Good morning readers, the skies are beautiful, cloudless and blue. So to start with, how about an interview with visiting US team SPX 8.
1. Can you tell us a bit about your team history?
SPX 8 has been a team since 2006. It started as an Intermediate (USPA) team. After 2 seasons (with a few personel changes) the team won Gold at the US Nationals (Intermediate) in 2007. 50% of the team stayed together and we competed in the USPA Open Catagory for 2 years. The team took one year off and reconfigured with 6 new and 2 remaining team members for the 2011 season and are again competing in the intermediate class at the US Nationals.
Our coaches over the past few years have been primarily Mark Kirkby for our DZ Coach and Andy Honingbaum for our tunnel coach. We have averaged between 7 and 11 points depending on the year and the team.
2. So the most important question, why has the team has decided to enter the UK Nationals?
I have had the opportunity to jump with many Brit Jumpers over the years as a Coach, Judge (I am a P3 Coach, and Dubai 500 Captain) and a competitor in both World Cup and World meets. The Brit Jumpers have been inviting me to bring over a team for many years and this year proved to be the year that it all worked out!
3. What is the 8-way scene like in the USA?
8-way in the US has always had a strong showing at the US Nationals. There will probably be as many as 11 practiced 8-way teams and the same number of pick up teams this year. So approx 11 teams in Open and 11, teams in Intermediate.
4. What is your opinion of the Dornier G92 in the training jumps you have done thus far?
We like the plane. It is a fast climber and the pilots do a great job of spotting. It took us a few jumps for us to figure out the exits but were helped a great deal by the local teams.
5. Where do you train in the US and what is it like?
SPX 8 trains at Skydive Spaceland in Houston, Texas. The drop zone is open 364 days a year. We now have 8 Twin Otters, 2 Skyvans, and 2 Cessna Caravans. We have a private airpark with 200 acres of landing area. Although it gets a bit hot in Texas in the summer, we have all air-conditioned creeping and packing areas. It is a great DZ to train at.
6. For those that know little about 8-way, what are the major differences compared to 4-way?
Some will disagree I'm sure, but I believe 8-way takes a bit more precision than 4-way. Levels are more critical and the shape of points are more important. Another difference is that in 4-way, all the randoms and all the random draws are what puts big point totals on the score board. Whereas in 8 way, it is the blocks that are faster and point the points on the board.
I've often seen times where a good 8-way team can split in half and score well doing 4-way. But putting 2 good 4-way teams together to do 8-way doesn't seem to nessesarily mean big scores. "Just my opinion".
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