Larry Henderson – Aussie Bigways camp – It’s all about the People!!!!

Who is Larry

Larry Henderson is part of the P3 team at Perris, an exceptional human being he is passionate about skydiving and all things kangaroos.  Larry’s coaching style is amenable and constructive and his contribution and attendance at the camp was everything that we could have hoped for and more.  Larry’s bio can be found on our website, it was a delight to have him back in Australia and we look forward to skydiving with him in Perris next year.

Fast Facts

Host DZ – Toogoolawah – Thanks to Macca & Staff & to Kristina Hicks new Qld mentor for registration assistance.

Participants – 96

• Age Range – 16 years to 71 years
• Total number of jumps at time of registration – 303,625
• Total years in the sport – thousands
• Females – 22

Coaches

• Coach Mega Cool  & Lead Coach – Larry Henderson
• Coach Coordinator – Tracey Basman
• Coach Captain – Greg Jack
• Coach One liners – David Loncasty
• Coach Tall order – ‘Stretch’ Mark Szulmayer
• Coach Newcomer – ‘LG’ Laurence Garceau
• Coach Fluffy hair – ‘Mossy’ Alan Moss
• Coach All things oxygen – Ben Nordkamp
• Coaches representing Australia at the time – Melissa Harvey & ‘AB’ Andrew Barker

State Mentor ‘Shadow’ Coaches

• Christian Peric – Victorian Mentor
• ‘Rummy’ Joe Clarke – WA Mentor
• Martin Klapper – Qld Mentor
• Kelly Brennan – Victorian Mentor
• ‘J9’Janine Hayes – Victorian Mentor

State Mentors – Assistants

• SA – Sandy Nieuwenhoven Gray & Cullen Habel
• NSW – Mark Higgins & Robbo Roberston
• Qld – Kristina Hicks
• NT – Maurice Mathey
• WA – Shirley Cowcher
• NSW – Shana Harris

Camera Flyers

Thank you to our camera flyers for capturing the awesome moments during our event.

• Steve Fitch
• Paul Barker
• Steve Dines
• David Brown

Pilots

• John McEvoy
• Eloise Tyler
• Paul Smith
• Liam

DZSO – Darren Doyle

Judges

• Onsite Judges Cole Ruthenberg and Sandy Nieuwenhoven Gray
• Peta Holmes, offsite judge.

Catering – Brendan and his team, Sharon, Andrew, Mason & Keiran.  The food was great, no one went hungry with bacon and egg on toast to fuel the day.  Great effort thanks.

Packers

• Ida & Andy
• Kim & Kiwi
• Enid & Vicky

Learn & Burn Topics

We had some fantastic presentations over the course of the week, taking advantage of a wet weather day on the Sunday.  There are some great resources on the Aussie Bigways website so check it out www.aussiebigways.com

• Tracey Basman – Stack up
• LG – Tracking
• J9 – Visualisation
• Ben Nordkamp – Landing patterns & approach

This event was proudly sponsored by the Australian Parachute Federation (APF), NSW Parachute Council, Sth QLD Parachute Council, WA Parachute Council, Nth Qld Parachute Council, VicTas Parachute Council, Toogoolawah Skydiving Club, Skydive Ramblers, Sunpath, Cypres, Cookie Helmets, iFLY Downunder, NZ Aerosports, P3 Skydiving, Intrudair, Mee Loft, Manufactory, Supercharge, Terminal Sports.

Thanks to the unwavering support of our sponsors we had some very happy campers winning fabulous prizes. Guy Taylor ‘Bob’ gets the award for ticket seller of the year.  Rummy, Shorty & G Train for supporting Captain Greg.  There were many hilarious moments throughout the prize giving and ‘Mo Mo,’ is officially banned from further raffles along with several other winners.

The Camp itself

A record speaks volumes about the success of an ‘Aussie Bigway camp’ and we ended up following our long-held tradition by successfully completing three 45-way sequential records on the Wednesday of the camp after 3 days of active jumping.  This included rotating 80 people through the jumps.  Unfortunately, the record was not made on the fourth attempt, but the attitude and desire never faltered and a completed 1^st point 45 way was achieved by those on that fourth jump.

