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News
 Skydive
The Point News
www.skydivethepoint.com
We put the fun in Dysfunctional!
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February 20, 2007
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Winter Blues
Happy February! We
are apparently paying the price for a mild fall and early
winter. Old Man Winter came at us with both barrels in January,
and it has been dang cold ever since! We have still been flying
loads every weekend, but we certainly aren't setting any records
for the most number of loads in a day! Even so, this is a good
time of year for hop and pops if it is cold up top, and you can
focus on canopy flight, which is still overlooked by many!
I have neglected any
news announcements lately, mostly because there has not been
much happening with the winter weather and USPA has been keeping
me busy. The PIA Symposium in Reno Nevada wrapped up two weeks
ago. The event was informative as usual, and if you get the
chance to attend you should take it! It takes place every two
years, so look for it in 2009. The location is still up in the
air for 2009, but it may be back in Reno or Barcelona, Spain. I
have no idea how the location is selected, but I think it
involves a crack pipe and a few bottles of Boone's Farm.
 USPA
Safety Day Saturday, March 10, 2007
USPA Safety Day
is coming up in less than a month! Plan to start March 10 at
8:30 AM with some short presentations and group discussions. Now
in its 10th year, it is hard to believe! Skydive The Point has
held an event in each of the ten years, showing a commitment to
keeping our club members as safe as possible!
In addition to
the usual presentations we will start jumping around 10 AM and
finish off the day with a great party and additional discussions
if we need more time. During the day jumpers can take advantage
of the hanging harness systems in the student trailer or make a
quick run through the leaning harness in the hangar.
In addition to
the morning seminars we will present the Chesley H Judy Safety
Award to a lucky recipient. The Judy award holds a special
meaning at STP, as Ches was one of our own and the award is in
his honor.
 USPA
Coach Rating Course March 16-18, 2007
Jim Crouch will
be teaching a USPA Coach Course at Skydive The Point on March
16-18, interested Coach candidates should send him an email at
skydivewpsa@yahoo.com
and purchase a SIM and IRM from USPA. The course will start at 6
PM Friday night and run through the weekend as necessary. The
course is held rain or shine, so don't bother looking at the
weather! Assisting with two first jump courses is one of the
requirements, so get to work on that if you need it.
 USPA/Strong
Tandem Instructor Rating Course April 13-15, 2007
Being a tandem
instructor is the true source of happiness, balance and well
being. The only thing better than being a tandem instructor is
being a tandem packer! There is
nothing quite like sharing someone’s first skydive experience in
the way you can as a tandem instructor. From the pre-jump
preparation all the way through landing, and the excitement each
student experiences on each jump. You are an integral part of that
student’s first experience with the magic of skydiving. So, we
are holding a tandem instructor rating course in April for those who would like to earn a tandem instructor rating
and share in those experiences. You will need to have at least 500
jumps and 3 years skydiving experience, hold a USPA Coach or other USPA
Instructor rating and possess an FAA 3rd class medical
certificate in order to attend the course. You can find a list of
FAA approved doctors at http://www.faa.gov/pilots/amelocator/
Send an email to Jim Crouch
skydivewpsa@yahoo.com
if you plan to attend the course.
WPSA tandem instructors will be working hard to encourage first
jump students to return and earn a USPA license.
Benny Sherman Ash Dive and
Memorial April 28, 2007
We will take Benny for his final
skydive on April 24. We will have an Otter for the event. All
are welcome to come and join in the day, however the actual
memorial jump will be two very small groups on the same Otter
load,with Terrie and Tiffany each making a tandem jump with a
few jumpers joining each tandem to help spread Benny's ashes.
West Point Skydiving Adventures on MySpace!
Check it out at
www.myspce.com/skydivewestpoint I have no idea what the hell
I am doing with this site or what it is supposed to accomplish.
But the idea is to get more people interested in making
skydives. If you have a 13 year-old who can help me out with
this freaking web page it would be appreciated.
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 Skydive
The Point News
www.skydivethepoint.com
We put the fun in Dysfunctional!
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March 6, 2006
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USPA
Safety Day Saturday, March 11
Here is the agenda for Safety Day. We will have prizes to
give away and t-shirts for the first 50 arrivals. And of course
the free dinner and beer from West Point Skydiving Adventures at
the end of the day. Hey it's a reward, not a bribe! We are going
to be busy and there will be lots of activity throughout the day.
