Event Information

Details:

What?

2010 Australian 100 Way Formation Skydiving Record Attempt.
Largest Freefall Formation - Class I record. See APF Sporting Code for rules.

Where?

Perris Valley Skydiving, Perris, Los Angeles, California, USA.

When?

1st to 13th June 2010.

Costs?

Event registration: $300 AUD.
Approximately $2250 USD for 45 jumps. At $0.70 this becomes approximately $3215 AUD.
For those interested in payment plans, this becomes: 4 payments of $805 AUD, or 3 payments of $1070 AUD. Exact details are to be advised (tba) and determined. Differences will be reimbursed. Stay tuned for details.
Airfares to Los Angeles (LAX).
Transport and accommodation.
USPA membership.
Other.

Calendar:

Date	Event	Description
Sun 2nd Nov 2008	Expression of interest placed on the APF Website.	An expression of interest was placed on the APF Website for an Australian 100 Way RW Record attempt to gauge the level of interest with Aussie skydivers. The aim being to ensure there was sufficient interest to support the goal before making organizational commitments to such an event. Greg Jack is coordinating this event. The original “Australian 100 Way Event Announcement” can be found under “NEWS” on this website. By early December 2008 over 90 Expressions of interest had been received.
Tue 31 Mar 09	Registration Form placed on the APF Website.	The Registration form was placed on the APF Website and the APF Office was open and ready to receive completed registration forms along with a deposit of AUD $300.00. Don’t forget to include a passport sized photograph (for the P3 Team) with your completed registration form and payment. Link to the Registration Form available on this Website under “REGISTRATION”. If you cannot pay in a reasonable time, please contact one of the organizers.
	APF 100 Way Trust Account Opened	Managed by the APF Office, all registration deposits and future event monies will be placed here and transferred at a later date to the Aussie 100 Way account located within the Perris Valley Skydiving Accounts.
	Letters of Support available from the APF Office	Point Of Contact - Mick Forrest. Available for people who want to approach companies / organisations for sponsorship (TAX DEDUCTIBLE) for the event. This is an area we need to explore and capitalize on.
Sun 26 Apr 2009	Registration Update	17 Completed registration forms have been received by the APF Office. Get your forms in asap.
Sat 01 May 2010	Proposed that the payment for the three camps – estimated at USD $2,250.00 has been received in full. You will be regularly updated.	Complete payment for camp costs must be deposited into the team trust account at least 45 days prior to the commencement of the camp. See the Registration Form notes (Page 3) or Event Update Number 4 (Under NEWS on this Website) for explanations on who will need to attend what Camps within the Event.
Tue 1st June 2010	100 Way Event Registration and Introduction	This is when we start the event, focus on the task at hand, meet the P3 team and all our fellow Aussies, register, and complete the DZ waiver. The meeting will be held at Perris in the pool area early afternoon - exact time TBC.
Wed 2nd June 2010	Big Way Camp 1 - Day 1	2 x Aircraft - 20 to 40 Ways
Thu 3rd June 2010	Big Way Camp 1 - Day 2	2 x Aircraft - 20 to 40 Ways
Fri 4th June 2010	Big Way Camp 1 - Day 3	2 x Aircraft - 20 to 40 Ways - Possibly 3 x AC depending upon progress
Sat 3rd June 2010	Rest Day
Sun 6th June 2010	Big Way Camp 2 - Day 1	3 x Aircraft - 40 to 60 Ways
Mon 7th June 2010	Big Way Camp 2 - Day 2	3 x Aircraft - 40 to 60 Ways - Possibly larger depending upon progress
Tue 8th June 2010	Big Way Camp 2 - Day 3	3 x Aircraft - 40 to 60 Ways - Possibly larger depending upon progress
Wed 9th June 2010	Rest Day
Thu 10th June 2010	100 Way Camp - Day 1	100 Way Australian Record Attempts
Fri 11th June 2010	100 Way Camp - Day 2	100 Way Australian Record Attempts
Sat 12th June 2010	100 Way Camp - Day 3	100 Way Australian Record Attempts
Sun 13th June 2010	100 Way Camp - Day 4	100 Way Australian Record Attempts

Note:

There is a great swimming pool on the DZ so bring your toggs as it may get hot while we’re there.

At some point there will be a HUGE Party at the Bombshelter Bar on the DZ hopefully celebrating a New Aussie Big Way Formation Record.

If we get the record early (i.e. Day three of the 100 Way Camp) it will be up to agreement with the participants and the P3 Team if we decide to GO BIGGER or a refund of some jump money is provided and we have a HUGE PARTY !!