The measure of the success of any camp is the organisation that goes on behind the scenes and the enormous effort and coordination from a bunch of dedicated people. While we laud their praises and thank them on the day, we salute Tracey Basman for her passionate contribution in the role of National Coordinator. Without Tracey these events would not exist.  In support of Tracey and the bigger Aussie Bigway Team was the desire and effort brought to the table by the skydivers themselves, ready to continually improve their skills and put themselves up for the challenge not only on the day but before we arrived.  This has included investment in National teams, individual flying skills both in the tunnel and in the air, canopy courses, star crest events and every event in between from the ‘Bowen Bigway Boogie’ to a myriad of other events across Australia.

The camp has been but one of several in our journey as we aim for Perris in May 2019, a year that can now be described as ‘next year’ rather than this illusive point in time. So, as we draw closer to our aim of reaching the 150 Aussie Bigway record attempt what has this camp taught us and what do we need to continue improving?

Day 1

Saturday – The first of the challenges commenced with 15-way formation skydives with 7 & 8 exiting each aircraft.  A great way to shake off any remaining cobwebs and challenge flying and tracking skills, this was a not too shabby effort by anyone’s standards with many completed formations all round.

Tracking is an integral part of a successful Bigways jump and these skills required honing throughout the camp.  There were several times that we were told that we were coming off a new base and that the skill level was higher than previous camps, however not to rest on our laurels we still had lessons to learn.

Thanks to Kristina Hicks we have some great insights into the wrap up at the end of the day so Kristina’s notes are interspersed with the commentary.

 29th September 2018 – Larry Henderson: Focused Achievement – KH

• Every year Larry does 60-80 jumps in different countries, rarely has he seen on day one this level of skydiving.
• Being achievement focused is flying no contact, flying still in your slot and matching fall rate. People were focused on doing just that (one person stayed behind Larry’s back and sat waiting no contact.
• You guys are really learning how to fall straight down and doing an excellent job flying no contact – this is sequential skydiving. Straight down means, you can do the 45-way, in which he has no doubt we will achieve.

 

Day 2

Sunday – Weather held us on the ground so Learn and Burn was the order of the day.

30^th September – Learn and Burns due to weather – KH

Tracey Basman – Stack Up

• Don’t put your hands down!
• Keep straight backs to allow for more space behind you
• Lead with your left foot
• First row divers slots 6-7, knees between legs of floaters and potentially out of the door ready to fall, try to jump but not always easy
• Slot 8 right up on 6-7. Hands beneath rigs to guide them out, should be right at the door.
• Slot 9 used to be door food however, this has been corrected and as the chunk leaves, slot 9 needs to be aggressive on their move out
• Slot 10 have hand on back of 9 to not push in front and allow the chunk to go before divers do.
• Then remaining divers follow

LG – Tracking: good technique is essential (not just for bigways) -KH

• When it’s a bigway situation, any skydive you do, apply those principles. Do your best ever track and keep working on it.
• What not to do Spaceland Scenario: Close call between outside videography and 4-way flyer.
• Problem one didn’t stick to break off height
• Problem two videographer is still there
• Problem 3 – short tracks
• Absolute requirement of all skydives that tracking is important for every jump. Happy days when tracking procedures are followed by all.
• Tips for good technique
• Break off at planned height/s, from radial center, efficiently for separation
• If you are a leader you need to be responsible for the correct heading, and only at the last second will I turn on the correct radial
• Tracking leader will take a little bit of a drop and wings slight pop so they can follow the leader by looking down and not up.
• Translate your centre point away from the formation backing away continuing to slide and then turn
• Start in a delta track then build up to a flat track
• Building a group track off is still relative work, be close to touch
• if you are on the outer wave, track as far and fast as you can to create space for the waves behind you.
• FLAT TRACK: whole body experience taken from Doug Forth
• First thing you do is an aggressive de-arch (pop turn), suck your belly in and have some gusto when you de-arch
• Legs are tight and pointed together with a small distance apart
• Arms tight to your side palms down
• Shoulders rolled under
• Head down and acting like a CC TV
• Group exercise training – At home floor exercise:
  – lie on your belly
  – engage your quads and point toes
  – Roll shoulders down
  – If you aren’t getting puffed you aren’t doing it well enough!
• Visualize in the air for every jump, complete tracking jumps with others, you can do tracking practice in the tunnel.

