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Setup Bits
November 2
When I turned the corner into the DZ yesterday morning, I
could immediately tell that hosts Larry and Liliane Hill have been
busy with their never ending project of improving and expanding
the facilities at Skydive Arizona. A new group of small buildings
at the entrance appears to be a motel in the making. A row of
shelters houses packing vendors near the swimming pool. Out in the
landing area, a row of tents for each country sits on the edge of
a lush green landing area that has been reseeded. In the main
hanger, a redesigned judges' “fishbowl” occupies the east
half, while the west side has bleachers set up in front of a large
screen projector for DZTV. Teams are filtering through manifest;
it looks like the turnout will be good, with some 14 countries
attending. Noticeably absent: the U.S. Army Golden Knights and
French 8-way teams, who have not competed head to head since the
1997 World Meet. Ah, but the Russians are coming, and they will
give Airspeed 8 a good battle in 8-way. In 4-way, anything can
happen; Maubeuge and Airspeed Vertical will likely battle for the
gold, but FX and the Norgies are fully capable of pulling off an
upset. It was FX, remember, that defeated Maubeuge in a memorable
finish to the 1998 World Cup. Ah, but I am wandering from the
subject at hand...
I will do my best to provide real time reporting as much as
possible, but I will be alone running DZTV and I will not have
much time to write during jumping. The webcam,
however, will give you a peak into what is happening at the
moment, as it will be live all the time. The team photos will take
some time to gather and post, so please be patient if your team
does not have a picture for a couple of days.
It should be a great show for spectators and competitors as all
of the Formation Skydiving jumps will be judged live.
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