LouDiamond 1 #1 June 11, 2010 National Skydiving Museum- Wingsuiting for a 50-Year Record The National Skydiving Museum is inviting top skydivers from multiple disciplines to showcase their niche of the sport during NSM’s first annual Skydiving Celebration Weekend. All of these exhibition teams will collaborate to present four 1-hour shows which will include a series of exhibition jumps from various altitudes. The National Skydiving Museum (http://www.skydivingmuseum.org/) was founded to preserve the history of our sport, to honor those who help develop our sport, and to promote our sport so that it thrives in the future. This non-profit organization is governed by a Board of Trustees who include many pioneers in our sport. The current priority is to raise enough funds to build the actual museum building on land purchased by the Museum and located adjacent to USPA’s national headquarters in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Skydiving Celebration Weekend: The Museum will conduct an annual Skydiving Celebration Weekend in association with other high-profile historical skydiving events, to further the Museum’s overall mission: This year, the Museum will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Joe Kittinger’s famous high-altitude record jump from 102,800 feet, and will also conduct the inaugural induction ceremony for the Skydiving Hall of Fame. Dates and Location: The 2010 Skydiving Celebration Weekend will take place in DeLand, FL, 13-15 August. Skydiving Exhibitions: As part of the activities taking place at the Skydive Deland drop zone, experts from multiple skydiving disciplines will be conducting exhibitions to showcase their niche in the sport – including professional/military exhibition teams, big-way formation skydiving, wingsuit flying, canopy formation, canopy swooping, and accuracy landings. Media Promotion: In order to share the celebration of Kittinger’s anniversary and the Hall of Fame induction with the general public, an extensive media plan is being implemented by the event organizers. In addition to generating local and national news media coverage, Emmy-winning TV Producer Mark Middleton (also a skydiver) from Orlando will be producing an episode of his Growing Bolder HDTV show that features the 2010 Skydiving Celebration Weekend. Starting in September, Growing Bolder (http://growingbolder.com/) will be nationally syndicated and broadcast on every PBS TV station in the USA. Honoring Joe Kittinger: On August 16, 1960, USAF Colonel Joe Kittinger stepped out of a balloon gondola from the edge of space (102,800 ft). In the following 50 years, no one has jumped from a higher altitude – or even tried to do so. Interestingly, Col. Joe is currently working as a technical advisor with Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner who will attempt to break Kittinger’s record later this year. Felix will be on hand in Deland to honor Joe Kittinger for the golden anniversary of his epic achievement. Hall of Fame: Most sports have them. Ours is way overdue. On Saturday evening (14 August) in DeLand, eleven luminaries in our sport will be the first to be inducted into the Skydiving Hall of Fame. The distinguished Class of 2010 is: Lowell Bachman * William H. Ottley * Jerry Bird Lewis Sanborn Tiny Broadwick * Cheryl Stearns Joe Crane * Ted Strong Joe Kittinger Gene Paul Thacker Eilif Ness * deceased Wingsuit Skydiving: The Museum wants a team of wingsuit skydivers to build a formation to honor Joe Kittinger on the 50th anniversary of his historic high altitude jump from 102,800. Scott Campos will organize for the wingsuit team. Wingsuit Dives:The wingsuit team will make twelve wingsuit jumps during the Celebration Weekend. This will include eight rehearsal jumps and four show jumps from 16,000 feet. The plan is to build a formation, hold it, and then make a simple transition that can be seen by the audience viewing from the ground. Memorial Bricks: In addition to being part of history, this event provides an opportunity for wingsuit skydivers to give back to the sport that has provided so much for them. Each wingsuit team member is being asked to purchase one Memorial Brick from the National Skydiving Museum at a cost of $1000. This donation will suffice as the registration fee for the event. Typically, donors who purchase these NSM memorial bricks only receive recognition in the museum, but members of this wingsuit team will receive an additional $500 worth of benefits. The Deal: For this donation to the museum, each wingsuit skydiver will receive twelve wingsuit jumps, entry to the barbeque dinner at the DZ on Friday night, entry to the Hall of Fame induction dinner on Saturday night, a signed photograph