 Sunday,
October 8
0700
The final
day of the formation skydiving nationals dawns with the
usual dose of fog, but the weather man says it's clear in
LA and it should be clearing here soon as well.
Hey you fellow techno geeks out there, I
fixed my hard drive UDMA problem by moving the problem
drive from the secondary IDE to the primary (slaved it to
the c-drive). Now it benches 26 MB/sec read and 20 MB/sec
write. WAY cool!
The judges are finishing the 16-way jumps
from yesterday, and Airspeed Blue did their own Keystone
Cops rendition -- one of the guys was lost and zinging around looking for his
slot -- on round 5, taking almost 30 seconds to build the
first formation before knocking out 7 quick points. They
had such a good average going too, let's see how they do
on round 6, where I'm on record for predicting a world
record.
1000
Still gray outside...I just spoke with 10-way guru
Carl Daugherty about his team being busted by the judges
on the last 4 rounds for using an illegal hand hold on the
airplane. The video on each of his jumps clearly shows a
team member in the airplane with arm extended to the left
side of the fuselage, using it for balance or leverage.
Carl's argument is that the place where the hand is
touching the plane is in front of the door area and thus
outside of the area specified in the rules. I don't know,
and I don't really care, who is right or wrong in this
case, but I am reaching the opinion that 10-way speed
should be eliminated from the U.S. Nationals. Every year,
without fail, there is a big controversy about the rules
and how to interpret them, and it is growing ever more
tiresome. The event has lived its useful life and now it's
time to retire it. Let Quincy or Z-Hills take it over. My
(T2) dos pesos.
1100
Still socked in. Carl won his appeal on the rules
interpretation, but his team is still being busted on at
least one of the rounds for an illegal grip out the door.
1200
The sun has finally poked through the clouds and
16-way is going up in a few minutes.
10-Way RIP?
My in box already has a few vocal defenders of
the 10-way event. I actually think 10-way speed is a
wonderful event; I even wrote the current set of
rules in 1996, but USPA pared my strict language
down to a much simpler version that was rife with
loopholes. So I submit to all you defenders of the
10-way event: write to the competition committee at
USPA with your own suggestions and feedback. Come up
with a rules proposal that is simple, bullet-proof,
and easy to judge. If you don't, 10-way may very
well die.
-t2 |
1300
Airspeed Blue round 6 just dubbed, and I snuck a peek
at the video. Do we have a new world record here? Stay
tuned and find out!
Knights FX is up for round 5 first, and they get a 9.
Flip, Flop & Fly -- bless their souls -- have
completed only one point in five rounds, but at least
they're trying! Deguello slipped with a 3, so after five
rounds, Knights FX move into 2nd place, well behind AZ
Blue with one jump to go. I wonder if/who is going to set
a world record on round 6? Anyone? Blueler?
Okay, here they -- Airspeed Blue -- are! A good
start...nice fast pace...a brain lock at the halfway
mark...a fast finish...OMIGOD! The 17th point is right on
the freeze frame! Will they get it? The judges review...
...they are playing it a third time now, trying to get
a good start time on it...
OH NOOOOOOO! Two judges gave them the 17th and three
didn't, so no world record. Well, we'll see what Knights
FX and Deguello can come up with.
Deguello...nope. A slow first point, a bust, and a
score of 7 points.
Knights FX...nope. A way slow first point, then hauling
butt to an 11.
Flip, Flop & Fly...hey, we can dream, can't we?
We'll pretend there's a 2 in front that 0...
And Perris High Octane closes out16-way with a 7, and
Airspeed Blue has blown away the competition with an 18
point victory over Knights FX. But hey - Deguello wins the
bronze, and the webmaster will get to go home with a
medal! ;-)
1545
The last two rounds of 10-way speed are about to be
judged...will Airspeed hold on to complete the first sweep
in Nationals memory?
1630
If there's anyone out there still watching, we're
about to finish up 10-way...
...oh my, who would have ever thought the Golden
Knights couldn't build a formation in competition. A big
40.00" for round 5. Ouch! A Raeford Dragon to boot.
I'd have thought they had that one whipped.
Well if it's any consolation for anyone, Airspeed built
the wrong formation in round 6, but they caught it fast
enough to get a 17.44 and hold on to the win.
1720
That's it, the FS nationals are in the can, and
Airspeed has swept the events! And way cool is the fact
I'm going home with a silver and a bronze without lifting
my ass out of this chair. ;-) t2
Pictures coming later...
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