So bring your track shoes and be ready to jump hard after we
finish the discussions!
AGENDA:
8:30am
Start - Rob Murphy
8:35am
Equipment - Jim Crouch (would like this to be done by an rigger)
Rig
Maintenance
Packing
Gear
Check
9:00am
- Aircraft Issue (Jim Crouch and/or John Wade. I would also
like the pilot to talk as part of this giving their input as to
what they want to see and have observed)
Loading
On-board
safety issues
Take-off
Preparations
Emergency
Procedures on Aircraft
9:20am
Skydive & Free-Fall - John Wade
Existing
the aircraft (Include preparation and moving to the door, jump-run
selection, spotting, exit order)
Free-Fall
(Head on a swivel, going low, staying with the group, recovery)
Break-off
(determining break off altitude based on experience , size of
group, etc.)
Tracking
from the Skydive (Be aware of your surroundings, look out for
others, etc.)
Deployment
9:40am
Canopy piloting and landing - Brian Germain
Use
format stated in Parachutist Magazine February 2006 Issue
10:00am
Emergency Procedures - Jim Crouch
10:20am
Ches Judy Award - Rob Murphy & Jim Crouch
10:25
Wrap-up-USPA Fly To Survive DVD Presentation
10:45am
Hanging Harness Jim/AFF instructors Supervise
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 Logo
Competition
We have had lots of logos to choose from. So Lori Atkins
sent me the following instructions regarding the logo competition:
You may vote
NOW through next Saturday, March 11. You can email Lori at
litos01@comcast.net or if you are attending Safety Day you may
vote in person before sunset. Please send the number, not
description, of your choice and please just send one vote. If you
send choices, the first one you wrote will count as your vote.
Please see the pdf in the files section at http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/SkydiveThePoint/ named
"logos.doc.pdf"
Your choices
are #5, 12, 31, 34, and 36.
Thanks!
USPA/Strong
Tandem Instructor Rating Course March 31-April 2
There is
nothing quite like sharing someone’s first skydive experience in
the way you can as a tandem instructor. From the pre-jump
preparation all the way through landing, and the excitement each
student experiences on each jump. You are an integral part of that
student’s first experience with the magic of skydiving. So, we
are holding a tandem instructor rating course at the end of the
month for those who would like to earn a tandem instructor rating
and share in those experiences. You will need to have at least 500
jumps and 3 years experience, hold a USPA Coach or other USPA
Instructor rating and possess an FAA 3rd class medical
certificate in order to attend the course. You can find a list of
FAA approved doctors at http://www.faa.gov/pilots/amelocator/
Send an email to Jim Crouch lostmymind@skydivewestpoint.com
if you plan to attend the course.
Have a great
week, and we will see you at 8:30 Saturday for Safety Day!
Jim Crouch
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 Skydive
The Point News
www.skydivethepoint.com
We put the fun in Dysfunctional! |
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February 7, 2006 |
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 Canopy
Course February 11-12
We still have room in the canopy course running this
weekend for anyone interested in learning more about that
colored nylon thing that keeps you from running into the
earth at 120 mph. And hopefully you can learn to avoid
landing like the poor geek in the picture above too! Anyway,
the basic course is 5 jumps and the advanced course is 10
jumps. The cost of the course is $75 per day plus your
slots.
 USPA
Safety Day Saturday, March 11
Safety Day is coming up fast! Come on out
and spend the day knocking off the rust and learning the
latest and greatest about your favorite sport! Goody bags
will be available and the day is capped off with free dinner
and beer courtesy of West Point Skydiving Adventures. We
will start at 8:30 AM! The day is already looking busy for
students so the plane will be flying back to back once the
jumping starts! |
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 Logo
Competition
Skydive The Point is looking for a new logo!
All you artsy types get out your pencil and paper and get to
work! The deadline is February 15 and you can either post
your design at the STP Yahoo group site or email it to Lori
Atkins at
litos01@comcast.net. Club members will then have until
March 1 to vote for their favorite design. The winning
designer will get a free jump, a goody bag and a framed copy
of their winning design. Plus they get to run around the
drop zone seeing their design all over the place. |
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 Skydive
The Point News
www.skydivethepoint.com
We put the fun in Dysfunctional!