of Joe Kittinger, the event T-shirt and other related memorabilia, and be featured in an episode of Growing Bolder - the nationally syndicated TV series documenting the Skydiving Celebration Weekend. In addition, the entire wingsuit team will be collectively recognized in the museum when it is built. All wingsuit team members bricks will be inscribed and displayed together, along with a dedication plaque and/or a wingsuit team photo. At the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, a symbolic vinyl banner of the bricks will be on display for each team member to sign. Fund-raising Support: Team members who prefer not to purchase their brick outright are encouraged to be creative in collecting funds from sponsors to purchase their bricks. The skydiver’s and the sponsor’s name can be inscribed on the bricks. Potential sponsors could be one’s local skydiving club/DZ, gear store, town, school, businesses, etc. Some team members may want to dedicate a memorial brick to a loved one. All donors are eligible to receive a tax deduction for their portion of the total donation. 50% of each brick purchase will be tax deductible. Per IRS rules, tangible benefits received for donations (jumps, dinners, etc.) are not tax deductible. Skydiving Hall of Fame Dinner: RW pioneer Jerry Bird and ten other skydiving heroes will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Clarion on Saturday evening. Tables will be reserved for the wingsuit team and their registered guests. Special recognition will be made at the dinner for the wingsuit team’s contribution to the museum. Registration Process: If you are interested in joining the wingsuit team, please let Scott know via an email message. He will provide specific details on registering for the event and purchasing your memorial brick from the National Skydiving Museum. Accommodations: The Clarion Hotel in DeLand (386 738-5200) is offering rooms for $59 per night for this event. Please reference the National Skydiving Museum’s Celebration Weekend when making a reservation. Questions: If you have any questions, please contact Scott at loudiamond@dropzone.com "It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #2 June 19, 2010 I've had a couple people ask if they have to make a donation to participate in the event. The answer is NO. You do not have to make a donation to participate. However, you will not be entitled to the above mentioned items and you will have to pay for your jumps like at any other event. So if you want to participate in a historical event in the sport of skydiving but don't have $1000.00 to donate to the museum, don't worry, you can still participate in the event(s). So come make some fun jumps, meet some of the pioneers in the sport, and leave your mark in the preservation of the history of our sport. If you have questions or need additional information just drop me an e-mail. "It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #3 July 6, 2010 Check out your July issue of Parachutist to read up on those being inducted into the National Skydiving Hall of Fame if you aren't familiar with some of the names."It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #4 July 13, 2010 Schedule of Events (subject to change) Thursday – August 12 5 pm – Midnight Pioneers Lounge open for early arrivals – No admittance fee Friday – August 13 All Day General Jumping and Demonstration Practice 9 am—Noon Set-Up Noon—5 pm Exhibit and Displays/Booths Open Noon—5 pm Pioneers Lounge Open – Admittance Fee ($10 per day/$25 for weekend) 4 pm—5 pm First Rehearsal 6 pm—7 pm Joe Kittinger Reception in the Pioneers Lounge 7 pm—9 pm “Jump Stories” BBQ with our history in pictures 9 pm—Midnight Pioneers Lounge Open Saturday – August 14 All Day General Jumping and Demonstration Practice 10 am—5 pm Exhibits and Displays/Booths Open Noon—6 pm Pioneers Lounge Open – Admittance Fee ($10 per day/$25 for weekend) Noon—1 pm Dress Rehearsal for Kick-Off 4 pm—5 pm Kick-Off Exhibition 6 pm—9 pm Hall of Fame Reception/Dinner (must pre-register to attend, limited seating) 9 pm—Midnight Pioneers Lounge Open Sunday – August 15 All Day General Jumping and Demonstration Practice 10 am—2 pm Exhibits and Displays/Booths Open Noon—6 pm Pioneers Lounge Open – Admittance Fee ($10 per day/$25 for weekend) 10 am—11 am Dress Rehearsal for Grande Finale 2 pm—3 pm Grande Finale—Jumping for Joe (50-way formation Exhibition)—Swooping Exhibition-Golden Knights (invited) - Air Force Academy (invited) - Wingsuit Flying Exhibition 3 pm Wrap-Up *There will also be several activities during the weekend benefiting the Boy Scouts of America to commemorate their 100th Anniversary."It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
