Rantoul 2003 - Press Clips

[quade 4]

http://www.nbc5.com/entertainment/2366702/detail.html

Quote

Free Fall Convention Spiraling Towards Rantoul
100 Plus Safety Monitors Will Be On Hand

CHICAGO -- Safety is on the minds of organizers of the World Free Fall Convention, which opens in Rantoul on Friday.

The event is expected to attract 3,500 sky divers. And village officials and organizers are hoping to avoid the deaths that occurred at last year's event.

The convention's executive director, Bernice Eickelschulte, said skydivers won't be allowed to jump alone unless they have a Class-B license from the U.S. Parachute Association. That license require 50 successful jumps. And more than 100 safety monitors will be watching for people performing dangerous maneuvers.

Last year, a Maryland man died when he got too close to a helicopter's rotor blades while videotaping a friend's skydive. Then, a skydiver from Urbana died while landing in a pond at the Rantoul airport.

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The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[rendezvous 0]

I'm sure happier things happened at the WFFC last year but death is the only association to this sport that really makes the news. I hope there's a press clip out there that talks about the better aspects of the convention too.

[quade 4]

I'm -almost- certain that if you look at all the press clips associated with the event, you'll see both good and bad.

The town does the event because it brings revenue into the area and just as there will probably be stories about accidents and safety, there will probably be positive stories about what it does for the economy.

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The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[hooligan 0]

in the above article it said that you must possess a B license...i was under the impression that you did not have to be USPA affiliated to attend and jump at the WFFC. am i correct on the notion?

adam out

[quade 4]

You might want to contact the WFFC for exact details.

Try; wffc@freefall.com

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The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[freakydiver 0]

3500 jumpers?!?!?!

Wow.

I think I'll stick to LP

Have fun though Rantoolers and be safe!!

-- (N.DG) "If all else fails – at least try and look under control." --

[WFFC 1]

Quote

in the above article it said that you must possess a B license...i was under the impression that you did not have to be USPA affiliated to attend and jump at the WFFC. am i correct on the notion?

adam out

See 'Gear Check' on the home page of Freefall.com. 50 freefall skydives. statics and tandems are not included in that number. There are several other threads on this as well.