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January 25, 2006
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 USPA
Coach Course
The Coach Course scheduled for February 3-5 is full! So
if you are interested in working towards your Coach rating let me know
and I will try and put together another course as soon as possible. For
those of you attending the course next month you should get your
Skydiver’s Information Manual and Instructional Rating Manual
immediately if you do not have them already. Take the open book exam for
the course so it is completed before you show up for the course. Also,
assist with a first jump course this coming weekend if at all possible.
You will need to complete the first jump course work before you can send
in the paperwork for your new rating.
 Events
Calendar Updated
The 2006 events calendar has been updated with the dates
for this year’s events and boogies. No real details for aircraft, etc.
at this point, but they will be added soon. For now you can go and see
which weekends you need to definitely set aside for your jumping fun. http://www.skydivethepoint.com/events.asp
will get you to the events page.
 USPA
Safety Day Saturday, March 11
Start off the skydiving season with a great day of
seminars in the morning followed by some harness training and gear
inspections. Make a bunch of jumps in the afternoon and finish up the
day with a free dinner and beer courtesy of West Point Skydiving
Adventures! Learn the latest and greatest and brush up on the stuff you
should already know but might have forgotten! This is one day that can
literally save your life! Everyone should be practicing emergency
procedures often. One good way to keep current is to pull your handles
when you drop your rig off for a reserve repack. And of course there is
the practice you can get at the drop zone in any weekend in our quick
and convenient leaning harness. This year USPA has a surprise that will
be shipped to each drop zone in the U.S. in time for Safety Day, so be
sure you show up to see what it is! Sure I know what the surprise is but
I am not talking! The day should be busy for jumping in the afternoon as
we are already scheduling students for the day and there will be 15-20
tandems in the afternoon along with the usual flow of AFF students at
West Point Skydiving Adventures.
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 Canopy Course
Want to avoid landing like the poor putz in this
picture? A canopy course can help you learn all sorts of things to help
improve the way you fly and land your parachute. We got through most of
a course last weekend and the next one is scheduled for February 11-12.
Jumpers of all experience levels are welcome to participate. Send me an
email if you would like to join in! The basic course is Saturday and
includes 5 jumps. The advanced course runs both days and includes 10
jumps.
 Logo
Competition
Skydive The Point is looking for a new logo! All you
artsy types get out your pencil and paper and get to work! The deadline
is February 15 and you can either post your design at the STP Yahoo
group site or email it to Lori Adkins at litos01@comcast.net.
Club members will then have until March 1 to vote for their favorite
design. The winning designer will get a free jump, a goody bag and a
framed copy of their winning design. Plus they get to run around the
drop zone seeing their design all over the place.
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December 15, 2005
It will be in the 50's this weekend so it's a perfect excuse to blow off the
holiday crap and head to the DZ for some skydives out of a brand new PAC 750
airplane! Why fight the malls and screaming women and children when you can
head to the DZ and listen to me scream in pain as I try to perform such
challenging tasks as moving from a sitting position to standing! But hey! I
am getting better with each day and what better way to spend the Christmas
season than wacked out on lots of legal narcotic drugs!
January 7 is the date for club elections so come on out and spend the day
jumping and attend the meeting after sunset to vote for your club officers
who will be running things next year. You better show up or you might get
elected into a position without even knowing about it!
The January 14-15 canopy course is full so I am offering it again on January
21-22. If you want to attend the course let me know! It is open to anyone
who has at least completed their hop and pop and the training benefits
skydivers of all experience levels! The basic course is Saturday and
consists of 5 jumps and is $75 per person. The advanced course requires that
the jumper attend the basic course and then it consists of an additional 5
jumps on Sunday.
Space is available for the February 3-5 Coach Course. So make your plans to
attend and let me know so I can keep track of the attendance!
I will be holding a tandem course sometime soon, probably early March. So if
you are inetrested in getting your tandem instructor rating let me know!
I am now back to packing reserves so if you need a repack you can leave it
with me at the drop zone.
