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This page will be updated once a week with the latest news from the "National Skydiving League". Special thanks to Kurt Gaebel, founder of the league and webmaster of its web site. |
August 14, 2000Do you know he current world ranking in 4-way? Eight nations have had their national championships 2000 to date and posted their scores. The NSL News collected the scores from the various sites and compared them with each other. The result is the current world ranking. The point averages are accurate. However, each competition had a different draw, and some of the meets did not go over ten rounds. This gives the ranking an undefined inconsistency. Disregarding the difficulties in comparing these scores, they still seem to be not far away from reality. A big questionmark is behind the Russian score. The NSL headquarters unfortunately uneducated in the Russian language. We were just speculating that the scores posted at www.dropzone.ru are the current 4-way results.
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More on
NSL's web site
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The first five places are held by exactly the same nations as at last year's World Championship in Australia. If the Russian scores are accurate, the team moved up from fifth place to bronze medal position. Very impressive are the scores reported from the Italian Nationals. This was a ten-round competition. Italy apparently improved their point average from 14.7 to 17.2 within nine months. There seems to be a new challenger for a medal position at the world meet in 2001. Sebastian XL has a new team member and is almost back to the performance level of last year's world meet. The DeLand Norgies have potential for much more than shown so far this year. Hopefully, many of these teams will show up at this year's World Cup in November at Skydive Arizona. |
| Nation |
Team Name |
Average 2000 |
Average 1999 |
| France |
Perris Maubeuge |
22.4 |
20.8 |
| U.S.A. |
Airspeed Vertical |
20.5 |
20.2 |
| Russia |
Russia |
19.3 |
17.2 |
| Norway |
DeLand Norgies |
18.4 |
19.1 |
| Great Britain |
Sebastian XL |
17.8 |
19.0 |
| Italy |
Sinapsi Skydive Udine |
17.2 |
14.7 |
| Germany |
EADS |
14.8 |
15.5 |
| Netherlands |
Dutch Force |
12.9 |
11.1 |
| Canada |
Skydive America EH |
10.6 |
8.6 |
August 3, 2000Fifteen teams competed in Dallas, Texas! The Texas Skydiving League is breaking all the records. Season meet four at Skydive Dallas had fifteen teams competing, six teams in the Open/Advanced Class, nine teams in the Intermediate Class. All teams completed six rounds.
San Marcos Fast 4ward is clearly dominating the competition in the Open/Advanced Class before handicap. The team scored the highest average at each meet this season. Only Convergence was able to tie them once at the second season meet. Convergence is the defending Texas Skydiving League Champion. Fast 4ward consists of Michael Inabinet, Scott Latinis, Philippe Tanguy and Tom Rafferty. Carl Carpenter is shooting video.
The other team from San Marcos, Millenium, is dominating the Intermediate Class competition just as much. Millenium is holding the first place before and after handicap with a season average of 8.0 points. With 9.5 average, they scored their highest so far this season in Dallas. The Texas Skydiving League will run two more meets for a total of six competitions this season. The next meet is scheduled for August 19-20 at Skydive Spaceland. More information with all scores and statistics can be found at the TSL web site. |
August 1, 2000We lost a friend. Horrible news reached the NSL headquarters yesterday. Chicagoland Skydiving's Twin Otter crashed Sunday night on the way from Hinckley, Illinois, to North Carolina. Pilot Mark Wheeler got killed in the accident while two passengers escaped with injuries. Mark Wheeler flew the jump plane throughout the whole weekend for the second season meet of the Midwest Skydiving League. Sources say that the plane left for a maintenance routine after the meet and the jump operation was stopped on Sunday. Wheeler flew the plane heading toward North Carolina, and two skydivers from Hinckley took a ride as passengers. |
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Losing Wheeler is a huge blow to the skydiving world, as he was a very experienced and enthusiastic pilot. His calm and sincere manner with an always kind and friendly approach made it a pleasure to have him around, flying the planes as well as managing his own skydiving operation in Florida. Wheeler was running the drop zone of the Williston Skydivers, north of Gainesville, Florida. The Williston Skydivers had joined the Florida Skydiving League this season. Wheeler hosted the second season meet at the end of February with great results for his home drop zone. FSL director Kurt Gaebel and Wheeler had already started talking about the 2001 season. For this summer season, Wheeler took a break from the Florida heat to fly the jump planes for Andre Wiese at Chicagoland Skydiving. His summer escape in the north unfortunately had a most tragic end.
The accident struck Wiese very hard, as well. He lost one of the very best pilots and his premier jump plane. Andre Wiese is a strong supporter of competitive Formation Skydiving. He has moved Chicagoland Skydiving up to one of the most popular skydiving centers for teams and competitors. His jump planes, the Super Otter and a Cessna Grand Caravan, have been flying skydivers at many other places, as well, especially in Florida during the winter season. Wiese loves to fly his planes himself. As a skydiving jump pilot, he knows what he is doing. Wheeler and Wiese together formed a strong flight crew in Hinckley. The picture was taken on Sunday, hours before Wheeler left for North Carolina. The NSL headquarters is mourning the loss of Mark Wheeler. We wish Andre Wiese and his operation a quick recovery from this tragic accident. You are in our thoughts, Mark. Blue Skies!
