The Dream of leading a ws flock in a canopy.

I have been talking to Jarno former member of the TopGun team, about leading a formation in a canopy. We tried it in Castellon when we had our first TopGun training tour over Christmas 2 years ago. That time we sucked big time I was flying a Velocity 103 and Jarno was flying the blade prototype. But with the suit technology from back then it was not possible. We tried it out again this year with the new Blade and a Velocity 90 and now we got much closer.

 

 Costyn van Dongen and Jarno exit slightly after me, and fly their wingsuit's down to the canopy. Costyn sadly misjudged the approach (accidently thinking the canopy was flying the other way), but managed to get some nice shots on Jarno's approach (trailing smoke). The flyby in this video is real speed (no slowmo). There was a vertical speed difference of around 15 mph between the two. The wingsuit flaring down to 31 mph at the point of the canopy pass, the canopy doing a steady 19 mph.

I know Jeb and luigi have done it already but in a vx39 that's not accessible to others than luigi.

We  want to do it with a canopy that's accessible to all experienced jumpers and the skill of good wingsuit pilots. As soon as. I get my new canopy from PD I will get together with Jarno again and try it out with today's skills and equipment. Hopefully then we will be able to fly side by side.

Safari trip before leaving South Africa

  Yesterday I went to a safari park a little north of Pretoria. We went early so we could see the animals before it got to hot and the wild animals went sleeping for the day. It was a easy trip from Pretoria and the price was 140 ran that's about 75 DKR for 3 persons 10 euro or 12 $.

we only drove 10 min before the first 3 rhinos was standing next to the road. we went to the center of the park and got some breakfast and after  that we just drove around the park there was both Crocodiles Hippos elephants zebras you name it the only animal we didn't meet was THE King he was hiding in the bush waiting for the spring buck to run by.

  

New country New Lounge

Just landed in London LHR  2 hrs late so I am now leaving 9:40 instead of 6:35 But Again Thanks BA for excellent service in the Lounge's. It looks cold outside about 30 degree C colder than it was yesterday in South Africa..

Ummm BA lounge and Club World

Just arrived in the airport got checked in through the SA security witch is like going through a open gate. But I guess that's the way it is down here.

I was invited to the new BA lounge when I was upgraded to club World again. Here there is free food, full bar, the waiters almost carrying you to your chair, so that's what money is all about. Hmm..  the plane is delayed out of JHB so I don't know if I am going to reach the plane in Heathrow  but I guess I am just going to run like a MTF to reach the plane.. I have meet a lot of the competitors from the meet here in the airport and I can actually sit here in the BA Lounge and see them all walk by. Once again Umm.

Final results

WPC competitors meeting

 

 

After the comp there was a competitors meeting, the jury wanted to know if the current accuracy setup should be changed so the ties in the top of the comp would be more spread.

One of the ideas was making  5 water gates that give you 100 points on the water then there is a zero zone (z z) where zone 5 is today and to keep all your points from the water you need to land in that z z . The further you land from the z z you loose more of your water points. You just need to touch the  z z to get the points you don't need to stay there, but if you run out of the main course you will get a zero.

The idea of skipping the entry gate was also there and that idea I actually think we will use in Denmark next year this way the intermediate jumpers can still fly the water gates and take some points on the water without getting wet..

This was the most discussed tropic of the meeting there was also something about making more spread on the speed points. But I didn't really get the idea of the way they wanted to Calculate the points.

After these tropics I think we all got thirsty because all the jumpers was suddenly in the bar.

its over finished slut finito and yes FUCK I got 3 zeros as usual

missed the gate on the distance run so I am expecting a lower overall score than I hoped for but the result will follow  maybe first tomorrow....shit fuck

But it was a GREAT competition and I had a lot of fun and I think that's the most important part...

WPC day 4 so far so good

Today the weather is really good and might be changing to be even better for the last round in Distance. I made 2 jumps one accuracy where I am 99,99999 sure the judges missed some of my points. And one speed with a time around 3,3 sec. but overall I am pretty happy for today's jumping. I am using the 96 canopy for accuracy and distance and the 90 for speed so it worked out well.

The wind is pretty much downwind now so I guess the world record is going to be beaten for sure today. 

More to come later when the distance is over...

WPC day 3

The weather was playing with us again today there went one load up at 12 o clock and then we went on weather hold again. At about 16:30 the organizers decided to send all loads up and just take the re jumps necessary if the wind was too much.

The wind was about 5,5 to 7,5 as a crosswind in the beginning and everybody on the last rounds was hoping for a little downwind for the distance. BUT that didn't happen instead the wind changed to 45 degree crosswind Headwind so there was a lot landing in the water on the last rounds. I only made 53 m. so the overall result is starting to look very bad for my perspective think I am around 60.

