's working on.  The PD Blog admits to not really being on top of Bond news).    
Reliable sources have told us that Double-Oh-Jesper was able to show Double-Oh-Seven a few tricks that will come in handy.  Honestly we wouldn't be surprised if Jesper is asked to step in as a stunt double at some point, he's just that good.
In the picture below you might also notice another Danish skydiver looking a little blurry.  We aren't sure if he's struggling to get into his jumpsuit or if he is so excited about sharing the tunnel with James Bond that he just can't contain himself... shaken or stirred? 

Birthday Gillooons

Birthdays occur at PD with alarming regularity, or roughly once a year per staff member (we have been observing this trend for a while now and the theory seems to hold true).
One of those days rolled around not long ago, when Gilles Dutrisac (one of our R&D Project Leads) turned a certain age.  His co-workers decided to make the day memorable and help him celebrate, so they filled his fishbowl office with a few balloons...

1.  A sleepy Gilles reports to work early in the morning.

 

2.  Gilles wonders where his trusty desk and chair have gone.  

 

3.  Gilles somehow manages to find his desk and sit down - but our sources tell us that his office got a little squeaky so eventually the balloons (also known as Gilloons) had to be evacuated.

 

 

 

 

 

Photos, planning and plotting done by Chad Ebling and Jim Belanger

Who Is Your Rigger?

Hey guys and gals, Nick and Isaiah checking in.  We are up here in the cold state of Pennsylvania going through Dave DeWolfs riggers course.  Isaiah and I are learning a lot about proper rigging.  It is amazing how much knowledge Dave has.  Seeing all the old gear he has laying around is pretty cool.  He is teaching us all about, rings and ropes, R3's, blast handles, shot and a halfs, belly bands, it is a pretty cool history lesson.

We are getting ready to drive to the FAA testing center to take our written test.  Rumor has it the test questions have been changed a little bit so who knows how we will do.  Wish us all the luck you can, I think we might need it.  Check back with us later to see how we do.  Isaiah is yelling at me to hurry up so I have to get going.  Talk to you later.

Drew Lipinski wins 4th Australian Canopy Piloting Nationals!!!

Congratulations to Drew Lipinski of Team Horizon for winning the 4^th Australian Canopy Piloting Nationals. This is the 2^nd time Drew has won the National Championships. It was a nail biter of a competition with Kaz Sheekey of Team Fastrax coming in a very close 2^nd only 8 points behind. Between these 2 PD athletes they will take home 7 of a possible 12 medals in the competition. Drew took silver in Speed, Gold in Distance and Bronze in Zone Accuracy with an Overall Gold Finish. Kaz took Silver in Distance, Gold in Zone Accuracy and Silver Overall. Well done to these fantastic PD Athletes.

This competition was the toughest yet with World Class Performances. Along with Drew and Kaz sweeping the competition and making the Australian Team, Matt Harris and Cameron Rolfe (Team Horizon) finsihed 6th and 8th, and Roger Mulckey (Team Off Track) finished in 5th Position, all securing their place in the Australian Team to go to South Africa in November.

To check out all the results for the Open Class competitors click on the link below. The Intermediate competition is still going so check back later for their final scores.

Cameron Rolfe

Team Horizon

Download apf_2008_canopy_piloting_overall_scoring_open.pdf

Download apf_2008_canopy_piloting_intermediate_overall_scoring.pdf

Friday Night...

last night we had a truely unique experience.  The PIA symposium took over the ICE Bar at the Olympic port in Barcelona.  Thats right, the bar, the glasses, the tables and chairs were all made of ice.  It's funny but after 2 hours of standing on a 28 degree floor, you cant feel your feet anymore?

The USPA crew...

Dario and Connie from Switzerland, Melody from Sunpath, and Morten from PD have got some pretty cold bums here...

Maddy from the UK is right at home in these temperatures...

Boy this sure isn't Florida...

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Australian CP Nats Unofficial Results Speed and Distance

Day 1 of the Australian Canopy Piloting Nationals is now complete. Competitors in Open completed 7 rounds. The results below are for Speed and Distance. 1 Round of Accuracy is complete from Day 1 but the scores aren't in just yet.

Congratulations to Drew Lipinski of Team Horizon for coming in 2nd Place for the Speed event and 1st Place in the Distance event. Kaz Sheekey of Fastrax came in a close 2nd Place in the Distance event.  Overall at the end of Speed and Distance Drew and Kaz are placed 1st and 2nd!!!

Once again Sydney's weather isn't quite playing the game with strong winds this morning but the weekend isn't over just yet....

Thanks to Doug Flanagan for the great photo!!

Keep checking for updates.

Download open_2008_canopy_piloting_overall_scoring_unofficial.pdf

Download intermidate_2008_canopy_piloting_overall_scoring_unofficial.pdf 

Australian Canopy Piloting Nationals Starts Tomorrow!!

Well the training camp for the 2008 Canopy Piloting Nationals is now over. Ian Bobo put in 8 solid days with 24 competitors from both the Intermediate and Open Classes. Qualifying for the event is now closed and there will be 14 Open Competitors and 15 Intermediate which is up on last year.

The weather is looking good for the competition and the competitors are ready to go.

PD will be represented by Kaz Sheekey (Fastrax), Cameron Rolfe, Drew Lipinski and Matt Harris (Horizon), and Roger Mulckey (Off Track).

Check back here for daily updates and a link to the results for the comp.

Cameron Rolfe
Team Horizon

Day 1 of the exhibition

So day one of the exebition has just finished up and we've had a great day here in Barcelona.  Our M&Ms didn't show up yet, we ordered some nice ones in orange and grey a few weeks ago for the event.... maybe they'll arive tomorrow...

Our friends at USPA seen below have a wonderful picture of our family PDFT member Shannon in their booth.  Here he is before his head was cut out so he could be used as a figuring to have guests' pictures taken with his body landing on a boat.

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

In the meantime, at PD Headquarters...

...some of the PD supplies for PIA Barcelona arrived a little too late (much to the joy of the staff left at home).  This morning the UPS man knocked on our doors and handed over a very very nicely smelling package.    Of course it's just terribly sad that our friends in Barcelona won't get to enjoy these fine chocolates, but you will be happy to know that we have done some extensive quality control studies on said M&M's and after the sampling session we can only conclude that there go little morsels of heaven - yum!!!

To the PD Booth specialists - please let us know if there is anything else you would like us to evaluate (especially if it's fine beverages or more chocolates).