July 29, 2000Most of the leagues have adjusted their Intermediate Class. Due to the new USPA rules for the Intermediate Class, which came to effect June 1 this year, the regional leagues of the National Skydiving League were facing difficulties. Most of the leagues had already started their 2000 season at that time. And most of the leagues had already created a competition class for rookies and beginners in their region. To make these classes attractive, the leagues included all random formations and a few selected blocks in the dive pool. In the middle of the 2000 season, USPA came up with their own changes, introducing the Intermediate Class as the new class for rookies and beginners.
This Intermediate Class included eight blocks: 1,2,6,7,9,15,20,21. Since the NSL leagues had already determined their own dive pools for the rookies and beginners before the beginning of this season and USPA was not communicating their own ideas with the NSL headquarters, the dive pools did not match. Many of the teams competing at the National Skydiving League events are planning to travel to the U.S. Nationals and compete in Perris, California, this year. There, the new USPA rules for the Intermediate Class will be applied. To make it as easy as possible for the teams to train and prepare for the Nationals, the NSL headquarters finally recommended to adopt USPA's Intermediate Class for the regional league meets. Most of the leagues are now using all random formations and these eight blocks for their Rookie/Recreational/Intermediate classes.
However, the teams still have to carry the burden of adjusting to the new rules. Teams that started training early this year for the Intermediate Class at the U.S. Nationals were surprised by the fact that only eight of the 24 blocks would now be used at the Nationals. Teams that started training and competing for the Rookie/Recreational classes at the regional leagues had to drop some of their blocks and learn some new ones. And still, there is no solution in sight for the teams, which had planned to compete in the Intermediate Class as it was in 1999. They will either have to step up and compete in the Advanced Class, or they will step down and compete in the new Intermediate Class, which will also accommodate the beginners and rookies. There are two more months left for the teams to make up their minds regarding the competition class for the U.S. Nationals 2000. The league meets will hopefully help to make this decision. ...more on Skydive League's Website |
| National Skydive League - Calendar 2000 |
| Date |
League |
Event |
Location |
Contact |
| 01/23 |
Florida Skydiving League |
Season Meet 1 |
Skydive Sebastian |
FSL@skyleague.com |
| 02/27 |
Florida Skydiving League |
Season Meet 2 |
Williston Skydivers |
FSL@skyleague.com |
| 03/25 |
Southwest Skydiving League |
Season Meet 1 |
Skydive Arizona |
GDHarding@aol.com |
| 03/26 |
Florida Skydiving League |
Season Meet 3 |
Skydive Space Center |
FSL@skyleague.com |
| 04/08-09 |
Georgia Skydiving League |
Season Meet 1 |
Skydive Atlanta |
mrpink1@mindspring.com |
| 04/22-24 |
The Ranch Skydiving League |
Season Meet 1 |
The Ranch, Gardiner, NY |
blskyranch@aol.com |
| 04/23 |
Florida Skydiving League |
Season Meet 4 |
Skydive De Land |
FSL@skyleague.com |
| 04/29 |
Southwest Skydiving League |
Season Meet 2 |
Elsinore Skydiving |
GDHarding@aol.com |
| 04/29-30 |
Texas Skydiving League |
Season Meet 1 |
Skydive San Marcos |
joehazel@flash.net |
| 05/06-07 |
Georgia Skydiving League |
Season Meet 2 |
Adventure Skydiving |
mrpink1@mindspring.com |
| 05/20-21 |
Texas Skydiving League |
Season Meet 2 |
t.b.a. |
joehazel@flash.net |
| 05/20-21 |
Virginia Parachute Council |
Season Meet 1 |
Skydive Orange |
mailto:jcrouch@erols.com |
| 05/20-21 |
The Ranch Skydiving League |
Season Meet 2 |
The Ranch, Gardiner, NY |
blskyranch@aol.com |
| 05/27-28 |
Carolina Skydiving League |
Season Meet 1 |
Blue Sky Adventures |
skydivin@usa.net |
| 05/27-28 |
New England Skydiving League |
Season Meet 1 |
Skydive New England |
beth.murray@compaq.com |