The biggest Mistake someone made yesterday was one of the Russian guys that already have made 3 very dangerous landings and already had a yellow card for that during training. He had a petty good distance score 73 m taking the weather into consideration but the wind was higher than 7 m so the judges asked if he wanted a re jump. I think there was 3-4 people telling him NOT to do the re jump but the Russian wanted a free jump and when he landed he was very hot on the gate. and was dragging water through the entry gate and got a ZERO for that round... 

WPC day 2.... Five rounds accomplished

We managed to get 5 rounds completed yesterday

2 accuracy

2 speed

1 distance

My first accuracy I got a nice score 3 water points and zone 2 the 2nd jump would have been better 3 water points and zone 5 with a penalty but  the tip of my toe touched the plastic in zone zero and I lost that round. The speed rounds was 4,4 and 4,9 sec not really good but a placement of 38 in the speed round. On the first distance round the wind was very shifting. and as I was setting up my jump into headwind it shifted to a straight crosswind. So even that I tried to play safe I missed the gate by a foot and got my second zero in the comp.

But I am far from the only one to have a few zeros, 18 jumpers got vertical extension (zero) in the distance. and also some of those in in the very top of the comp I will try and post pic. of the score sheet later.

2nd day of the competition

Today the wether  WAS perfect we got all of round 1 in the planes but the last plane had to turn around  just before takeoff due to VMC.I made a pretty good 1st round so far so good.

Now the last load have just been called out again so we are back to jumping. Just a short brake of 15 min...

1 day of the competition

Waiting waiting waiting

low clouds and no jumping

The best thing was I got SUSHI yesterday and a good night sleep..

Last day before the competition

Today I got 4 training jumps the 2 jumps in the morning was very windy and most  jumpers were not able to fly trough all the gates including my self.

The last 2 jumps I made was perfect and very good scores so I am pretty satisfied and feel ready for tomorrow. At the opening ceremony I felt very alone going with the Danish flag it would have been nice if peter were here also. But again the Danish flag looked pretty and was a lot bigger than the rest of the flags.. I have never been to a thing like this and have not been thinking about national clothing. DFU haven't send us anything so I had to settle with the official T-shirt that was given to the competitors.

I am going to be on the first load 2nd group tomorrow so I hope the weather is calm tomorrow at 7:00 now I am off to bed so I am fresh tomorrow..   

by the way its soon Christmas But its 30 g C outside??????

The spider for the other day

some of the delegates my lens is not wide enough

Stupidity must be British

hmm yesterday someone had a chop on he's velo he said that he's slider got entangled in the lines. That's fair I would chop that one too. Then the first stupidity comes he is trying to swoop the pond in a tiny reserve, that resulted in a wet reserve canopy that need to dry before he can jump again.... then they find the canopy and the reason for the chop is clear... during a FAST installation of the RDS slider he install it with a line through the cable so it is locked at the cascade point of he's lines. But what when you are in a hurry things go fast and you make mistakes..

Most of the competitors have arrived its clear to see that the ones that have been her for a while is the serious ones PD / US team the Aussie's, Swedish and some more.

My training is really helping and I am very glad I have been here for some time. The weather is very shifting for every jump and today with high winds there have been a lot of zeros among the new jumpers. This morning I got the Velo 96 that Morten Pedersen from PD send me a day earlier than expected. The most helpful staff here in SA called Fedex and arranged to speed up the customs. A very nice girl working in manifest offered me to pick it up at the fedex central in Johannesburg. I got to practice in the canopy all day today and that's been really good. But I couldn't have been without the canopy I borrowed from Kenny G so I am very grateful for the help I got after I burned my canopy on the smoke in Elsinore ... 

Tomorrow we can only train till 13 after that the opening ceremony is starting and after that it's all  serious stuff  but I am looking forward to the competition.

My expectations so far is to be close to the 35 best but that might be a high goal with the quality of the jumpers here. But I will try to play safe and get all the gates, that is my primary goal but I know its a difficult goal with the weather we have down here..

We were supposed to bring the Danish flag down here ,but due to Peter not coming and Jacob working for Paul Potts all last month and traveling directly down here. We didn't have any flag. we called the Danish embassy to hear if they had a spare we could borrow. Denmark now have the biggest flag here so we are able to represent Denmark in a proper manner

Sorry thought i posted links to the videos from Elsinore...

søndag video

monday jumps

thuresday jump

About the thing that they can't drive down here.

