On April 28-30, the PD Factory Team attended their first competition of the 2006 season. The PST Event consisted of the three traditional events (Speed, Distance, and Accuracy), plus a couple of rounds of Freestyle. High wind conditions during most of the event made the courses extremely challenging for all competitors. The freestyle event was cancelled due to winds that exceeded the competition limits.

In the top spot, yet again, was PD Factory Team pilot Jonathan Tagle who showed great consistency throughout the whole competition. Tagle won $2,400 and the bragging rights for the first victory of the 2006 season. In a close second and third was Jay Moledzki winning $1,100, and Jeff Provenzano of Team Xaos winning $600. Ian Bobo ended the meet in fourth place winning $300. Tagle and Moledzki also took first place and $200 in the Team Speed event.

Man's View From The Top
by Shannon Pilcher

On this trip to Norway, I felt acutely aware of the risks involved, more so than usual. And yet it wasn't enough to make me fearful or unwilling to execute the mission.

When we fly over the valley scoping out the terrain, the most powerful feelings emerge. It's indescribable. It's magnificent. These giant rock walls reach straight up at us, their faces nearly straight down. The valley between, although nearly ½-mile wide, appears narrow, tiny, in scale to the size of the walls. The tops of the granite islands are still capped with glacial ice and small frigid pools. Someone in the valley might never know they exist if not for the rushing waterfalls spewing randomly throughout the valley. It's June, by the way, and the valley is lush and green. So from above, it's white, steely grey, and deep green. What a picture!

Now peer closer and we begin to discern depth in the walls. What appeared to be a small vertical fissure from the valley floor now causes a double take. Is that canyon I'm staring down at the same crack I saw from the ground? Incredible! I follow it from the ice above to its roots 4000-feet below and confirm by landmarks that it is. We've struck gold! No fear in the world could stop me from getting out of this plane.

The door is open, the air is cold and I'm nervous. But I feel like a caged bird. For this brief moment and the next few minutes, I am completely lost in this flight.

It's not about ego-doing what's never been done, or claiming new expedition sites, or even leading the most aggressive run. It's truly about freedom, and about feeling just a glimpse of whom God is and being one with His creation. The only thoughts that steal my mind away during the entire flight are those of gratefulness. Who am I that I should have this privilege? What scale, what beauty...it's limitless, endless...

I'm flat blown away. I don't even see the trees and rocks that jut out trying to grab my wingtips. No, I just fly, my eyes set ahead, my mind lost in the wonder, wishing it wouldn't end. No, that's not true. In the moment, I mean, when we're genuinely "in the now," we never think of the future; we never consciously or unconsciously ponder the next minute. Only when we burst forth from the mouth of the crack and glide toward the valley floor do we suddenly yearn to be back inside.

I think that's the part of the draw. It's not just chemical-adrenaline. It's spiritual; it's being connected to the one-ness, to the NOW. It's the purest form of "not worrying about tomorrow..." And in life-no matter what we claim-we often think on tomorrow. So it's in these snapshots, these capsules, that we get to feel God's plan for us, and it draws us back again and again, at all costs!

For the second year running, the PDFT visited mother Russian and swept the EST event in style. Always a humbling journey, the team arrived by bus in the early morning hours to the mystery of the darkened Kolumna airport. Escorted by a little lady with a fainting flashlight we made our way thru the woods to the dilapidated, but newly renovated bunk room. Big apologies go out to Bogna and Przemek from Poland who we managed to wake up, along with the entire bunkhouse full of skydivers before crashing for the night in the wall to wall racks.

The first few days on site were chilly, cloudy, and rainy, limiting jumping to only the fewest of loads. The trend continued on thru Friday and concerns began to mount about completion of the meet. As quickly as the weather turned, so did the tide of the meet management, and in true Russian all or nothing style... the competitors banged out 12 jumps all on Saturday to complete the 9 round meet all in one day, with 3 practice rounds to boot. The awkward looking, but impressive Mi-8 helicopter perched beside the pond and shuttled the entire field of 14 competitors with great turnarounds from early morning to sunset.

When the dust settled, meet director, Andrew Gromozdin, and DZO, Roman Lednev, had accomplished something very rare in the swooping world, an efficient course layout, scoring system, and the whole meet in a single day. The competition was fierce for the top three spots, and Shannon, Ian, and Jay really took it to the wire. The lead changed hands throughout the meet multiple times and the final round of zone accuracy held all the drama to determine who would get how much of the $10,000 purse. Final results put Jay Moledzki back on top of the Russian podium for the second year running, with Shannon and Ian a tight 2nd and 3rd respectively, a mere 29 point spread separating the crew. A proud day for the PDFT and the second year in a row with all blue on top of the podium.