And finally-Skydive The Point will be equipped with High Speed Wireless
Internet starting this weekend! So bring your laptops and surf the web while
you are at the drop zone! We will eventually add a couple of PC's for use
by everyone but it will be a while before they are up and running. So for
now the wireless system will be up sometime Saturday or Saturday night
for those who want to take advantage of it.
See you this weekend!
Jim
July 25, 2005
It was hot, the candidates were scared, then moody, then cranky, then angry,
and finally all were happy. After a week of battling ridiculous humidity and
temperatures as well as course staff who were giving their all to be bad
students, all the candidates were successful. Laurel Callen, Christine
Bruchac, Pam Young, Jason Whitt and Dave Owens all succeeded in what is
arguably the toughest skydiving instructor course in the world.
Congratulations! Now get your butts to the DZ first thing Saturday morning!
A few folks came out to take advantage of a weekday King Air but not many!
Where were you punks? We even had a pool all week, at least until Willy peed
in it and it suddenly lost it's attraction. But it was nice while it lasted.
We will try and keep it going on the weekends, and add some of that telltale
dye they put in pools to point out who is misbehaving.
We only flew one 182 load of night jumps last Saturday. Everyone was pretty
beat after a long hot day. The next night jumps are scheduled for August 20.
The next three months all have exciting events for Skydive The Point! Check
out teh calendar below and keep an eye on
www.skydivethepoint.com/events.asp for the latest updates. Make note of
the August 13 Toga party. Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through
life! Ha! Plans are still full speed ahead for the 100 ways September 8-11.
We will need lots of club member help to make the boogies run smooth.
I will be teaching a canopy skills camp at West Point sometime soon. Once I
get a date set you will see an announcement in your email.
The STP and WPSA server was down quite a bit last week. They are working on
it and the sites will probably be moved to another server sometime soon.
Hopefully we will have better reliability with the move.
March 16, 2005
Safety Day was terrific this year, with the largest participation we have
ever had in the 7 year history of the annual event. Thanks to all who
chipped in to make everything work so well and especially to Heather Moon
who gathered up so many great prizes for the drawing. And thanks also to
Jennifer McKinney for some great food Saturday night! Also, congratulations
on jump #100! Those who were patient and hung around for the afternoon got
to jump later in the day as the sideways-blowing snow gave way to warmer air
and clearer skies! It was a real honor to receive the Ches Judy Award that
was secretly set up for me to receive last Saturday. Ches was a great friend
and I am proud to have it. Thanks to all who were in on that "scam."
Don't forget the Coach Course coming up March 25-27, starting at noon on
Friday and going through the weekend. Let me know if you are attending so I
can try and make sure I have enough staff help for the course and the school
too! The course cost is $175 plus your slots and evaluator slots for the
evaluation dives. There will be at least two. You also need the manuals from
USPA, which I can bring to the course for you but you should really have
ahead of time. There is also some first jump course work you should do
before the course but it can be done afterwards too.
We are also hosting an AFF Instructor Rating Course July 16-23. This is the
first AFF course to be held at West Point in a long time. Jay Stokes will be
teaching the course. In fact, Jay earned his AFF Jumpmaster rating at West
Point in the early 80's, which is probably the last AFF course held
there. Everything comes around full circle and now Jay will be the teacher
and not the student! He does a great job and anyone attending the course
will learn a lot. Send me an email if you plan to attend the course. Costs
vary according to the number of participants.
The temperatures are starting to get a bit more tolerable for early morning
loads, so the 182 will be flying at 9 AM Saturday for anyone who wants to
get their knees in the breeze first thing!
We will be flying more during the week this year as we offer student
skydives for weekday appointments. We may not be able to accommodate every
requested date but we will try and get them in the air during the week if
possible. This means the plane and pilot wil be at the disposal of licensed
jumpers on these days as well. So look for announcements about weekday
jumping-Like this one for April 4 starting at Noon! Mark your calendar and
plan to jump Monday April 4!
We will have something coming up for Easter weekend the 26-27 such as an egg
hunt with prizes, etc. The club officers are working out the details.