Or maybe its just me .... that can't drive but its a wired thing driving in the wrong side of the road.  Sometimes you really need to think very different from what you are used to.

But we are starting to get the hang of it. There is a few things you need to get used to. A red light don't always mean that you cant drive and a roundabout is just guide lines. When you get a red flashlight on the road maybe you should drive a little slower.

Yesterdays training went OK but I am still not the best of friends with the recovery arc of the velo 90 I am flying. Hope fully I will get an other canopy tomorrow if the customs will release it earlier than expected..;o)

1th. Day in Pretoria SA

My trip from Elsinoer was long but didn't feel that long.

Brian Drake a local jumper from Elsinore drove me to the airport just after the last jump. Brian have been flying with a broken ankle all week and a few stitches in he's finger he absolutely deserves the medal for the best spirit in the formation.

In LAX airport I went for my last bite of sushi and after that I was ready to fly this time only on world traveler but all the way in front do I didn't have any stupid kid playing with the seat all the way over. after 3 movies I landed in LHR picked up my luggage and went to the SA flight with no problem at all.

This time I got club world seating ahhh nice my own personal bed in a airplane.. I tried to sleep all the way, so the trip was not so long. In JHB airport there was a guy standing waiting for me with a big sign so I felt pretty important for a while.

Check in went pretty smooth so i was ready yo jump after 20 min on the DZ because of the thin air and 4000 ft elevation i stood a few jumps over to watch the other competitors. My first jump was way to high as I expected  it to be the 2 newt was also to high but better safe than sorry. My 4th jump was just as it should be and actually a little better I went for distance an actually got 140 meters. That would have been the new official Danish distance record if in the actual competition.

But I was not the only one going long some of the PD guys have already jumped longer than the official record I think the longest swoop today was 170 m that is 15 m longer than the  existing record.

This is my first time in South Africa the land is almost as I had expected but one thing that surprises me is every house have big fences and barb wire around. all windows is secured with bars there is a extra metal gate inside the house that need to be locked after 18:00 so i guess its not for fun when people say don't walk the streets at night down here.

Another thing I was reminded about on more occasions today Peter Kallehave is not coming down here so I am going to be the first Danish Canopy pilot to attend a world championship. I guess the beer is on me for that one...

By the way they really cant drive down here they are all driving in the wrong side of the road.....

We DID it and we Rocked...

The 71 way world record is in the House the formation flown on the 5th jump was a perfect formation. The record might not be a formation exactly as any other, but everyone were in there assigned slot. And the formation was flown  by the best wingsuters in the world.. no doubt about that.. This is the first attempt of its kind so there will be a lot of talk around what the standards is for a record like this. The Grid thing is not possible to do in real life try to do that with a RW formation I think it will take quiet some time for them to do also..

But in any things that is good there is also bad things on the 3th jump we landed downwind and mu canopy got caught in my smoke bracket and burned holes in the 2 outbd cells of my 70 jump new canopy. That sucks bigtime. BUT it is not as bad as it sounds. I Called Performance Designs after the accident and got a hold in Morten Berg. He immediately ran to he's Car and and picked up he's private velocity 96 and shipped it to me. If that's not world class service I don't know what that should be.

Kenneth that have been my rigger, driver, jump/drinking buddy again on this trip  saved my ass again and let me borrow he's canopy for the last jumps. He is also sending my damaged canopy to PD for repair.

  

 

day 11 damm we are good

Today we made even better formations than yesterday. 2 of the jumps were with smoke trails. there have been some really sweet ground footages that really shows the size of the formations. I haven't got any pictures to show today but we are really getting there. I still don't think we will make a formation where all wingsuit's is within there 3x3 m2 box but as far as the jumps have been today it will be close and there is no doubt that this is the BIGGEST ever made with wingsuit's....

Ower and out....  

Elsinore day 10 71 way jumping

We made 5 jumps today there is not much to say but here is the result after 5 jumps more will follow..day 

Update on day 9 and 10 in Elsinore

Sorry but I have been busy here in Elsinore We have been flying wingsuit formation all the time since we arrived 2 days ago.

Yesterday we started the day getting together in the groups. I am in the Rear center group and I am going to fly with smoke in the tail. We got 5 jumps in yesterday and we have made some really nice formations so far.  The exit is now a 7 sec piece of cake we are about 25 - 30 sec for completing the formation and then it is getting perfected as long as we go.

The whole formation is going to consist of four groups from 4 planes fwd aft and LH RH wing.  the organizers have really been thinking a lot about this there is a  few places i disagree with them and so far i have been right with the first things that being exit order with the 2 smoke jumpers in our group we are now exiting last as I suggested and that's working just perfect  now.

