Weekend of the
26th to the 27th April 2008.
If you are looking for the Skydive
Choreography and the Beginners Big Way formation
skydiving event held this weekend click
here.
We welcome our newest member of
staff "Liz Ashley", not only is she a CSI and an
AFF instructor, but she is a rigger, FS coach and Wingsuit coach too! So if you re interested in
Wingsuits also known as Birdman, Liz is the person
to talk too. Alternatively you can check out her
website
www.wingin-it.co.uk.
Just before the weekend began with
the 'Beginners Big way' we had a group of tandems on
Friday from a company called "Boxing Orange",
raising a good deal of money for charity, and having
a good laugh at the same time. It made the Friday
feel more like a busy Saturday, and when Saturday
arrived it confused several into thinking it was a
Sunday. As for Sunday, the forecast was for light
rain throughout the day, but instead it was jumping all day
with summer like temperatures, low winds and a
little haze.
Caroline Hughes was once again at
Hibaldstow, bringing her Skydive Choreography with
her, and this weekend was the 'Beginners Big Way',
with the focus on building skills on the
smaller formations, before moving up to larger more
complex jumps. Click
here for more on the skydive choreography.
This weekend was also AFF and Tandem
instructor Lee Pugh's final weekend at Hibaldstow,
and he had nice send off in the bar on Saturday
night. Stu had his decks ready for some party
music. Whilst on the subject of Stu, it's worth
mentioning (or warning) that he has dreamt up a new
'game', involving blindfolding several people and
spinning them around, before letting them loose on
each other to build a formation. For more on the
party night click
here.
Satori have been training this
weekend, and managed to do back to back lifts almost
all day, getting an impressive 15 jumps in on
Saturday. If there are any other teams that want to
do the back to back training, get in contact with
the office for details.
Well done to Danny Lambert, Jonno
Cole and Amy Kitson who all got their C-Licence, and
for Amy's 200th jump, she did her first hoop dive
(see below).
Weekend of the
19th to the 20th April 2008.
Alas the weather was poor for the
scrambles, but thanks to those that turned up
regardless of the forecasts. There were still the
ever hopeful ones who dirt dived, and made use of
the creepers, but the cloud just hung low all
weekend. On the plus side, it meant the bar was
opened earlier, and some of the jumpers had lined up a
surprise.
A pass the parcel event with some
silly prizes and sweets, although the surprise was
on Mikey when he was asked for ID in the shop
(twice), apparently they suspected he may not have
been old enough to purchase the grown up toys (I use
the term grown up loosely when describing the
majority of the jumpers in the bar after hours)
Above Left: "Game Master" Chris
Southworth. (Earlier on in the night)
Above Right: Chris Rikka, apparently not
so happy he couldn't fly this weekend, but he did
get a colouring book and crayons from the CCI, which
happily entertained him for a short while.
Above Left: Some of the alleged
'adult' prizes, little evidence of the sweets
remained as they vanished almost instantly.
Above Right: Noel, a real party
animal.
Weekend of the
12th to the 13th April 2008.
It was an unusual weekend for
Hibaldstow, the kit up call mid hailstorm taking top
prize. It turned out that it was a good decision,
and teams like Flaming Pants and Flux got well timed
breaks in the cloud. Towards the end of the day the
weather improved enough for Students Chris Maltby
and Tammy Green to get their AFF Level 1 completed,
and Mike Berty Bertwell doing his level 4.
It wasn't all doom and gloom during
the weather holds, as several of the resident
instructors started doing CH1 briefs, progressing
people through the system.
The major event of the weekend was
Skydive Choreography hosted by Caroline Hughes.
This was an invitational 14 way random challenge
event, and Caroline has certainly done a lot of work
to set this up! For more on the skydive choreography
event click
here.
The next event for skydive
choreography at Hib is scheduled for April 26th-27th
and is the "Big way beginners" aimed at those that
are looking at getting into the big way formations.
All that is asked is that you are capable of doing
consistent 6 point 4 way skydives (or better), and
for the safety of yourself and others have good
canopy control and awareness. People seeking more
information on these events click here, or contact
Caroline directly through
www.skydivechoreography.com
Finally, well done to Dave
Butterell who past the 1,500 jumps mark.
Weekend of the
6th to the 7th April 2008.
Once again the forecast was the
opposite of what had been predicted. So for all of
you who decided to stay home this weekend, you
missed out on plenty of jumping. The down side to
the weather was unsurprisingly, the bitterly cold
temperatures at 15,000ft for the first lifts of the
day. For those of you who don't like cold rides to
altitude, remember we also have the SMG which is
quite warm on the inside, regardless of the outside
temperatures (until you open the door)
Well done to Simon Spindley for
waiting patiently, which resulted in jumping and
passing AFF level 3. Nice one Stu Ferguson for his
quiz which went down well on Saturday night.
