[Previous entry: "Online used gear a good deal?/Finding trustworthy used gear"]
[Next entry: "Closing Loop Length/Routine Gear Inspection"]

As skydivers we tend to believe we are in control of life or death on each skydive. We know the basic elements of surviving a skydive include using the proper sized gear for our experience and weight, keeping our gear in good condition, packing properly to avoid malfunctions, practicing our emergency procedures regularly, having a heightened awareness during breakoff/deployment and landing our parachutes softly. Of course skydiving needs airplanes to accomplish its end, which brings an “uncontrollable” aspect into the sport. We can ask questions about the planes we jump and the pilots who fly them. We also can listen to others when issues of aircraft safety and pilot competence arise and demand change, alert investigative authorities or move to another drop zone. But many times we don’t find out about a pilot’s inexperience or an aircraft’s maintenance problems until it’s too late. As a way to learn from our mistakes and possibly prevent common mishaps in the future, the AOPA Air Safety Foundation has introduced an online accident database drawn from NTSB reports. According the AOPA, the site includes “virtually all (General Aviation) accidents since 1983 involving fixed-wing aircraft weighing 12,500 pounds or less.” After searching the site for awhile, I found the easiest way to find accidents involving skydiving planes was to search under Air Drop or Unknown. Almost all the accidents in the Air Drop category involved skydiving aircraft, but these only dated back to 2001. Under the Unknown category, skydiving aircraft accidents could be found back to 1983. The site is located at www.aopa.org/asf/ntsb/index.html. Here is a finding from the NTSB concerning a fatal accident in Texas of a Georgia skydiver who struck the propeller of a second plane during a formation load: “The operator reported that this was the first formation air drop flight for either pilot in a multi-engine aircraft.” Unbelievable.

DeLand Majik shocked the 4-way world along with the reigning National Champions, Airspeed Vertical, as they posted a 23.1 meet average — a world record —at the Malevsky Memorial Meet in Russia last month. The team of Joey Jones, Gary Smith, Doug Park and Solly Williams topped Airspeed by 10 points in the 10-round meet and became the favored team heading into the U.S. Nationals. Majik didn’t live up to its expectations at the U.S. Nationals, finishing 3rd, behind the Golden Knights and Airspeed Vertical. The future of Majik is unknown at this time, but the potential is undoubtedly in place. DeLand Majik recently released a video of the team’s meet jumps in Russia, and I was truly inspired by the performance. From the first jump you pick up on Majik’s distinct style with big team flashes between points along with a confidence, energy and determination in each team member’s moves to the next point. Majik’s speed on the hill is as good as it gets...the team handles the hill like terminal velocity. I would love to see Airspeed’s performance at this meet, because even though the team lost by 10 points, it managed to beat Majik in 5 of the 10 rounds. But when Majik won a round, the team did so with authority. Round 2 set the tone as Majik’s Piver-Viper on the hill was flawless. Round 7 highlighted Majik’s high level of tunnel experience as the random sprint of Sidebody-Yuan-Hook-Crank was followed by the individual 540s in Bipole-Bipole. Majik topped Airspeed 29 to 26 in that round as the speed and precision of the bipoles was amazing. The victory was sealed when Majik saved a bad exit of Hammer-Hammer on the hill on its way to a 24 in round 9 over Airspeed’s 19. Round 10 was more of the same. Airspeed’s attempt to make up lost ground was evident in its 6 points of penalties over the last two rounds. To see the video yourself, order it at the National Skydiving League web site at www.skyleague.com