The only issue I have now is the brake off where I think the forward part of fwd formation should be braking off with the wings at 5500 ft and then the rest at 4500 ft . But the organizers docent think as i do so we are going to brake the wings off at 5500 and the fwd and aft group at 4500. I personally don't have a problem i just need to turn 90 degree and pull but there is some people that is going to be tight tomorrow if the organizers is wrong..

Today we  made 3 jumps and the last jump was in much too high wind  for a record attempt but our team leader wanted to jump so we did.  I  don't have a problem with high wind but there was a lot of out landings so we properly should have stayed on the ground.

We just had a American FAT dinner. No wonder there is so meany fat people over here 3 different piece's of meat, beans and a piece of bread............... after that there was a safety brief and right now people is drinking a beer and talking about tomorrows jump where we are going to make the first attempt for the 71 way wingsuit flock....

Now for my opinion on all this I seriously don't believe that we are going to be 71 wingsuiter's at the 3x3 meter box at the same time but i know for sure that we are going to be DAMMM close and this is going to be the best slot specific formation EVER build so i am really looking forward to this..

Perris / Elsinore day 8

Got 3 jumps in Perris so that's 54 swoop jumps and 2 ws jumps in total.

We went to Elsinore at 14:00 got registered and me and Benny wend on the first possible jump. I made a max speed flight with Dennis and just to make that jump perfect we made a 30 sec dock, that made the BIG smile on both of our faces...

After sunset we meet with Peter Dennis and Kenneth at Kokoros sushi. After that we all agreed that Kokoros is better than Hanas sushi.....

right now we are sitting in the camper drinking the last beers in the cooler so tomorrow cant be bad

Perris day 7

no update

Perris day 6 finally good weather.

The weather now looks very promising today was about 20 g and tomorrow should be 25 sweet..

I got 11 jumps today and my turn have become much better but still need a little more snappy endings to get more lift out of the canopy. The wind picked up at midday so I went downwind on the grass. so I got a few swoops covering the whole grass area here in Perris 480 ft sweet...

I also had the last modifications done on my wingsuit by Kenneth and attached the PD and L & B patches so no one  can be in any doubt  what i love to fly...

Benny, Mette and Christian "Tytte" arrived at 16:00 they were pretty tired when they arrived so we went for a beer in bombshelter just to get them a tad more tired. after that we went to Hanas sushi again to get some food. and it looked like they were pretty hungry to with the amount of rolls they consumed

As the big surprise a 4th guest arrived late last night. Peter called me yesterday telling that he decided to go here anyway. and showed up about 21:30 but both Kenneth and Bundy went home so they will get the surprise later..... 

Perris day 5

hmm not much to tell bad weather only 4 jumps in high wind

Tomorrow should be perfect weather finally

Perris day 4

its a bit slow at the DZ at the moment both due to bad weather and not that many people. But I managed to be on every load yesterday and got 9 jumps so I guess I am on a totally of 25 jumps here now. I was hoping for that number to be between 35 to 40 so its not going exactly as planned.

I am having a little trouble getting my new canopy to do what I want it to do... I Guess my longest swoop on the pond is about 250 ft and that is far from my best. But I talked to Bundy and Kenneth about the end of my turn and that's what I will be working on  tomorrow.

Perris day 3

Sunday was a bit tame. The day started  with a bit of a overcast and high wind for swooping. but about 10:00 it cleared up a bit and we made 3 jumps in a row then we got on another weather hold and that was the story for the rest of the day. only 6 jumps. But it gave me time to make some modifications on my wingsuit and the last jump was a jump with Kenneth where made a few docks and was testing each others speed out. in the end of the jump I maxed  the suit out to see if it had gotten better and there was a big improvement from last time. the coolest thing about the jump was seeing Kenneth after I deployed. He is perfect build for wingsuiting  and he almost kept level with me until he deployed he's New Storm canopy from PD. That was a smooooth opening by the way.

After that we went to bombshelter for a beer and decided to go for sushi at Hanas sushi. They just make the best sushi ..

Perris Day 2

Just a little update from yesterday: I got my luggage no prob. Kenneth picked me up at the Airport end we wend to Hollywood boulevard to get something to eat. We heard that there was a Halloween parade in west Hollywood and went there. WOW what a parade there was Thousands of people dressed out in more or Less clothes what a sight...

we got to Kenneth's place pretty late so it was straight to bed..

I got up early and went to the DZ with Kenneth got a big breakfast and then off we go... just got a new canopy Velo 90 so i used the day getting it dialed in. the first 3-4 jumps was ok but not at all fast enough. after that it started to get better but the wind was pretty weird today so it was hard setting it up. But that's good training. Bundy Thinks I need to make my snap a little later so that's what I am going to practice for tomorrow. Got 12 jumps today so i am pretty satisfied...