Please don’t make any other travel plans that would require a departure from Perris Valley BEFORE 5pm 13 June 2010.

Perris Camp Information:

Camp One: 20 to 40 Ways: Three Days: This camp is an opportunity for skydivers with little big way experience to be introduced to the skills, disciplines, and techniques used for record jumps, as well as for experienced big way jumpers to sharpen their skills and practice the P3 build plan and strategy. During this camp all participants will get used to the jump aircraft (Otters and Skyvan), understanding big way terminology, requirements, slot suitability etc. Also to get to know the P3 Team and their method of organization, instruction, briefing and debriefing. Attendance on this camp will be a necessary requirement for many event participants (TBD by the P3 Team). It is strongly encouraged that ALL participants who can make this camp attend, to brush up on their skills, get to know other participants and to start working as a team and focusing on the goal of the event - A COMPLETED AUSSIE 100 WAY!

Camp Two: 40 to 60+ Ways: Three days: Designed to bring the team together and get them into their primary slot area and start working towards building the record formation. It is anticipated that ALL event participants MUST attend Camp Two. The ONLY exceptions to this would be on personal approval from the P3 Team. (As an example - people of the caliber and experience of Todd Hawkins - who can easily perform in any slot) – Planned 13 to 14 jumps

Camp Three: Australian 100 Way Camp – Four Days: The actual event attempts - whether we go straight to height on the first jump of the first day of this camp (16,500’ AGL) or soon thereafter will be up to the P3 Team, but the GOAL is to get a triple digit completion with a MINIMUM of 75 Aussies and claim a NEW AUSTRALIAN FORMATION SKYDIVING RECORD. Planned 18 jumps.

• Note: People who are only attending the second and / or third camps will need to arrive and prepare on the day off preceding the camp(s) they are participating in.

Location Information:

Skydive Perris

View Larger Map

Perris Accommodation:

Perris Bunkhouse - 24 beds.
Perris International House of Parachutists (IHOP) - 24 beds.
Local private houses.
Local hotels.

Travel Tips:

Travel Tips for Aussie Skydivers Heading to the USA:

Cheryl Robertson and Heather Little

This isn’t intended to cover everything you might need to know – you do need to take some responsibility yourself. But it might help if you haven’t been to the USA to jump, or haven’t been in awhile. Any links we have are provided because they are ones we’ve heard of or used. We make no guarantees about whether they are the best source for you.

Insurance – For You

If you cannot afford travel insurance, you absolutely cannot afford to go to the USA and jump! Even the smallest injury can cost tens of thousands of US$. Have a major injury without insurance, and you’ll be selling your house and/or paying for a very, VERY long time.

Personal experience from Heather: 2001 – 2.5hrs in A & E in Utah = US$2,500 roughly about US$1000/hr and that’s 8 years ago for a relatively minor injury.

Another friend seriously hurt in 2000 in Denver skydiving – approx. US$250,000+ in medical bills all covered by an AU$500 insurance policy….don’t say we didn’t warn you!

Make sure whatever policy you get actually covers skydiving injuries – READ THE POLICY!

If you are also going to BASE jump while in the USA, make sure your policy does not exclude BASE jumping (most do NOT cover BASE jumping!). Some policies cover skydiving, but not BASE jumping, and some exclude both.

QBE, HBF and Covermore (through Flight Centre) are three companies that currently do cover skydiving. IHI/Bupa out of Denmark does as well and they will also cover you for BASE jumping. There have been quite a few online discussions about insurance – have a look at www.skysurfer.com.au as a start.

Word of warning: POLICIES CHANGE! Read them carefully. What we say now may not be relevant in 2010!!

Consider getting an annual multi-trip policy if you are going to be gone for awhile or going on multiple trips outside Australia. These policies cover you for multiple trips, with no single trip being longer than 45-60 days, for about Au$400-500.

Check the company you have your home, health or car insurance through to see if they have appropriate travel insurance and whether you can get a discount. As an example, I have QBE car insurance, and saved 20% off the retail price (which was considerably cheaper than buying QBE travel insurance through the Qantas website.) HBF give you a small (10% I think) discount on travel insurance if you have their health cover.

Insurance – For your gear

Take out a gear insurance policy through the APF! It doesn’t cover international travel unless you check and pay for the international coverage option, so make sure you do that. You should consider listing expensive accessories on this policy – helmets, altis, cameras, etc.