Janine Hayes (J9) – Visualisation – KH

• Impossible for the brain to tell the difference from what is imagined and what is real
• So by visualizing something you are seeing what can m=happen and you can make that happen, and that is the power of visualization
• You need to practice it as it is a learnt skill
• Some of the best in the world use this tool, Dan BC does this 30minutes a day (when with Arizona air speed), its free and useful. We do not get the time to go out and practice our jumps a lot, sure, we have the tunnel but we do not have the full luxury to practice, but visualization is free.
• Quality: the most powerful part is visualizing a positive outcome, talk yourself and others up on doing the jump well, not what NOT TO DO.
• 4, 7, 8 breathing exercise, inhale through nose 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds and breath out through the mouth gently for 8. This slow down your heart rate.

Ben Nordkamp – Landing patterns and approach – KH

• It’s all about having everyone thinking about it and being in the same mindset
• This happened with 225 and people in Eloy for the world record. Everyone showed up in gear and in the right slot – it’s a good feeling when people are in the same mindset.
• People ask about canopy colours – but you should ask more about canopy size and wing loading gives you a plan for landing.
• No big need to race towards the ground, we should not have 30ppl landing at the same time.
• No 45° turns, be predictable on approach. Look before you turn, no more than 90° turns

 

Day3 

Monday – 30 ways from two aircraft.  This really tested the skills and put people out of their comfort zone.  I was fortunate to be on some fantastic loads with five jumps for the day with 29- and 30-way completions.

1^st October 2018 Larry Henderson: Concentration – KH

Tip – focusing

When focusing once or twice is okay, 15 times requires specific concentration. Concentrate on the ground; remember to be looking to the middle on the ground. If we concentrate on the ground, our visualization will help us up in the air.

Day 4

Tuesday  30 ways with 15 exiting from each aircraft.  This was a challenging day to set the scene for the intended record attempts on Wednesday.

2^nd October 218: Larry Henderson: Steps – KH

• 5 jumps today and every jump was a step in the right direction.
• 6 way base was alone for 2 seconds taking baby steps and fixing things
• And it kept on improving until the last jump everyone had a grip and it was because we made baby steps or tweaks. No big steps just al baby steps
• You guys have taken some very big steps. Coming to this camp financially, balancing family, work etc. just to be here
• There are more steps to be taken and we want to take those steps tomorrow.
• Records are never easy and the big plan is that we will our best mix of 45 people who are going to go up on the first load
• At the same time the rest of the group’s will be working as well
• As we set the record, 15 people will be slotted in and we will set it again, and we will do this for as long as we can.
• We are taking baby steps or big steps, we shall see. According to FAI of a 45 way is made and another is made, everyone included with as many as the 90 people we have here, but that is just another step
• Just try as part of that step process, we are not backing up or giving up or allowing ourselves to be discouraged. We are going to try our best and looking to May to set another record as part of a big step.

Day 5

Wednesday – Record day – A busy day for the coaches and in the interests of the most participates the skydive was designed to allow the rotation of slots through the middle and some of the outside lines.  It is important to highlight that the decision to slot the teams is not without angst. A great deal of time, consideration, deliberation and assessment is made to ensure that the formation has the best chance of success combined with providing the most participants the chance to hang that record on their wall.

My hat goes off to the coaches for their dedication and commitment in this regard. While it hurts to not be included, it is within you control to ensure you make every effort to be the best skydiver you can be on the day.  It does not always work out for everyone, however there are other opportunities and as 2019 barrels towards us I encourage everyone to maintain their skills and confidence in their abilities for future events and the record in 2019.

3^rd October 218: Larry Henderson: Principle of Closer

• Take a look at the lines this will be for the next year
• Maintain focus on the base and not on the cross grips – this is what causes movement and docking momentum
• Bad thing about the funnel on the last attempt was that it happened just before break off, that is scary
• People were looking for clean air and opening on the low side, which is not a bad thing and congratulations on the good tracking teams
• This has been a great day….80 people completed a 45-way today. The journey continues
• This is a marker (baby step) on the way to a destination. We are not satisfied
• Principle of Closer
• We don’t encourage jumpers to get there quicker. That will set you up for disaster. It is not always the right thing to do
• Best way to be quick is to be close. We saw people setting up closer ad anticipating the key.
• Tomorrow we want to work on that as well. We are going to be closer.
• Break off will be closer. In the air do things right and be close. When see on video we aren’t always as close as we think.
• When you set up and think you are close, you can be 50% closer.