And just a few pic from first Class in a 747-400 

USA: Perris, Elsinore and South Africa: Pretoria trip Day 1

My trip started today at 01:30 where my cab picked me up to the train station. After that a 4 hrs trip from Århus to Copenhagen slept all the way. In the airport I was quiet exited for my trip because I am traveling on staff tickets again but this time on staff duty so unless the plane is overbooked I am secure on getting on the plane. I was also pretty stoked when I selected seats yesterday getting Club Europe tickets from CPH to LHR and Club World from LHR to LAX perfect.... but if that sounded good it became better. Going through the ticket desk a red light flashed when they scanned my ticket "Sire I have upgraded you to FIRST CLASS" so the perfect trip just got better. First class is pretty good king  size chair that easily changes to a bed. You get to choose from a menu card with 3 different dishes. Personally service you want it you got it drink, fruit, chocolate you just name it. Now sitting in the plane with 2 hrs to go I only have one concern and that's my luggage. It got checked through all the way from CPH to LAX and last time it was 4 days late. I really hope that don't happen here. I was supposed to travel with Peter Kallehave but he is pretty stressed at job. So he is not coming to USA. I had the feeling he was going to back out but got the sms confirming it when I flew from CPH. Bad for him. He could use the time off. So right now I don't know how to get from LAX to Perris Peter was supposed to get a rental car we could split, I sms ed Kenneth if he could pick me up at the Airport but cant get a answer before I land....    that's  it for now might get a update on that later when I hit Perris.

Its been a while

A lot have happen since I wrote last. I arranged the Danish  swoop nationals and I got 2. place in accuracy and 6. overall because I missed 2 gates in distance. Shit happens.

I also attended the EST in Bussloo Holland it was my first real comp and I was there to learn finished 16 out of 23 made 3 zeros so it was no where near my normal standards. again shit happens.

In between all this Jesper and Maria got married and it was a great wedding actually I have newer seen so meany skydivers dressed up so nicely at one time.

Next week I am going to Swartberg for the last European swoop comp the weather here in Denmark haven't been swoop friendly so there haven't been much training for this event but we will show up on Friday morning and hope to get some jumps in.

But when its not swoop weather its usually Weather for something else and Tandems I one of them so I have been jumping tandems every weekend the last 3 weeks making some bucks and making a lot of people happy that's the best part of  jumping tandems you take a person with you up the plane that's a little nervous and when we land they are completely changed and happy.

   

Wingsuiting I just got my new Xwing from Birdman a prototype wingsuit with big wings really big wings the first flight the leg wing was flapping like crazy so I went to my sewing machine and started modifying the suit and now the suit is flying pretty well i still would like to have more air pressure in the arm wings but i think its fine by now.

The Upcoming event in Elsinore is the next goal after Swartberg we are going to try to build a 71 way wingsuit formation. so I will be going to Perris 1 of November to do a week of swoop training after this i am headed for Elsinore with Benny and Mette for the record attempt. As soon as the attempt is over I am flying directly to south Africa for the World championships in swooping. I will have a few days training there before the comp and I guess that's needed because the elevation of the DZ is 4000 feet above sea level. So it will take a little adapting to get used to the higher altitude.  But I am so looking forward for this trip 26 days with no work just swooping and wingsuiting that cant be much better... World championships

Ohh almost forgot i also made 8 belly jumps this year that makes it 15 totally the last 4 years. But I was invited to join the Danish 60 way record attempt organized by Kate cooper I was at my spot every time but that didn't help the record that ended up as a 58 way with 2 out as the best.  Must say Kate is a very impressive organizer. She sees everything it was actually quiet fun attending  in the big way and seeing all the poor trackers we have here in Denmark or maybe I am just good Muahahhhaaaaa.

Skyswoopers Wingsuit week day 4

After 3 days of fine flying both from experienced flyers and the  2 new Birds Alex (Mr Tunnel rat himself) And Webber. We had a lot of wind today. We only made 4 lift but it was the ultimate test for Bjørn who was on he's first 5 way flock with Big success.

Thinking of 5 wingsuiters Exiting a Cessna 182 where only 3 can be on the wing and still getting a nice flock together is pretty ok.

We finished the day going to the beach for a few hours and after that SUSHI SUSHI, how perfect can a day be even the wind is too high.

As a side note I can say that Alex just made a bet with Benny that he can fly controlled on he's back after just 10 training jumps. I volunteered to be he's personal coach. More about that later.

