The PD Factory Team’s Jay Moledzki, Jonathan Tagle and Ian Bobo, swept the overall medals at last month’s world cup in Sydney, Australia, topping a field of 57 of the world’s best canopy pilots.

Moledzki dominated the speed and distance events, winning an unprecedented five of the six rounds, and breaking two speed records along the way. He finished fourth in accuracy, earning him the overall victory.

Tagle finished second in speed and distance, and fifth in accuracy, securing a comfortable second place finish overall.

Bobo ended the speed and distance events in fifth place overall behind teammate Shannon Pilcher and Team Fastrax pilot, Isaiah McCauliffe. Going into the final round of accuracy, Bobo had climbed to within two points of third place. Bobo aced the last round, earning him a dramatic come-from-behind third place victory.

This marks the fourth time in as many World Cups that a PD Factory pilot has earned top honors, and the second time that the team has swept the overall medals. It should also be noted that Moledzki won six of the nine rounds at this year’s event, accumulating 864 points out of a possible 900. The next closest competitor was Tagle, who finished with 823 points.

The PDFT would like to thank all of its sponsors for helping it to continue the dream of flight.

The main objective of the PDFT's October training camp in southern California was to maneuver team formations--both under canopy and in wing suits--as close as possible to 16-way CRW diamonds. Not only would these flights be "stunts" in themselves, but they would also serve as good training for flying proximal to other "objects" as a group.

The camp was purposefully scheduled to overlap with the CRW world record tryouts at Perris Valley Skydiving.

The PDFT arrived early and trained the first three days at nearby Skydive Elsinore, with two days dedicated to team canopy flight, and one day to team Bird-Man flights.

"To fly proximal to each other is one thing," said Pilcher. "But to fly our formation relative to another group or object requires a more refined skill set. Just like the Blue Angels, we must be able to collectively adjust our heading, as well as horizontal and vertical speeds, with precision and consistency."

Proximal flying at this level requires dependable and consistent verbal communication, and the Rare Dynamics radios once again provided the perfect solution, enabling clear, reliable verbal communication in flight.

Likewise, it can be physically exhausting making multiple wing-suit flights from full altitude. To build air-time, the PDFT instead opted for numerous, shorter flights, exiting at 7,000 feet and deploying at 2,500 feet. This called for the dependable, on-heading deployments of PD's new Optimum reserves, which, of course, the team used as mains.

To add to the weekend excitement, Skydive Elsinore was also hosting its annual Chicks Rock Boogie, which included night pond swoops. Needless to say, the Factory Team (along with others) laid down some impressive freestyle in the dark on both Thursday and Saturday nights. The night-light function on Alti-2's Neptune altimeters proved invaluable, for obvious reasons.

Bad weather prevailed throughout the weekend, allowing for minimal attempts at a CRW fly-by. Still, by Sunday afternoon, the team had succeeded in its efforts, flying its 4-way, no-contact Velocity diamond in close proximity to the bigger diamond on multiple passes. The Bird-Man flights proved more challenging to coordinate, but on the second attempt, the team flew a 4-way Bird-Man stair-step configuration past the CRW formation, about 50-feet outside its lower left wing.

PD team member, JC Colclasure, broke several toes on both feet on the first training jump of the camp, and was unfortunately unable to capture the stunts the way the team would have liked. Luckily, PD athlete and renowned aerial photographer Craig O'Brien stepped in to fill the big man's shoes, and captured some remarkable shots, despite his unfamiliarity with the slot.

Many thanks to Chris Gay and the 15 others in his group, for their trust, patience and spontaneous commitment to these stunts. Kudos also to the staff and pilots at Elsinore and Perris for accommodating our every need.

PD Factory Team members Ian Bobo and Shannon Pilcher recently conducted a Flight-1 Essential Skills Course for a group of 45 soldiers from various U.S. military divisions.

Complete Parachute Systems (CPS) of DeLand, Fla., hosted the event Sept. 24-28 at its Tactical Training Facility (TTF) in Coolidge, Az. CPS offered the event free-of-charge to its clients--domestic and foreign military users--as part of its "train the trainer" promotional campaign.

"Our goal is to create a positive learning environment focused on pertinent parachuting skills," said Vice President Fred Williams, "where existing CPS clients can interact with potential clients, allowing CPS representatives to educate the attendees to the CPS products and training services available."

Participants at this camp included the U.S. Army 3rd, 5th, and 7th Special Forces Group, and Special Operations Command; the U.S. Air Force Para Rescue 48th RSQ; and the U.S. Navy Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit.

CPS staff handled all the camp logistics, allowing the participants and coaches to focus on the training.

During the first two days of the camp participants learned proper flaring techniques and developed more defined flight plans. The next two days were devoted to repetition, with a new aerial exercise introduced on every jump, like flat turn practice, stalls, and advanced spotting techniques. Each day included at least one in-depth classroom session, as well as two to four jumps per participant. The event concluded with a two-round accuracy competition.

"What these two men have taught me in the past week has been absolutely revolutionary to the way that I fly my canopy," said Doug Dicken of the USAF PJ's. "I'm getting to the point where I'm becoming consistent with flying my "Tard Bus" (MC-5) to a specific target and not having to pull out cactus needles."

But it wasn't all seriousness. To balance the training, CPS provided beer each afternoon and a BBQ at the beginning and end of the week. Bobo, Pilcher and the CPS staff closed out the week with super smooth, 7-way flocking dive.

Thanks to all the camp participants for the great attitudes and no-nonsense willingness to learn. And to the entire CPS staff--Fred Williams, Darold Williams, Jim Cowan, JR Phipps, Chane Burke, Kevin Duke, Nat Hill, Chris Owens, Jennifer Pelletier, and Josh Seagrave.

Follow the PD Factory Team as they continue the dream of flight.

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