posted Jul 27th, 2007 - Sonic V, with Helen Arnold, Ana Budjelan, Dave Honeybone, Pete Spedding and Rob Frost on camera, has scored the highest A Class scores (11.8 - 10.3) in Great Britain this year. The team profile includes great feedback about the NSL competition classes:

"Now that there are four categories it enables teams to learn at a comfortable pace. It's been great to see other teams progress and improve also."

The Sonic V members also explain why 4-way is an experience for life: "As a team of five people working together we've found being in a team really rewarding. It's been a good experience on many levels, learning to communicate, understand and support team mates has been as much a learning curve as the skydiving skills themselves. Our advice would be to have fun firstly..."

A Class - Sonic V

How did the team come about? Tell us a bit about your history.

Dave, Helen and Rob (on camera) were all part of Rookie Team 100% that formed in 2005 where we competed with two other friends. Year one saw us enjoy the Rookie Class competition to the full combining fun and beer and no general idea! However, we scored an average of about 5.0 after entering the local GP and Nationals. We continued in earnest in 2006 realising a coach would help significantly! We enjoyed a productive and fun season seeing our average more than double by the Nationals. Peter and Ana competed in the A Class with a casual team at the 2006 Nationals. At the beginning 2007 after Team 100% decided to retire we decided to get together along with our existing cameraman Rob Frost and in March 07 we went to Seville for our first team training weekend.

What are your goals for this year?

Our main goals as a team in our first year is to build a good foundation through training hard and then to progess onto a second year.

Where and how often do you train?

All training this year has been at Hib, with two trips to Skydive Spain and visits to the tunnel.

How do you think the season is going so far?

We are enjoying our progress so far and have been pleased with our competitive results.

What is it about 4-way that makes you compete?

Logistically it's easier to get four people toegether than eight!! We enjoy the 4-way community on the dz's.

What do you think of the NSL concept of teams all doing the same global draw?

We think it's a great idea to be able to compare standards internationally and also it brings the skydiving world much closer together.

As a team, how do find the 4-way scene in the UK? Is FS still as popular as it has been recently?

We find the 4-way scene popular, fun and competitive. Now that there are four categories it enables teams to learn at a comfortable pace. It's been great to see other teams progress and improve also.

What do you think the future holds for your team?

Whilst we are still having fun and learning new skills we would like to continue to a second year. A lottery win wouldn't go a miss though!!

Any words of advice for 4-way teams starting out or junior to yourselves?

As a team of five people working together we've found being in a team really rewarding. It's been a good experience on many levels, learning to communicate, understand and support team mates has been as much a learning curve as the skydiving skills themselves. Our advice would be to have fun firstly, set your team goals and be realistic in terms of commitment and finance also. Utilise the wealth of experience at the drop zones to help you or use a coach to direct you - don't be afraid to ask, everyone is keen to help you. Ensure your coach is focused and sensible - see pic 002!!!

Finally, tell us something not many people know about your team!

We are all men! Ha Ha.