Here is 2 frame grabs from Bjørns 5 way today Fifth is the camera man.

In the pic is Benny Bjørn Mette And Bo video is Kim

Skyswoopers wingsuit week Day 1.

Today we had the first day of the Skyswoopers wingsuit week.

Benny had a First flight course with Webber who did 2 very good jumps with Benny and one mighty fine 4 way.   Bjørn Barfoed  Had 3 jumps with Bo and Mette  getting the flight style fine tuned.

Due to clouds we had to stop doing high jumps and started swooping on the pond that we have fine tuned with distance lane and new wind blades, All set for the upcoming Swoop nationals.

Training week for the Danish Nationals in Swooping

Team Dark side of the Pond  is hosting a training week with Skyswoopers. We are having a week of fun mostly Wingsuiting on every level from beginners to advanced 3D flying, come and do what ever you like.

The accuracy lane will be set up all week and for distance just swoop your ass off.  We will  film all landings and there will be debriefing of all landings while packing. There will be a free beer to all that is landing IN the pond.

For registration pl's send a mail to bo@njfk.dk. There is also a Event on Facebook that you can use for registration as you like.

Swoop is up

Karup Airshow

This weekend I attended Karup Airshow as a part of the opening of the biggest Danish Airshow. We jumped out of the tail of the new Danish military/rescue Helicopter a Merlin EH101 its a DAMM cool chopper but the tail is so steep its not a good idea exiting it with slippery wingsuit booties and a lid smoke grenade. But I managed to get out the HELI unstable and since its a rescue helicopter they are able to transmit live to the ground. So guess what they filmed me tumbling for about 4-5 sec before I started flying against the landing area...

While I was flying I noticed that I was pretty far away from the landing area and passed both the tandem 2 solo jumpers and the 8 way that just exited before me and I still had a hard time getting home . I actually was among the only 4 people landing in front of the audience  so I guess that's  Danish military precision when its best....

But anyway it was a perfect jump and I did what I did what I was hired to do so I am happy.

 

I also made a exhibition for my work 2 weeks ago landing in my Velo 103 with smoke and all the kids was astonished about us landing in just some fabric...

And the winner is.......MEEE...

At the DFU open competition held at Maribo this weekend I attended the second speed precision competition this year. And this time I waited with my show off landings till the end of the competition where I couldn't loose no matter what I did. But I scored pretty fine anyway and had a total of 160 cm and almost 27 meters to the second place. so I guess the competition wasn't that hard there was only 4 other competitors in that class but any way....I WON wheeeee

Besides the competition I don't know why but I ended up packing for 2 video guys for the FS competition and 2 of the jumpers while I still had to pack and jump my own Canopy. So I was pretty busted at the end of the day. Maybe that's also the reason I had a hard time standing straight and talk right at the end of the night. Or maybe it was something else?????

While packing I also made a new packer. Tina Ellingsgaard packed here student canopy all day long for 3 days and is now allowed to pack here own canopy. "Don't tell the video guy DW that Tina packed he's Velocity 84 2 times" But I heard no complaints so I guess they was approved.

Not exactly what we had expected but we had a great time in SPA

The Competition is almost over we have done all our rounds. and we finished last;o(

The main reason for the bad result is us not  being able to train together for the last 2 month Mette just lost 10 Kg and I gained 5 so on the first 3 jumps I fucked up the video. When I finally ate my pride and borrowed a Phoenix fly STEALTH wingsuit that had wing area to keep me up with Benny and Mette they were not able to perform in the 2 last rounds.

Tony suit and Phoenix fly were supreme in this competition and won over the rest with a BIG distance to fly like brick that came in Third. But I think that the difference between the 2 teams and the rest of us is that they were skydiving (falling RW style) for there points. And all the other teams have been flying for there points witch look a lot nicer but takes more time.

Tomorrow I will fly some more in the STEALTH suit and experience how the suit is flown when I don't need to focus on the competition. BUT one thing is for sure the suit SUCKS at pull time

We arrived in SPA and its freezing cold.

Most of the teams is here in Spa now but the weather is so cold that no one wants to jump. James Boole and he's girlfriend was laughing all the way down because there noses froze and I guess there is a potential danger of icing condition in our wingsuit's.

and by the way the potential danger of having a out in this location is pretty big. And the forest is pretty BIG here

I fucked up and only came in second.. lesson learned.

