Skyleague

Did You Know...

... that the CaSL sponsor Paraclete builds a SkyVenture wind tunnel in Raeford?

posted Feb 23rd, 2005 - The NSL News story of January 31 covered the efforts of some NSL leagues to sponsor their league champions to the major events of the 2005 season. The Carolina Skydiving League under director Randy Garman is one of these leagues, as the CaSL January update confirmed.

The generous sponsor is Paraclete Armor and Equipment, Inc. The company is located in St. Pauls, North Carolina. Tim D'Annunzio, the company's President, arranged the sponsorship for the Carolina Skydiving League. The company's website offers a brief insight of its history and leadership:

Paraclete Armor & Equipment,Inc. is located in St. Pauls, North Carolina. Mrs. Colleen D'Annunzio isour Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Colleen is a veteranof the US Army and is our company's sales and marketing leader. Tim D'Annunziois Paraclete's President and Chief Designer.

The genesis of the Paracleteopportunity was Tim D'Annunzio's decision a decade ago to develop technologicallyadvanced, custom designed equipment for the specific needs of highly skilledand forward force members of the military and law enforcement communities.

*Team Paraclete at the USPA Championship 2004*
image by: Omniskore

Tim D'Annunzio is also the sponsor of the Paraclete 8-way team, which trained in North Carolina last year and competed at the USPA Championship 2004 in the Open Class. The Paraclete line-up included player coach and former Golden Knights member, Christopher Talbert and former Nemesis member Rodney Cruce. Paraclete finished in 7th position with an 8.4 average. Talbert and another former Golden Knights member, Paul Raspino, are also listed as the company's sales representatives.

The Paraclete investment into skydiving goes even further. Tim D'Annunzio's company plans to build a new SkyVenture wind tunnel in Raeford. The announcement at one of the company's website pages briefly explains the project:

Construction will beginsoon on Sky Venture Raeford in North Carolina and should be done sometimein the middle of 2005. Tim D’Annunzio, President of Paraclete Armor signeda deal with Sky Venture after months of negotiation. The fourteen footre-circulating tunnel will be located less than a mile from Raeford ParachuteCenter and PK Airpark on Doc Brown Road in Raeford, North Carolina.

*Planned SkyVenture wind tunnel in Raeford*

An interesting aspect of the new SkyVenture wind tunnel in Raeford is the fact that another new North Carolina wind tunnel has just begun flying customers in August 2004. This tunnel is called the "Appalachian Amusement Center" and located just outside Ashville, which is roughly 150 miles west of Raeford.

A third wind tunnel is much closer to the location of D’Annunzio's new SkyVenture wind tunnel. The Army's wind tunnel in Ft. Bragg is just around the corner and has been there for several years. However, the access is restricted and for military use only, with a few exceptions.

The Golden Knights have been training in Ft. Bragg's tunnel ever since it was built. However, the Army team recently visited the wind tunnel at the "Appalachian Amusement Center", and the Skydiving Magazine published a story written by the Army team's captain, John Hoover. The story covers the Golden Knights' experience in the open air wind tunnel.

Each of the three wind tunnels in North Carolina has its own design and characteristics. It will be interesting to see which one will turn out as the preferred training center for 4-way teams. The 2005 season offers many interesting features for the teams of the Carolina Skydiving League. The Golden Knights have already taken the lead in the race for the prime spot within probably the broadest field of top contenders in U.S. 4-way history. Carolina Ice is the defending NSL Champion of the AA Class. There will be exciting scores and news coming from North Carolina this year.

CaSL Director Randy Garman announced all updates for the 2005 season after the CaSL winter meeting at the end of January:

The 2005 Meeting was heldat Aviators in Raeford, NC on January 21st. After a nice social hour,everyone got down to business. A call for nominations for Leaguedirector yielded a quick and decisive election to a second term for RandyGarman.

He provided a brief overviewof the 2004 season, and the 2005 schedule was discussed and settled asfollows:
Meet 1   Coastal Carolinas    April 23-24
Meet 2   Blue Sky Adventure May 21-22
Meet 3   Skydive Carolina     June 25-26
Meet 4   Raeford PC            July 30-31
Meet 5   Carolina SkySports August 20-21

USPA Championship of FormationSkydiving 4-way September 5-8, 2005
NSL Championship November18-20, 2005

Like last year, the FinaleMeet 5 is the NSL Playoffs. The first 6 jumps will determine theleague's score and you can elect to do the full 10 rounds for inclusionin the NSL Playoffs. (You must qualify according to NSL rules inorder to attend the NSL Championships.)

RULES CHANGES/ADDITIONS:
The Introductory/Rookieclass rules were discussed with input from former I-class competitors,and the NSL. The main changes are to exit altitude (10,500) and workingtime (35 seconds), and after the 2005 FAI dive pool is confirmed, the 3-4exits will be determined. Although the NSL will still provide a 6round draw, the CaSL meets will judge based on the first 4 rounds only.

A slightly edited versionof the USPA rules for "Recognition of Winners" was adopted for the Advancedand Intermediate classes. If a class has 1 team, there will be nomedals. If there are two teams, there will be 1 medal, if there are3 teams there will be 2 medals, etc. Also, a formal mathematicalformula was adopted for determining CaSL post-season award money for teamsattending national-level competition.

All rules will be outlinedin an updated "Rules" section on the website as soon as that can be complete. Please be patient - the Webmaster is out of the country until March. The changes that impact the meet competitions are fully outlined above.

AWARDS:
The "Videographer" awardwill be $100 for the 2005 season, and there will be medals and cash awardedat the individual meets - amounts and number of teams receiving money willvary based on attendance.

SPONSOR:
The CaSL has an officialSponsor for 2005 - huge thanks to Tim D'Annunzio at Paraclete Armor andEquipment, Inc.! The League's Season Champion in Intermediate andthe League Season Champion in the Introductory Class will each receivea generous sponsorship. Champions will be awarded their choice ofNSL or USPA Championship registration and competition jumps. Yes- you read that right - team registration and competition jumps PAID.

Get training, and save roomon those jumpsuits for a Paraclete logo!!

CALLING ALL SERIOUS CANOPYPILOTS and WANNABES!
Chuck Blue addressed theLeague on behalf of the Carolina Canopy Piloting League. This isa serious education and competition league for canopy piloting. Thetwo leagues are hoping to help each other out by having an informal partnershipfor coordinating meet dates, locations and even sharing competitors! The CCP will have 5 meets this season, and as many as 3 of those meetsmay be held on the Sunday following a CaSL meet at the same DZ as the CaSL! Blue Sky Adventures and Raeford Parachute Center were both supportive ofthe new "partnership", and Skydive Carolina is taking the CCP's proposalvery seriously, although no final decision has been reached. Minimumqualification standards and rules of competition will be available soon. The national-level competitions for Canopy Piloting and Sport Accuracyrequire qualification, and the CCP meets will help you get there!

Thanks to all who attended,and I'll see you at the meets!

Randy Garman

Please forward to your teams,and other interested jumpers! If you know someone who wants to receivefuture League News - please have them email CaSLDirector@earthlink.net.

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Did You Know... ... that the CaSL sponsor Paraclete builds a SkyVenture wind tunnel in Raeford?

Did You Know...

... that the CaSL sponsor Paraclete builds a SkyVenture wind tunnel in Raeford?