|
It’s hard to even know where to start with this update. SDC seems to always have something going on. Here goes:
Let’s move back over to July 4th and thank all the freeflyers that came out to the Money Meet. Once the points were totaled…in Intermediate Amy Dannacher won first, Kevin Brown in Second, and Terry Lewis took home 3rd. The action was jam packed in the open division with Michael Sparks taking home $300 for first, Joel Davies won $50 for 2nd, and Phat Matt got $25 for 3rd. Special thanks to Al and Drew for judging the meet, and all of the camera flyers who helped out.
Scott rigged up another great fireworks show. Thanks to Frank, Dave, John, Chad, Justin and Jeremiah for an exciting UFO jump. As usual the grounds were packed and the Tiki Bar was jamming! I still have some tricks up my sleeve so be ready for an amazing Summerfest show.
Thanks to Higher Ground Helicopter for bringing out a chopper for us to jump from. They hung out over the holiday weekend and cranked out some loads. Many of the jumpers enjoyed hanging from the skids, which is always exciting!
SDC was host to the Transformers 3 Stunt Crew. They had an exciting urban wingsuit jump planned and wanted to do some rehearsing prior to the jumps. The stunt crew jumped from a helicopter wearing wingsuits. They jumped from 2300 feet and opened around 300-400 feet! The stunt required them to fly past building and down streets, which is going to look amazing! The crew had to get special permission from the FAA to do the low jumps. A chase helicopter captured the entire jump with a gyro-stabilized HD camera. The jumps were awesome and I can’t wait to see the movie. Thanks to the production team for choosing SDC.
SDC would like to welcome the US Canopy Formation Team. They wanted to take advantage of all the loads going at Skydive Chicago to train for the upcoming World Meet. The meet is coming up in Russia and they are the favorite to win the 2 way open event. On behalf of SDC we wish them luck.
While all the action from the film crew was going on Anthony the Great was practicing for his aerial escape. Tony is handcuffing his hands and arms together and jumping out of the plane! He has to get out of the cuffs before he can open his parachute. The stunt will take place on the 13th of this month. He will have a locksmith from Joliet bring out a pair of handcuffs that he has never seen before to do the stunt. It’s the real deal! Check out his website at www.anthony-escapes.com.
This weekend Rhythm held a continuing education seminar on body position and basic belly flying movement and it went great. They had about 20 people attend. It was very interactive and people were really into it.
Rhythm has put one 16 way team together for the last weekend of Summerfest, and there is growing interest for a second team. If people are interested in joining the challenging 16way competition that will cross multiple drop zones, they should let Steve know Steve@rhythmskydiving.com.
The AFP program has been producing awesome students. Students that are doing multi-point 6 ways on the grad jump! There is no doubt that when you get trained by the best you become a great skydiver. Congratulations to Charlotte D’Annunzio, Brian Tucker, Heidi Emmet, Matt Krzywonski, Louise Fornander, and Haley Chamberlain Nelson.
This weekend will be the first weekend for Skyvan jumps! We will be flying the Van all weekend so come out for the only tailgate in the Midwest!
Summerfest is really starting to take shape. We just confirmed a DC-3 for the 2nd weekend! Jumps will only be $25! Do I hear 10 way comp? Freeflyers vs. bellyflyers? Check out http://www.skydivechicago.com/Events/Summerfest2010/tabid/184/Default.aspx for the lastest info on Summerfest. Be sure to sign up in advance for Norman Kent’s Photography Workshop the first weekend of Summerfest; space is limited. Jumpers who are already waivered at Skydive Chicago for the 2010 season may pre-register for Summerfest by calling manifest at 815-433-0000.
It’s truly awesome to see all of the teams training. It’s a great outlet for the new jumpers and a motivator to the seasoned veterans. Every week when I get the aircraft reports I can’t believe how many loads we are flying. I’m blessed to be surrounded by a great staff that can run a Nationals and crank out 150 tandems by 5 o’clock.
On a side note I’ve had a few people ask about the new campground policies. To answer all of them in one to the point answer, YES we are enforcing the jump requirements. If we were not going to we would have never made the new policy.
We are looking for some extra help for Summerfest and Nationals. We have some spots in grounds and in the café. If you are interested grounds contact Donovan@skydivechicago.com and for the café contact nfomdahl@gmail.com.
Wakeboard Chicago is starting to amp things up. Russ has recently acquired a brand new Mastercraft X45 wakeboard boat. I went out on the boat last week and this is the Cadillac of boats. Wakeboard Chicago has offices on the DZ in the old river adventures trailer. You can take a 30 min lesson right on the river next to the DZ. Talk about a cool weekend: a couple of jumps, a little wakeboarding, Tiki Bar….living the dream!
Be sure to vote for June’s Sunset of the Month contest before July 20th by clicking HERE.
The summer is in full throttle. Come out and be a part of the action.
Rook
|