The speed precision competition is now over I only came in second because I had to play smart ass on jump no 2 instead of  playing it safe I made a 450 turn too far away and got a 10 point score. The wind made it impossible to finish more than 4 rounds and I scored 1, - 10, - 1, - 0. But lesson learned there is a time to play around and a time to compete. And the time to fool around I found on the last jump yesterday, where I made a superman on the grass in front of some of the classic Precision guys. Some of them meant it was a waste of shoes dragging them on the ground like that......

 

  

Skyswoopers in Belgium is the next event I am going to attend. We are leaving Denmark Tuesday morning so we can be fresh for the training jumps Wednesday..

First Speed precision comp. 2008 this weekend

This weekend we have the first of 4 speed precision competitions.

Haralds minde cup is actually in memories of a Danish soldier that died in Iraq  a few years ago he's Fond is paying for some of the jump price so we only pay 30 Dkr (6$) for a hop n' pop. The weather is not looking good but we all hope it will be jumpable.

My sister just got a new Baby so I need to go for the baptizing Sunday so maybe I wont be able to finish the Comp. I will make a update after the weekend.

More info to be found on MFK Viborg's web page

MFK Viborg

Superman Swoop to the limit

Just a little collection of pic taken by Bundy Tailor canopy coach at Perris valley skydiving in California.  

BA.com "we are sorry"

How unlucky do I need to be its the second time on this trip I have lost my luggage with BA in Heathrow airport. This time its just lost together with 15000 other pieces of luggage so I wonder when my rig and toothbrush together with my clothing is going to show up."We are sorry"

Home after a great Swoop trip.

I am sitting here in the train back to Aarhus thinking about the Perfect trip that is about to end. The first 6-7 days was clearly the best after the mountain swoop trip it seemed like we were getting tired both physically and  mentally. 15 - 16 jumps every day the first week was very learning but when you pack your self it get a little hard going back to back on a 20 min turnaround for a week in a row.

Bundy took a  lot of pictures of us swooping and some of those are picture perfect magazine covers. The video that was taken during the week will also get sorted so its possible to see the progression during the 2 weeks. I feel I have learned so much compared to the last trip and it was almost working from day one. But I also knew exactly what I had to change after seeing all the video from last trip.

The 450 turn is dialed in the gate is there on almost 90% or more of my swoops. Next thing to focus on is competition and saving money for my next trip. 

We have a upcoming speed precision comp her in DK  and a Wingsuit comp in Belgium Spa within the next 3 weeks . So more update will follow.

Well that was exiting

On my jump nr. 4 today I jumped out the plane as usual but when I deployed my canopy I felt my left leg strap in my new harness slide open (aproxx 10 cm) the right one had also loosened a little but not that much. But its a really nasty feeling not knowing what is happening so I just flew my canopy very nice and slow down for landing. When I was on the ground I could easy pull my legs traps fully open. It turned out that there was a little fabric piece in my left buckle that was preventing one of my buckles to fully lock my leg strap. That and the fact that there was some kind of coating on the fabric that was getting full of fine desert sand made it very easy to pull open in a straight pull.

I have now washed the fabric and tested the force to pull it open and now its not possible to pull it open without bending it 90 degree. We have taken pictures and we have video of the landing and when I am pulling the leg strap open just after landing. That we are sending to Manufactor for further investigation.

I am just glad I just had more than 90 jumps in less than 8 days so I was able to quickly compensate for the difference in my harness a Velocity is not the best opening canopy with that much riser difference.

Update from the last 2 days

Yesterday was awesome we stood up at  04:20 and went to Soboba a place about an hour from Perris it was still dark when we checked out the landing area at the foot of a 3000 ft mountain.

After that we went to a nearby airport and hooked up with a pilot who quickly made he's Cessna 182 jump able.  We made a hop'n pop in 7000 ft and flew to the top of the mountain. I  was tail so all I  had to do was follow Peter and Bundy. it was soo cool flying just meters from the ridge and is something I just need to do some more. I will post the video when it gets edited.

After the trip we went jumping in Perris again. We stopped early and went to Bundy's trailer and had a birthday barbecue for Peter.

Today started with a new experience I had a toggle fire on my Velo and had to make my first Chop.  So now I have tried to to fly a PD reserve too. lucky for me I just had my new Top Gun rig and the crew in Perris quickly found my main so after 25 min I was swooping again.

We just ended the day with Sushi at Kokoros a perfect way to end a good day of skydiving.

Skydive Perris

Here have been really busy the last week here have been 55 British AFF students the British 8 way "Connection" have been training here. The Danish 8 way "Octopuzzy" have been here for a week and is leaving tomorrow.

Peter and I have now made about 75 jumps each. The 3 Otter's is running back to back until about 14:00 then it slows down a little, so here is no problem getting all the jumps we want.