Day 6

Thursday 4 October A day of 22 ways exiting from two aircraft with participants put in various slots that were challenging or unfamiliar.  I took on a base slot on the last dive and was hurting all the way through alongside Smeds.  It was an inspiring  way to finish off the camp and consider the possibilities for 2019.

We finished the evening with the ‘Onesie’ party – countless fun was had by all with the signing of the sheet as people made pledges to attend in 2019.  Tracey had organised money boxes as an incentive to get people to save so there was piggy’s all round.  Resources abound to assist you to get to Perris next year – everything can be found on the Aussie Bigways site, we encourage you to use these or get in touch with the Mentor/s in your state.

4th October 2018 – Larry Henderson: Comfort zone

• An echo to J9’s comments. We discussed comfort zone in the debrief of our last skydive. Several people were in slots outside their comfort zone. We all stepped outside on the first jump ever skydiving and now have become part of this community and have now found our sweet spot
• At this camp we now have the opportunity to step outside our comfort zone.
• Larry challenges us to sign up for May 2019. If you are hesitant step outside your comfort zone
• He also encourages us to step out in all areas of life
• On a skydive
• On a trip
• On the way we treat each other
• Tell people how much you love and appreciate them

Day 7 

Final Day – The weather did not play ball, however we got organised with all things packing up and briefing for the demo jumps and were looking forward to Dave Gough’s 1000^th, alas this was not to be, so we left him hanging on 999.

5^th October 2018 – Larry Henderson: Final close out – Amen

• Many things running through his head but mostly he hopes that you know how much he appreciates you coming here and showing your enthusiasm
• Here we are at the end and how blessed we are. God blesses us immensely in our lives and families
• He prays a blessing that we will bring such joy when we meet again from all the good that we have in our loves
• God bless you and amen

Insights from a Shadow Coach

I had the privilege of being a shadow coach for the event.  It was an interesting process and highlighted the work ethic, effort, commitment and dedication that the coaches bring to their role to assist in the development of each skydiving participate.  They spend an enormous amount of time assessing the day’s jumps and in consideration of an individual’s skill set and performance to understand where they can be slotted. This is not only for the best measure of success for the team, but to provide a development opportunity for that skydiver.

Many hours are put into this including coaches working into the early hours of the morning to ensure the best preparation for the dives over the entire week.

An emotional and exhaustive process thank you for the opportunity, it was a pleasure to be involved and to contribute to such a successful week.

But wait there is more!

The WPC 2018 was hosted at the Gold Coast and the Aussie Bigways team was integral to kicking off the proceedings with a demonstration jump into the opening ceremony.

Brad Turner organiser of the jump, first approached Aussie Bigways to do this demo back in 2016.  He worked tirelessly on this against all odds by wrangling different parties to agree and support the opportunity despite the enormity of the issues if it were unsuccessful.  These included the Gold Coast Council, Lifesavers, Water Police, the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) among many others including the owners and pilots of the  Caravans.  This was considered as one of ‘THE MOST’ important and prestigious displays ever conducted in Australia.  Aussie Bigways participants delivered! What can I say this, was an awesome achievement?

The Event committee members – Ben Nordkamp, Martin Klapper and Tracey Basman worked  with Brad for over a year to nut out the logistics.  A big shout out to the following people for the extra contributions to bring the display to life.

• Ben Nordkamp assisted with logistics for the jump on the day
• Mossy was the official LDO for the C17 jump and Rodney Benson the LDO for the Flag jump
• Kris Sieczkowski was the co-ordinator between Ben Nordkamp and the pilots at the RAAF

The demo jumpers were briefed during the week and while many wanted to go, some declined once they understood the enormity of the jump and the skill set required.  All power to those people for their decisions.  It is much harder to say no, than just go and I respect and congratulate you.

A further briefing was held on the beach on the Saturday morning and once sorted the 27 jumpers who were going to jump the flags of each country into the opening ceremony bused back to Coolangatta.  They then did a practice jump into the WPC 2018 site at Runaway Bay from the Caravans.