| 05/27 |
Midwest Skydiving League |
Season Meet 1 |
Skydive Illinois |
freefall@execpc.com |
| 05/28 |
Florida Skydiving League |
Season Meet 5 |
Skydive Lake Wales |
FSL@skyleague.com |
| 06/10-11 |
Georgia Skydiving League |
Season Meet 3 |
Skydive Monroe |
mrpink1@mindspring.com |
| 06/24 |
Southwest Skydiving League |
Season Meet 3 |
Perris Valley
Skydiving |
GDHarding@aol.com |
| 06/24 |
Midwest Skydiving League |
Season Meet 2 |
Skydive Illinois |
freefall@execpc.com |
| 06/24 |
Colorado Skydiving League |
Season Meet 1 |
Front Range Skydivers |
Jumpnkeith@aol.com |
| 06/24-25 |
Carolina Skydiving League |
Season Meet 2 |
t.b.a. |
skydivin@usa.net |
| 06/24-25 |
The Ranch Skydiving League |
Season Meet 3 |
The Ranch, Gardiner, NY |
blskyranch@aol.com |
| 06/24-25 |
New England Skydiving League |
Season Meet 2 |
Pepperell Skydive Center |
beth.murray@compaq.com |
| 06/24-25 |
Virginia Parachute Council |
Season Meet 2 |
Skydive The Point |
mailto:jcrouch@erols.com |
| 06/25 |
Florida Skydiving League |
Season Meet 6 |
Skydive America |
FSL@skyleague.com |
| 06/24-25 |
Texas Skydiving League |
Season Meet 3 |
t.b.a. |
joehazel@flash.net |
| 06/23-25 |
Great Lakes Skydiving League |
Season Meet 1 |
Aerohio |
info@aerohio.com |
| 07/08-09 |
Georgia Skydiving League |
Season Meet 4 |
Air Ventures Skydiving Center |
mrpink1@mindspring.com |
| 07/15-16 |
Great Lakes Skydiving League |
Season Meet 2 |
Pittsburgh Skydiving Center |
info@aerohio.com |
| 07/15-16 |
Texas Skydiving League |
Season Meet 4 |
t.b.a. |
joehazel@flash.net |
| 07/22 |
Southwest Skydiving League |
Season Meet 4 |
Elsinore Skydiving |
GDHarding@aol.com |
| 07/22-23 |
Virginia Parachute Council |
Season Meet 3 |
Skydive Suffolk |
mailto:jcrouch@erols.com |
| 07/22-23 |
The Ranch Skydiving League |
Season Meet 4 |
The Ranch, Gardiner, NY |
blskyranch@aol.com |
| 07/22-23 |
New England Skydiving League |
Season Meet 3 |
Skydive New England |
beth.murray@compaq.com |
| 07/22 |
Colorado Skydiving League |
Season Meet 2 |
Mile Hi Skydiving Center |
Jumpnkeith@aol.com |
| 07/23 |
Florida Skydiving League |
Season Meet 7 |
Skydive City |
FSL@skyleague.com |
| 07/29-30 |
Carolina Skydiving League |
Season Meet 3 |
t.b.a. |
skydivin@usa.net |
| 07/29 |
Midwest Skydiving League |
Season Meet 3 |
Chicagoland Skydiving |
freefall@execpc.com |
| 08/19 |
Southwest Skydiving League |
Season Meet 5 |
Perris Valley
Skydiving |
GDHarding@aol.com |
| 08/19 |
Colorado Skydiving League |
Season Meet 3 |
Front Range Skydivers |
Jumpnkeith@aol.com |
| 08/19-20 |
Great Lakes Skydiving League |
Season Meet 3 |
Greene County Skydiving |
info@aerohio.com |
| 08/19-20 |
Texas Skydiving League |
Season Meet 5 |
t.b.a. |
joehazel@flash.net |
| 08/26-27 |
Carolina Skydiving League |
Season Meet 4 |
t.b.a. |
skydivin@usa.net |
| 08/26-27 |
Virginia Parachute Council |
Season Meet 4 |
Skydive Virginia |
mailto:jcrouch@erols.com |
| 08/26-27 |
Georgia Skydiving League |
Season Meet 5 |
Skydive Atlanta |
mrpink1@mindspring.com |
| 08/26 |
Midwest Skydiving League |
Season Meet 4 |
Chicagoland Skydiving |
freefall@execpc.com |
| 08/27 |
Florida Skydiving League |
Season Meet 8 |
Skydive De Land |
FSL@skyleague.com |
| 09/09-10 |
Great Lakes Skydiving League |
Season Meet 4 |
Aerohio |
info@aerohio.com |
| 09/09-10 |
Texas Skydiving League |
Season Meet 6 |
t.b.a. |
joehazel@flash.net |
| 09/16-17 |
The Ranch Skydiving League |
Season Meet 6 |
The Ranch, Gardiner, NY |
blskyranch@aol.com |
| 09/16 |
Southwest Skydiving League |
Season Meet 6 |
Skydive Arizona |
GDHarding@aol.com |
| 09/23-24 |
New England Skydiving League |
Season Meet 4 |
Pepperell Skydive Center |
beth.murray@compaq.com |
| 10/21-22 |
National Skydiving League |
Playoffs Western Skies |
Skydive Dallas |
NSL@skyleague.com |
| 10/21-22 |
National Skydiving League |
Playoffs Eastern Skies |
Georgia |
NSL@skyleague.com |
| 11/18-19 |
National Skydiving League |
Championship 2000 |
Skydive DeLand |
NSL@skyleague.com |
...more on Skydive League's Website
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