British
Parachute Association Limited company registration information
is set out at the foot of this page
ESL 2008
The
European Skydiving League (ESL) Finals will be held
from Fri
5 - Sun 7 September in Texel, Netherlands. Who will be the
next European FS Champions - you? Chris
Hollis, BPA FS Rep, says "AAA teams are what
we need, so let's start our campaign now!"
BPA
Membership 08/09
Please
print off a renewal form (BPA Form 101) for
the Membership year from 1 April 2008 to 31
March 2009 from the link below (in Word or pdf),
complete the form and return it by post or fax
to the BPA Office
Please
note that the processing and receipt of
membership certificates may take up to ten
days. Renewal forms will only be
accepted by post, fax or hand, we regret we
are unable to accept renewals over the 'phone
or by e-mail.
You
need Adobe Reader to view pdfs. Click on
the above logo to link to Adobe's website to
download this free software
Mathematician
Laura adds a world record
BPA Member Laura Kenyon (above) -
who began
skydiving whilst studying Mathematics at York
University -has returned from Arizona a World Record
Holder!
The Women's Vertical World
Record involves skydivers flying head down to reach
speeds of over 180mph, linking in a pre-planned
formation. Nearly 30 women from all walks of
life and from as far afield as Japan, Israel, the
USA, Argentina and Russia, registered for the event,
hoping to be selected. Over three days they
were put through their paces and the best went
forward to the record attempt. Laura, the only
Brit taking part, was one of them.
On
21 March 2008, 20 women skydivers, jumping from
2 aircraft flying at 16,500 feet (some 3 miles above
ground level) linked in freefall in a perfect
head-down formation over the Arizona desert before
deploying their parachutes. They’d done it!
Laura says:
"It
was awesome, the atmosphere and the energy when we
broke the record was the best feeling ever. Just being part of this attempt was amazing,
but gaining a world record was overwhelming!"
Laura has made over 1500 jumps and is a seasoned competitor
who represented the UK at the World
Skydiving Championships with Henry Tonnison and
Richard Frame
in freefly team “Hysteria”. See
article with audio interview with Laura at BBC
Hampshire.
Membership
Survey
Click
here for the results of the BPA's first online
Membership Survey. Thanks to the 372 respondents. The
survey will help the
Council and its Committees to plan for
the sport. Members have said it's time to update the BPA website with a
facility for online renewals. The Council
plans to launch a new website later this year, and
to phase in more online services including renewals in a four-stage programme.
BPA
acknowledges UKS
The
BPA has
acknowledged www.UKSkydiver.co.uk
as an unofficial, independent, external online forum
for skydivers in the UK. The BPA is not
responsible for the content of external websites.
Adrian
Bond, BPA Communication Chairman, said “There is
no doubt that the UKS website is an exceptional
boost to communication in our sport, one which the
BPA – and our Communications Committee in
particular – heartily applauds.” The UKS
website is run by BPA Members Stu Ferguson and Paul
McCormick.
BPA
Credit Card
Have you heard about the BPA Credit Card? As our only
official credit card, it has been carefully designed to both
promote BPA and provide great value with attractive rates and
benefits:
·
0% p.a. on balance transfers for twelve months from the
date the account is opened (3% handling fee), and
·
0% p.a. on card purchases for three months from the date
the account is opened
·
Typical rate 15.9% APR
(variable)
Click
here for more information and
to apply for the BPA Credit Card
today.
Team
Contact page
Are
you a jumper looking to find or make a team? Or a
team looking to fill a vacancy? Then we've got just
the thing. The Team
Contact
page here on the BPA website enables you to
advertise. Try it today- there's no charge - it's
all part of the service to members
A
new World Record was set at the Florida Skydiving
Center at Lake Wales, Florida, USA on 21 November
2007. 100 parachutists linked up under canopy to
form the largest parachute diamond formation ever
created. The parachutists came from 14 countries -
including 6 BPA Members from the UK - to participate
on the record skydive.
The
skydivers used five aircraft, the first dropping 9
jumpers from an altitude of 20,000 feet. The second
dropped the next 27 jumpers from an altitude of
18,000 feet. The third aircraft dropped jumpers from
16,000 feet and the final two aircraft dropped the
remaining jumpers from 13,000 feet. The formation
took approximately 11 minutes and 30 seconds to
build and was held for 12 seconds. It was completed
on the fifth attempt and captured on HD video by
seven videographers/photographers.
The
formation was 290 feet (88 meters) tall and 175 feet
(53 meters) wide. (The size of a football field.)
The formation weighed 20,388 pounds (9,230 kilos).
In comparison 6 Ford Mustangs weigh only 19,500
pounds. A 747-400 jet is only 231 feet long. The
Wright Brothers' first flight was almost one third
the distance as the formation is tall. Miami Air
Traffic Control Center could monitor the formation
on radar to keep other aircraft from coming into
close proximity to the formation.