Uncle Koehn just arrived today he is here for 2 days and is going to do hop'n'pops with us tomorrow. We went to Hanna's again to get sushi and I was at Starbucks for the first time today. Wheeee

I also got a few jumps in my new Wings rig today, that rig is so Fu....g small I almost cant fit my Velo 103 into it. It looks nice but its a little too small in my opinion.

Tomorrow I am going to see if I can get a few jumps in Wingsuit here have been a few jumpers today so I guess we can make a nice little flock. the weather have is going to be perfect the next days sunny warm and perfect for jumping not like the blizzard they are fighting with in Denmark at the moment..

Damm!! today have been good 15 jumps that makes it a total of 44 jumps in 3 days. I can live with that......
I got my own rig so no more borrowed gear from Kenneth and I can allow my self to get wet. And believe me I have been today.

We had all the video shown at Bombshelter after jumping so I guess some of the wuffos asking why we were wet all the time now understands a little better..

Day 2!! still in borrowed gear!

Well status for my Luggage is now Bag no one with my clothes is 2 days away and my rig should be here  tomorrow at noon.

We made 16 jumps today I was eyeballing most of my jumps today because I haven't got my gear. But I borrowed a Viso from Kenneth so I was able to make some really good swoops at the end of the day. And sunset load I made a really good Superman, Actually my first so I guess I need to go pay for that after we have been to Hanna's for SUSHI..

....................Just got back from Hanna's................

Ohhh I had a Spider roll and a Volcano damm that was good SUSHI......

Thanks Kenneth

We have now arrived in Perris in the Mobil home its a cool van with plenty of space for peter and me.

I am still waiting for my luggage i can see on the tracing web page that they have found my bag with my rig in so thats the moste important one  it will be delivered tomorrow with fedex my bag with all my clothes is still not traceable.

Today i had 2 jumps in Kenneth Gajda's rig so he saved my day Thanks Kenneth.

We are now sitting in the bombshelter at Perris  with the first picher of  Heffe. And i can see that Bundy Tailor "the beast in the trailer"  just arrived so i guess the party in on "again"

I might be travelling Cheap BUT....

Here I am sitting at the back of the airplane not even on monkey class but Donkey class.

I am British Airways staff so I only pay 360$ for the flight but as the plane was full I could choose between an uncomfortable crew seat or a later flight and leaving Peter waiting in LA until I get over there. I choose the Crew seat!!! Here is no comfort at all the emergency door is noisy and people is passing by all the time for the toilets.

The only good thing is that there is a really HOT staff member sitting down here too (sorry Karin) so at least the view is good.

And then by the way my luggage is lost somewhere between London and LAX Thank you BA.

On our way It's time to swoop.

8 hrs and we will be sitting in the train to the  airport.

we started the day wiith -2g  now it abouit 8g the wind is 6ms and its pretty cold but we have made 8 tandems and some swooping so its been a good  day.

Monday will be better the temperature should be 20 - 25g in Perris. So i am packing my Tshirts and shorts its vacation time wooha.

Camping Swoop trip to Perris/Lodi

Our trip to Perris/Lodi have now become a Camping trip. We have rented a Mobile home at World wide wheels its a 19 ft Camper with all we need. Its going to make the Logistic travelling between Lodi and Perris a lot easier. And we now can visit Bombshelter all we want and not worry how to get to the Hotel afterwards.

Speed pressision A new dicipline in Denmark

 

There have been some discussions what to call this discipline at first it was called "Sports precision" but then this discipline would be more of a "sport" than precision in Foil canopies. So now it’s called "Speed precision", mostly because the canopies fly faster than a foil.

On my behalf it all started just for fun in 2006 where I attended a local boogie where they were having this competition. I thought it would be fun to test my swooping skills on a mattress. I came in second jumping only 3 of 5 rounds.

2007 DFU "Danish skydive federation" decided to make it an official discipline, in the Danish precision Cup both to attract new jumpers, but also to make the sport more attractive to spectators. We are jumping almost after normal precision rules only the circle is 10 m in diameter and every 1m is one whole point but the center 16 cm disc is measuring every 2 cm so you must still land very accurate if you want to stay among the best.

 

I attended in 2 of 4 of the competitions in 2007 and won both of them and can call my self official Danish Champ in Speed precision 2007 unfortunately I didn’t win the total because I only attended in 2 of the competitions that year. I am flying in my Velocity 103

2008 I am planning to keep the title. But with all the teams I am on at the moment its going to be hard to keep training for all the disciplines, and pro swooping is my favourite discipline right now.

But jumping over Randers city in the middle of the yearly summer festival isn’t something happening every day so I will be there again his year count on that..