Congratulations go out to our comrade, Nikolai Soukharnikov, the top Russian pilot in the meet, for winning the Russian National championship in parallel with the EST event. Thanks for all the vodka shots Nikolai, a must-do experience on any Russian trip, in more ways than one. Special thanks go out to Olga Bakulina and Lika Borzova, for the grand tour of Moscow, where the team was able to get in a few exciting base jumps, some exciting taxi rides, and see the beautiful city from a few new angles.

After 15 years of personal sacrifice and dedication, the dream of winning the coveted 4-way world championship title has become a reality for Ian Bobo and Shannon Pilcher.

The bi-annual competition, held last August in Gera, Germany, drew one of the most competitive fields to date. A record 24 nations fielded teams, with more than 6 nations surpassing the 20.0 point-average, and five of them legitimately vying for the renowned Excalibur (aka Ottley Sword). Despite considerable preparations by the organizers, the meet was plagued with miserable weather, eventually limiting the meet to only five rounds. When the skies finally cleared, Team USA ("DeLand Fire") had a commanding six-point lead over the rest of the pack, led by France, then Italy, Russia, Norway and Belgium.

Joining Bobo and Pilcher for their 2006 quest was PD Factory Teammate Jonathan Tagle, at video, whose skills and enthusiasm made him a natural fit to the FIRE lineup. The three would like to thank Outside Center and Team Captain, Gary Smith, for his steadfast technical guidance and his patience with our demanding schedules and commitment conflicts. Thank you also goes to the Queen, Natasha Montgomery, whose vision and determination were the catalysts to this team's repeated successes. Finally, a special thanks to Thomas Hughes, Fire's roving alternate (nicknamed "water-bug"), capable of flying any position-including video-better than we are able to fly the positions ourselves!

With this accomplishment, DeLand Fire will disband on a good note, having not only returned Excalibur to American soil (DeLand), but also having achieved the highest world championship scoring average to date: 23.4 points per round.

Pink and Pribram Swoopin it Up!
by Shannon Pilcher

After years of hearing about the Czech Republic, and meeting so many great people from there, I finally had a chance to experience it first hand. Prague is everything I expected and more-rich in history yet modern and progressive in attitude and atmosphere.

After a relaxing stay with my gracious hosts Jirka and Lenka (and an awesome Churrascaria/// dinner!!!), I bolted south to Klatovy-home of the legendary Pink SkyVan-for a three-day canopy course. Despite the vast range of skill level of this group, these guys worked well as a team, pushing each other forward while at the same time respecting each other's progression and abilities. To all those who attended (Martin, Wuzi, Dominic, Jakob, Hannes, Duncan, Wolfgang, Zdenek) I'd like to say thank you for your great attitudes, open minds and safe, disciplined flying! Special thanks to the Wagner family (Uschi, Wuzi and Thomas of Austria) for making this event happen. And lest I forget: I owe ice creams to Heidi, Denise and Petra for their selfless camera work, without which we would have been unable to debrief most of the landings. Finally, big thank you to Wuzi for the last-minute ultra-light hop and to Zdenek for air-lifting me outta there in rockstar-style fashion with his R44 helicopter! Can't wait to see the NOTAR///!! Klatovy is a must visit drop zone, complete with tailgate exits, a nice swoop pond and probably the smoothest, softest grass landing area I've ever experienced! Check it out at www.pinkskyvan.com

From Klatovy I headed northeast to Pribram (pronounced Pshee-bram) for another three-day camp. This DZ is more commercial oriented, pumping out 100 tandems a day on the weekends with its two Turbo LETs and AN-2. And yet the daily grind of the finely-tuned staff doesn't keep them from having fun. In fact, the best part about this DZ is that its staff jumpers love to skydive. Many of the staff took a day off to attend the canopy course. In total 13 skydivers, again of varying experience and skill level, joined me for at least one day of coaching. With special emphasis on "Priorities of Progression," most participants walked away with a safe, insightful plan for how to improve their canopy flight skills.

I was especially privileged on the weekend to practice intuitive flight skills from higher altitudes with Ondra (Czech National Freefly Team), Jirka (CZ National 4-Way Team), and George and Simon (Kill Bill Freefly Team). Even stuck some synchronized 2-way landings with Ondra, who graciously treated me to Sushi later that evening! Special thanks to Roman of Sky Service for inviting me to Pribram, to the PB FIRE team for an excellent impromtu 4-way jump, and to ZB for lending me his jumpsuit. Finally, thank you to Mark and Eva for the comfy red bed and for showing me all the hot spots for in-line skiing!! For all those who'd like to attend next year's course, please contact Roman at roman@keepfalling.cz

The PD Factory Team will be sending out several newsletters to recap our adventures in Europe during the summer of 2006. All the highlights and competition results will be posted in the following issues of the PD Factory Team Newsletter.