USPA Membership –

You will have to join USPA to jump at Perris. You can do this when you get there. Expect to pay about US$75 for a full year’s membership. (This will include a subscription to Parachutist mag.) If you have never jumped in the US or held USPA membership before it is possible to take out a temporary membership once – this is slightly cheaper than full USPA membership. For more info, go to www.uspa.org

Car hire

Several of us have had good results for cars (and hotels) using www.hotwire.com or www.arguscarhire.com

Check the rental cost to see what it includes, for example Argus includes CDW plus a few other things, and especially check the insurance small print!

If you are going to be hiring cars often or for a longish period, you may want to consider getting a specific car hire insurance excess policy. It is generally much cheaper to do this than to pay the car hire company’s insurance.

http://www.carhire-excess-insurance.com/ and http://www.insurance4carhire.com/ are two companies providing this type of insurance.

Campervan hire

Wicked does have outlets in the USA if you want the low end or If you want a full-on, OTT, American motorhome, there are several places for that. Some of the British guys have had better luck picking up near Ontario instead of near LAX. (more info to come)

Baggage

Allowance

Travel to the USA is a bit different as they operate under the ‘piece concept’, so allow 2 bags. The ‘weight per bag’ varies by airline and by flight class, so make absolutely sure you check your airline’s website for their rules. Don’t just rock up expecting to be able to check 70kg. ;) Also check carefully the carry on limits as again every airline and booking class are different.

Carryon vs check your rig

Personally, I prefer to carry my rig with me. A bit of a hassle, sometimes you have to argue if you are flying with a 10kg rig and a 7 kg carryon allowance. But you are going to a “competition” and the one thing you will have the most trouble replacing if it is lost or damaged is the rig. So argue the point.

When going through security, tell the screener before you lay your gear on the belt that you have a parachute in your bag. Make sure you carry your AAD xray card with you in your travel docs in case of questions.

If you check your rig, a tip from a US skydiver is to put a sign on it saying “Life saving equipment. Do not open without owner being present.” They aren’t supposed to open your gear, but this is extra “insurance”. In the USA, if you encounter problems with your rig and the security screeners, you “should insist that the supervisor review Chapter Section 17.2 of Version 4.0 of the Screening Checkpoint Standard Operating Procedure”.

Weights

Ideally you get to the USA in time to go shopping for lead pellet. Then you can take empty weight belts. Barring that, if you carry them on to save your checked baggage weight, make sure you tell them before you lay it on the belt that you have lead weights in your bag.

Another tip – if you have weights in your check-in luggage make sure they are in an easily accessible place, especially leaving the USA, as they WILL open your bag to see what the dense mass is as it prevents the screener from seeing ‘underneath’ or through the lead.

Hot tip from Heather – have TSA approved locks on your bags and not only can the officials open your luggage faster will generally be put to the front of the sometimes ‘very large pile’ for checking and screening..…personal experience.

I also wait and watch for my bags to be screened in LAX just in case there is an issue with my rig and/or weights. This is a purely personal choice.

Travelling around the USA before / after the event

US domestic fares often do not include a luggage allowance (or meals!). If you are planning to gallivant around the country with your gear, you may end up paying a hefty fee. Check the airfare rules BEFORE you buy!

General USA info:

Tipping – 15-20% is standard anytime you sit down to eat or drink. Waiters and waitresses generally make minimum wage and need the tip to make up for that. Plus they are taxed on assumed percentage based amount of tips, whether they actually make them or not (if US tax laws are still the same). You can find more info on tipping on the internet if you want, but almost every service in the USA is ‘tippable’ – taxis, hairdressers, etc.
Be very careful about even having an open alcohol container in the car. In some states this is as illegal as drinking and driving.
The freeways between LAX and Perris can be manic especially at peak hour – pick your driving times accordingly or prepare to be very patient.

Useful Links:

Perris Skydiving and Tunnel info:

www.skydiveperris.com

CASA letter for carrying your Cypres-equipped rig on Australian flights:

http://www.apf.asn.au/documents/pdf/Rigging/Cypres/dangerous_goods_letter.PDF

Info about carrying your rig on domestic USA flights

http://www.uspa.org/USPAMembers/Membership/Travel/WithintheUS/tabid/311/Default.aspx

TSA letter for carrying your rig on domestic USA flights

http://www.uspa.org/Portals/0/Downloads/Other_TSAletter_2003_10.pdf

TSA info re rigs:

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1147.shtm

Information about travelling to the USA to jump: