The Drop
News and Resources from AXIS Flight School
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The 2016 USPA Nationals were held at Skydive Arizona (SDAZ) in Eloy, AZ. In the 4-way VFS category there were 6 teams in open, and 4 in advanced –the same turnout as the previous year.Last year, Arizona X-Force took 3rd place at the 2015 USPA Nationals in Eloy with a 13.13 average. After completing close to 200 training jumps at Skydive Arizona, and spending about 20 hours in the Skyventure Arizona wind tunnel, the team was only able to maintain their competition average at a 13.88 this year. Unfortunately Seth Studer (tail flyer) needed shoulder surgery 2 months prior to the competition, forcing him to stay on the ground. Luckely Jason Peters was able to fill in last minute for Seth; and with very minimal training, the team entered the competition.
Left to right:Brianne Thompson, Niklas Daniel, Kevin Mitchell (video), Jason Peters, Johnny Gunn. Photo by David Cherry. Here is a look at the draw for the open devision:
- H-14-4
- 16-G-6
- B-L-A-E-15
- 12-13-J
- 9-D-2
- 11-F-5
- i-7-M-K
- 3-1-10
- N-17-8 (tie breaker round) not jumped
SDC Core and Arizona Arsenal ended up taking the first two spots on the podium. There was an exciting fight to the finish between Arizona X-Force, the ARMY Golden Knights, and Skydive California Super Serious as they battled for the bronze until the last round. In the end, X-Force managed to put two more points on the board than the Knights, securing their 3rd place finish. For more in-depth information, please visit omniskore, and for more media coverage check out SkydiveTV.
Arizona X-Force would like to thank Skydive Arizona, Skyventure Arizona, and all of our equipment sponsors who made this training season possible. Special thanks to Jason Peters for filling in last minute.
VFS Open team Arizona X-FORCE. Photo by Jochen Althoff. 
VFS Open podium photo by Jochen Althoff. Teams from left to right: Arizona Arsenal (2nd), SDC Core (1st), Arizona X-FORCE (3rd)
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Another cutaway photo by Mark Kirschenbaum; this time as the featured photo in Blue Skies Magazine! i82: Oct 2016
Using a tertiary system, Niklas Daniel performs an intentional cutaway over Skydive Arizona. Photo by Trunk / Hypoxic 
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On August 11-14, AXIS Flight School went to Vector Camp #1 at Chicago Skydiving Center (CSC) to organize and coach in both FS and free-fly disciplines.Brianne put together large belly groups and challenged them with formations AXIS put together. These jumps involved stepping out of the usual FS skill sets and rules and required participants to think fast and fly very precise. Nik provided video for some of the FS groups and also provided some free-fly organizing and angle jump coaching. The AXIS vs. Grillets big way belly sequential event ended up with a slightly different format than advertised. Because the turn out of the event was lower than expected, there just simply were not enough people to form four 10-way teams. Because of this, the participants were encouraged to come together and challenge their skills with more complex dives.
Performance Designes hosted their Backyard Accuracy Challenge, where participants were able to demo the Optimum reserve and fly through a simulated back yard with obstacles. The winner of the event walked away with a free OP Reserve!
Jason playing the didgeridoo after a couple of shots at 9am Australian local time. On the evening of the 12th, three famous figures in the skydiving community were put onstage and asked to recall some of their favorite memories from their skydiving carriers. The evening took on a humorous mood as the mixing of crazy stories and alcohol continued. As Jason Cooke is located in Australia, he joined the event via a webcam and light projector.
CSC hangar during drunken skydiver history 
later in that evening… For more images and info, check out the Vector Camp Facebook page.
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- I would like to thank Mark ‘Trunk’ Kirschenbaum of Hypoxic for accompanying me on some fun jumps over Skydive Arizona. A couple of weeks ago, Trunk captured some great footage of some intentional cutaways, which AXIS Flight School intends to enter in a film festival contest later this year.
- Congratulations Trunk, on snagging the October 2016 Parachutist Centerfold spot!
- Using a tertiary canopy system, Niklas Daniel performs an intentional cutaway at Skydive Arizona in Eloy. Photo by MARK KIRSCHENBAUM.
About Parachutist: “When PCA (USPA’s predecessor) first published the magazine in 1957, it was not much more than a newsletter, but it did serve the very important purpose of keeping the organization’s members informed about news in the sport. In the mid-1960s, the magazine first began printing its cover in color, foreshadowing the glossy magazine you see today. Through the 1970s and ’80s, Parachutist’s circulation continued to grow as membership and advertising revenues increased. The magazine began to showcase stunning color photography inside and out. It not only kept members up-to-date on industry news, it served as a forum for opinion, disseminated safety information, covered the sport’s history, offered general-interest skydiving articles and listed events, drop zones and membership data for reference purposes. With the rise of internet communications in the 1990s and through the 2000s, Parachutist shifted its focus from news and reference to concentrate more on education, entertainment and safety features. That change in focus and the advent of technology is what you see today with this website. This is our effort to expand the reach that Parachutist has as both a safety and instructional tool.”
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Words by Vedi Djokich
After the filming of vex 13 000 – skydive art project- https://youtu.be/sQFwrJ8M8jE , I wanted to revisit the concept of painting in freefall. This time though, the focus was on capturing the destructive passage of time. Documenting how it slowly erased the work and images that I created, until they ultimately disappeared. I wanted these designs to also have a connection to time, so I drew up these 3 images:
Rabbit Skull : representing the past – memory of a childhood pet.
Cicada Eyes : representing the present – changing & evolving visions.
Balloon Skull : representing the future – inflated fears & the inevitable. These designs were screen printed onto fabric, hand painted, and sewed into steamers that would inflate in terminal velocity. They were then attached to 30lbs jugs that I held onto while skydiving, which slowly released paint onto the images. The paint continued to spill out with each second of freefall, until it devoured all 13 ft of fabric, leaving nothing left. My white gear also got covered. During the last jump the paint jug imploded and my right arm was covered in black paint.
I created unique wood pieces of the 3 images, along with hand printed (silk screened) & painted, limited edition prints of /30, on paper of each design.
These prints are available for purchase through my online store @
http://www.vexedart.com/store_prints_…If you are interested in purchasing the unique 48’’ x 36’’ wood panel pieces please email me @ http://www.vexedart.com/contact.html
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Special thanks to the following skydivers, videographers and photographers for helping to capture this project.Sara & Steve Curtis : – http://www.azarsenal.com
Nik Daniel : – https://blog.niklasdaniel.com
Jason Peters : – http://www.aboveallphotography.com
Thanks also to Cosmoprod for composing the original music.
Artist & Editor Vedi Djokich @ http://www.vexedart.com/home1.html
16 pages of behind the scenes content from this art series @ http://www.vexedart.com/Time_art_seri…
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/vexedart_/
G+ : https://plus.google.com/+Vexedart
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/wwwvex…
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USPA recognizes its members for contributions to the sport of skydiving and to USPA.
The Regional Achievement Award is to honor an outstanding member of a USPA Region who, by their efforts over a period of time or one outstanding act, has made a significant contribution to that region’s skydiving community.
Photo by Melissa Lowe Regional Director, Shawn Hill proudly awards Brianne Thompson the USPA Regional Achievement Award for assisting in spearheading Operation Enduring Warrior & her work with Axis Flight School.
Congratulations, Brianne! And thank you for all your contributions to the sport!
The Drop 
