Vic Mentor Update – February 2018
by Janine Hayes
How wonderful it was to get back into the air after an unintentional forced layoff. In Victoria we are spoilt for choice across all the Drop Zones, so it was with great pleasure that I was able to turn up at the Commandos Christmas party in January and organise some flat flying.
The weather was not the kindest to begin with, so to enthuse those on the DZ, I ran an informal seminar on Aussie Bigways utilising the AussieBigways website as the central learning tool. We watched a couple of videos on the record and discussed the opportunities for those attending the upcoming record or not attending to utilise the resources. I channeled Melissa (well I tried to channel Melissa) and emphasised the Skills, Knowledge and Attitude approach and we looked at the skills guide as a great tool to hang off that skydiving tool belt.
With fairer skies it was time to don the jumpsuit and get airborne. David was keen to get his star crest finalised so a warm up 7 way was in order with a training pilot. After that we were on a roll to complete three star crest jumps with David getting the sign off and Graeme logging his first one. Thanks to players Kylie, Mick, Ken, Gavin, Bill, Paul, Kelly and Nigel for making the day and the sky a fun place to be. Thanks to Kelly and Nigel for their in air footage and Justin for his camera work on our special jump.
There have been lots of other great events held across the state and I know Christian will report on Nagambie and Kelly on Barwon. A big thank you to Relworkers namely Jan Nedley who ably assisted by committee Merv, Michelle & Matt ran a very successful event at Barwon over the Australia Day weekend with seven teams in attendance. (Thanks to Gavin and Christian for their double efforts to get Hillsy and I into the air.) It was great to see the enthusiasm for the event and meet some new faces including a strong contingent of women. It has been said before by many more experts than I, but having a good grounding in 4 way is a major asset in acquiring disciplined and skilled flying techniques which are the rock solid foundations for future flying. Plus it is loads of fun. With the recent numbers at Barwon and the numbers I am hearing about training across the country including Victorian DZ’s, the 4 way event looks to be an exciting one for the upcoming Nationals at Nagambie in March.
As a representative for Commandos DZ, they will be hosting Star Crests and a Freefly events on the following dates.
- 24 February 2018
- 24 March 2018
- 28/29 April 2018
- 26 May 2018
They are also celebrating 58 years as a club with AN2 jumps on Sunday 4 February 2018.
Cheers J9
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