The Fusion coaching weekend was well
received, with Lynne Murray, Henry Chow, and Simon
Catherine doing the coaching, with Allan Thompson
and Laura McLelland doing the video. Each took a
group and went through walking, creeping and
jumping. It wasn't just the serious teams like Team
Equilibrium that took part there were plenty of fun
jumpers too!
When the weather did eventually stop
jumping, Fusion took to teaching on the ground,
giving out some useful tips for the coming national
events.
Many thanks to Fusion for the
coaching weekend, and for those of you who want to
know when the next one is being run, it's June 21st
- 22nd.
Weekend of the
29th & 30th March 2008.
The weekends weather was the
opposite of the appalling forecasts throughout the
week. Saturdays weather did turn for the worse in
the late afternoon, but there were plenty of lifts
earlier in the day, and the Sunday held out all day
with blue skies and towards the end, wind low enough
for students.
Matt Evans' waiting patiently paid off, and
he managed to get his level 1 AFF jump done,
pictured below.
Weekend of the
22nd 23rd March 2008. Click
here for detailed news!
Despite having a terrible start to
the day, with dense cloud, snow showers and high
winds, the skies actually cleared, and winds dropped
off enough to allow the most determined jumpers to
go! Those that gathered outside to watch, were all
glad of the many thermal layers and woolly hats to
keep the heat in.
The day has been filled with unusual
surprises, starting with Stu Ferguson and something
that resembles an off colour egg from the film
Aliens. We're told it is in fact a Pinata, laden
with Easter goodies.
Next on the list of surprises was an
electric car set bought by a bored pilot. It took a
number of people, with a combined total of over 5
full degrees, several students doing degrees,
various pilots qualifications, and even a PhD to
collectively interpret (incorrectly) the
instructions.
It was the youngest skydiver in the
room, and probably the one with the most recent
experience that pointed out a multitude of mistakes
during the building process.
Click
HERE for more on the electric car episode, and
many more photos.
On Saturday night, DJ Del
accompanied by Stu laid on an impressive event,
involving the use of a foam bat, and the previously
mentioned Aliens egg masquerading as a Pinata.
Contestants were blindfolded and turned on the spot,
then allowed to swing away.
Sunday morning held a nice surprise
for all, snow fall, and a decent 3 inches. Snowmen
snow women and snowball fights took up most of the
morning. Along with blocking anyone left in their
caravans by piling mounds of snow against their
doors.
Lastly, Well done to Ryan May, who managed to
persevere throughout the cold start and got his A
Licence today!
Click
HERE for more on the Easter party night
pictures, the electric car, snowmen and women and
the tricks people played on Sunday morning.
Weekend of the
15th - 16th March 2008
The poor weather on Saturday allowed
many to take advantage of the progression day,
seeing several get much needed JM1's and CH1\2
Briefs. Well done to Jo Jo who finally got his 'A'
Licence because of this.
Also, you might want to get ready
for next weekends coming event... Bring 'bunny ears'
and a fluffy tail, because it's the Easter party!
Weekend of the
8th - 9th March 2008. (Skydive Warwick. Click
here.)
It's been a busy week at Hibaldstow.
Tony and Noel have finished off the day room, and
not satisfied with that stripped out the classrooms
and renovated them too!
As it happens, it was just in time
for Warwick University, with their 36 RAPS and 58
Tandem students. For more about Skydive Warwick
click
here.
Despite a terrible forecast earlier
in the week, the skies opened up on Sunday and the
wind dropped low enough all day to allow every
single student to jump by 5 O'clock.
Weekend of the
1st - 2nd March 2008.
It's been a blow out this weekend,
strong blustery winds have stopped jumping all
weekend. At times the skies were clear blue, and
looking out from the warm cosy environment of the
bar you could be fooled into thinking everything was
fine.
On the upside, the renovations to
the Day Room have been completed, and it looks
fantastic. There are now an additional 60 pegs for
holding rigs, and extra lockers too! Its had a new
coat of paint and new carpets have been laid down,
which are just waiting to settle before they are
pinned into place.
See below for the photos taken
during the renovation.
We
like to thing at Target Skysports that we are a centre
of excellence for team training and the competitive
environment. The National Championships have been held
at the UK dropzone for the last 9 out of 10 years. This
will continue in 2007.
LOAD
ORGANISING
There is an extensive rigging loft at the centre where
maintenance is undertaken of all the centre's student,
tandem and kit hire rigs. Turnaround for the completion
of work for private customers is usually within one
week.