If you haven't noticed,
www.skydivethepoint.com has a new look thanks to the hard work of John
Moon! He also worked over the school site
www.skydivewestpoint.com last
year. They both look terrific and they are easy to navigate. If you have any
pictures you would like to add send them along and we can post them on the
new site. That doesn't mean we want nude pictures of John Lee or Aer
Stephens, though! Some things are better left a mystery!
See you soon!
Jim
February 27, 2005
Greetings,
This is an
update for Skydive The Point and I am using an updated email list so if you get
this twice, or if you don’t get this at all, or you got this but you don’t
want it, just let me know and I can take care of it. Of course, if you didn’t
get this I hope your telepathic powers are working OK.
Next weekend
(Saturday, March 5) is another poker night fund raiser for Jump For The Cause.
There will be chili served for dinner and the poker game will be fast and
furious, for sure. Come on out and jump Saturday and then finish the day with
chili up front-poker in the rear, for a night of non-stop fun and excitement.
There is money involved since it is a fund raiser so bring your cash!
Safety Day
is the following Saturday, March 12 and starts at 8:30 AM There is a ton of free
stuff to be had, discount coupons for containers, canopies, and free reserve
repacks and Cessna jumps just to name a few. The day makes for a great way to
knock off the rust and get ready for the upcoming season. We will have seminars
in the morning followed by gear inspections and cutaway harness practice
throughout the day for everyone, from students to those who have 14, 780 jumps
or more. The more you participate in the greater your chances of winning
something. Don’t miss this chance to get current and maybe even learn
something new, as well as walk away with a bunch of free goodies! A free dinner
and club meeting will cap off the day. Well, maybe a beer or two will really cap
off the day.
We have the
boogie dates set and they will be added to the website with details soon www.skydivethepoint.com.
For now the quick and dirty dates are:
May 27-30
Memorial Day boogie
July 1-4 4th
of July boogie
Sep. 9-11
Carol's Birthday Bash
Oct. 27-30
Halloween boogie
Nov. 12 Bill
Kenney Memorial Accuracy Competition
Dec. 10
Christmas Party
Also, we
will try and arrange night jumps on each of the following evenings:
April 23
May 21
June 18
July 23
August 20
September 17
October 15
In addition,
many weekends at
West Point
will have a special event taking place such as hoop dives, RW training camps.
Etc. and we will add them to the events calendar as soon as they are set. If
there is something you would like to see happen let me know, or if you would
like to organize something yourself let me know that too!
Come on out
this weekend and practice your poker face in the interest of raising money for a
great charity event!
See you soon!
Jim
February 15, 2005
Safety Day is March 12 and it is looking to be the best one at Skydive The
Point yet, with enough prizes and goodies that everyone attending will
probably come away with something! Thanks to Heather Moon there are a bunch
of prizes to be had by all, including certificates for discounted canopies
and containers as well as tunnel time at Perris Valley. There will also be
give-aways for free repacks and Cessna jumps and a free dinner courtesy of
West Point Skydiving Adventures. Since the winter has been pretty slow, the
dinner will consist of a box of animal crackers to split among the group.
But hey, I am sure you will enjoy it!
We will start the day at 8:30 and each part of the day you participate in
gets you another ticket towards the raffles. So get there on time and you
will have more chances to win stuff! The event goes rain or shine so come on
out and get ready for the upcoming season!
The Fire Ball will be flying this Friday from 1 PM to dark, so head on out
and get an early start for the weekend with a few Cessna jumps. I actually
finished the work for my private pilot rating without breaking the airplane
so it is available for flying jumpers!
For those of you wanting to get ratings we will have a USPA Coach Course
starting Friday, March 25-Sunday March 27. You must have a USPA B License
and at least 100 skydives. You will also need a current SIM and IRM which
can be obtained at USPA or let me know and I can bring them to the DZ for
you. The course will be taught by Jim Crouch (yeah that's me) and the cost
is $175 per candidate plus the slots for the evaluation skydives. There are
at least two and you have up to 4 jumps to make two satisfactory
evaluations.
Once you have your Coach rating you can use the same manuals to attend the
AFF Instructor rating course which will be held sometime in the May-June
timeframe. We are still working out the details and dates. The course
director will be Jay Stokes, who does an excellent job.
If you are interested in attending either of these courses send me an email
so I can have an idea of how many will attend so we can make arrangements
for course evaluators and aircraft.
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