The remaining 24 demo jumpers did a practice jump into Toogoolawah from Amberley Airforce base from 13,500. It was touch and go whether we on the C17 were going to get to jump, however the weather was favourable into Toogoolawah but not so when we headed back for the finale.   I have no complaints, I got to bail out of the biggest aircraft I have even been in doing a hop and pop from cloud base at 6000 feet.

It was a magical experience with 24 skydivers plus 3 cameramen rattling around in an aircraft that takes over a 100 people.  The thrust on take-off was exhilarating and I was so chuffed to land my parafoil on Surfer’s Paradise beach and know that I had been part of history thanks to Aussie Bigways and the work by the APF.  Congratulations goes to the competitors for handling the wet weather with smiling faces and Icarus towels.

C -17 skydivers had 113,908 jumps in total and 509 years in the sport

The Flag skydivers had 69,060  jumps and over 500 years in the sport.

There were five ladies on each load.

C17 Jump

Includes Jumper name, occupation, total jump numbers and years in sport

• Alan Moss – (Mossy)                Facilitator                            14, 300             27
• Ben Nordkamp                         Data Base Specialist           11,600              34
• Christian Peric               Engineer                               1,650.             25
• Daniel Gray                               Technician                                550                3
• David Girvin                            Roof Tiler                          1400               14
• David Loncasty                        Engineer                               5,800             36
• Alex Cattaneo                           Paramedic                               610               3
• Janine Hayes (J9)                     Project Manager                    4,395            37
• John Winkler                             Retired                                  2,850            28
• Joseph Clarke(Rummy)           Health & Safety Manager        860              4
• Joshua Leussink                         Packer & Camera Flyer           580               5.5
• Karen Fuller                              General Practitioner               3050            22
• Kelly Brennan                           Media/Communications          2700            27
• Kristofor Stefan Sieczkowski  Jet Pilot                                        500            5 years
• Larry Henderson                     Teacher                                      6500           43 years
• Laurence Garceau (LG)           Pharmaceutical Consultant     2500.         13 years
• Lawrence J Wobker (LJ).         Engineer                                     5000          19 years
• Leon Black.                              Director of Inspiration                530          5 years
• Mark Edward Szulmayer         Retired                                        6060          29 years
• Martin Maximillian Klapper    Lawyer                                        973           7 years
• Michael Cameron Hardy         IT.                                                 5700          30years
• Stephen Smedley                    Tandem Instructor                  13,000       35 years
• Tracey Basman                        Accountant                              3100                15 years
• Yukari                                        Sales Clerk                               1700                21years

Camera Flyers

• Steve Fitch                                 Photographer                             6900        35
• Paul Baker                                 Drouge Chucker                         3500.       13
• Steve Dines                               Construction                               9000        34

Flag Jumpers

• Adrian Bramwell                      Sales Rep                                                             630     10 years *
• Adrian Ferguson (Fergs)          Gardner.                                                              750       8 years
• Alistair Bates                           Retired                                                                  830     26 years
• Andrew Hamilton Mulholland Number Cruncher                                            2900    42 years
• Brandon Shortland                  Union Official                                                      740     8 years
• Calder Chernoff                       Drouge Chucker                                                  6000    24 years
• Cullen Andrew Habel Uni        Lecturer                                                               2000   19 years
• Donald Gordon Woodland      Postie                                                                  10600 35 years
• Douglas John Pryor                 Electrician                                                            2830 26 years
• Graeme Anthony John White (G-Train) Adult Entertainment Actor              1220 5 years
• Guy Taylor                               Roofer                                                                    2060 43 years
• Ian Johnson                             Army                                                                     900 6 years
• Ian Robertson                         Volunteer                                                              4956 33 years
• Kenneth John Hills (Hillsy)      Self Employed                                                    6000 48 years
• Kerry Ross Hook                      Investor                                                            750 4 years
• Leanna Jayne Lewis                 Sales Rep                                                         559 5 years
• Maurice Mathey (Mo Mo)      Telemetry  Technician                                       1600 8 years
• Michael Paris (Mickey)           Instrument Electrical Technician                    730 26 years
• Mike Dyer                                Manager                                                              6895 45 years
• Helen Mahoney                      Marketer                                                              2750 19 years
• Natisha Dingle                         Professional Abseiler                                           960 11 years
• Nigel Ackroyd                          Surgeon                                                           600 12 years
• Peter Albert McKenzie                                                                                    950 22 years
• Sandy Nieuwenhoven             Medical Scientist                                                 1300 16 years
• Skye Kalms                              Vet Nurse Student                                             800 5 years
• Stephen Brett                          Carpenter                                                               270 3 years *
• Terry Irving                              Skydiving Industry                                                5700 34 years

And some last comments.

We asked those at the camp their thoughts on Aussie Bigways and the week that had been.  Rummy also wanted to know if they had to choose a sport which involved mandated alcohol what would it be.   Here are their thoughts!

 

Trish Vogels – Rigger 615 jumps 11 years in sport – heading to Perris for the dirty Skyvan – Sport Sumo wrestling

Cullen Habel – Uni Lecturer 2000 jumps 19 years in sport – loves the great chapter of the global community of Bigways. Sport – Squash

Greg Jack Military 13,250 – experience unbelievably awesome – Sport – High Cliff diving

Craig  – Self-employed Rigger  – Awesome week, great company, great week. Sport – Space Invaders

Milly – Bus driver 2800 jumps 28 years – Blue skies & Oxygen jumps – Sport – None

Dave Kelly – Restaurant Manager 430 jumps 3.5 years – Awesome Phenomenal week – Sport -Skydiving

Gus Engineer 430 jumps 2 years – Awesome lots of learning

Paul G – Software Engineer 630 jumps 8 years in sport – It was amazing, well executed. Loved it great chance to jump with flat flyers. Sport – Darts

Bill Bleazard Fitter 5420 jumps – Great week I’ll be back. Epoch defining – Sport – Darts

Kristina Hicks  Teacher 280 jumps 2.5 years – Perris here I come – Sport – Speed Skating

Maddie – Student 200 jumps 1 year – Learnt a lot – Sport – Darts

Garth Pilot 5000 jumps 27 years – Fantastic new Aussie Family – Sport – Ten Pin bowling

Emily Wildlife Biologist 430 jumps 7 years  $%&* yeah!! – ‘Sorry Bill’ – Sport – Javelin

Andre 4000 jumps 40 years – Amazing incredible part of the journey more so about the people than the jumping.

Darrin Scuba Dive Store – 240 jumps 3 years – Love the environment

Dale IT Auditor 1500 jumps 21 years – Emotional roller coaster – Life’s short go hard – Sport – Darts

Stephen B Estimator 2100 jumps 22 years – I loved it would be doing it again, great company. Sport – Soccer

Wayne Engineering 408 jumps 10 years – It was awesome good learning Sport – Surfing

Matt Mullens Lifeguard 125jumps 1 year – Involved with Port crew Tony & Zac love the people Sport – Lawn Bowls

Janelle Aged care/Orchardist 405 jumps 4.5 years Onwards & upwards good learning.

Dave Gough Brick Layer  999jumps 6 years – Awesome week learnt heaps will do it again – Sport – Skydiving

Jonny Goss Skydiver – 12,800 jumps, 40 years – Such a good movement, keeps people in the sport, something to aim for.  Sport – Sailing

Jim CZ Retired 4151 jumps 55 years – Hard work – Sport – Sex

Kate  – Office Manager 500 jumps 11 years – Dabble in every discipline – Sport – Rock climbing

Craig McKnee Police 3000 jumps ? years – Junior jumper on the 81 way – could not wait until the next bigway has been on everyone since.

Matt Hill IT 1400jumps 20 years – Like coming together, structure planning and organisation – Highlight pre 6.00am leaf blower

Greg Retired Teaching 5689 jumps 44 years – Love jumping and over 4 ways – Sport – Billiards

John Real Estate Agent – 358 jumps 6 years – Challenge and the opportunity to represent Australia in the sport

Adam G Sparky 351jumps 3.5 years – Dream jump whole bunch of people, stop wasting jumps and focus skill set

Tony  Consultant – 3200 jumps 30 years – Friendship & camaraderie follow friends to Bigways – Sport – Lawn bowls

Greg – Psychologist 348jumps 6 years – Love being part of the team & contributing to the goal – Sport – Clay target

Stacey – Audio Visual Engineering – 460jumps 9 years – Learning & the record it’s fun