posted Nov 20th, 2013 - The SkyQuest week at Skydive DeLand has grown to a bigway week in the past years, as other events have been plugged onto the traditional event with BJ Worth's Kaleidoscope Dives and the NSL Championship 4way competition, which was originally launched in 2001 at Fantasy of Flight.

The POPS members have started the SkyQuest week with their own bigway event in the past years on the prior weekend. This year's POPS bigways in DeLand aimed at the new bigway sequential world record rules, which also apply for any POPS events.

Roger Ponce was guiding the 2013 group and completed the event with a new world record for a 60way sequential on Tuesday. Brian Festi was filming the jump, which turned out to be a motivating and encouraging warmup opportunity for many of the participants who will also try to set 110way world records with BJ Worth and the annual Kaleidoscope Dives. BJ Worth sent a last update for the participants yesterday.

Greetings again, Kaleidoscope Divers

Here is a little more pertinent news that you really need to know before we start.

Weather: The best news is that the weather is forecast to be primarily good for our event. Of course, anything can change, but it looks like a stable air mass is coming to DeLand for the Kaleidoscope Dives.

Aircraft: Skydive DeLand will now be providing two Skyvans and three Twin Otters. This will make the exit a little easier / faster for the left trail.

Prep Dives: The 5-point 66way dives have been drawn by Rags, and been uploaded to the World Team blog by Sara. All Kaleidoscope Divers are encouraged to review and become familiar with these dive sequences. The slots and transitions for each team member are very similar to the 110ways. The exits may be slightly different (except for the Base 20). Our strategy is to use these prep dives to establish the fall rate, become familiar with the cadence of the keys, and the mechanics of the transitions. We will also rehearse a similar break-off plan.

Schedule of Events: In Florida, the weather is typically better in the morning, so we should plan to get a very early start each morning – the exact time to be determined at the end of each jump day.

SkyQuest Reception and Kaleidoscope Briefing: On Wednesday evening, SkyQuest is hosting a reception for the Kaleidoscope Divers at the Clarion Hotel, starting at 6:00 pm – lasting for approximately 60-90 minutes. Yes, this will be a social event (FREE BEER and Snacks). Dress is DZ informal and sponsors and guests are welcome. But, since we want to get in the air as soon as possible on Thursday, we will also use this opportunity to address some important Kaleidoscope matters.

At the reception, the slotting assignments will be posted, along with the dive sequences. Print-outs with specific tasks for each of the 11 slot types will be distributed. The color-coded streamers to be used for keying all the transitions will be presented, and a demonstration for deploying them will be done. The break-off diagrams will be posted for both the 110-way and the 66ways.

And there will be some team goodies too. The SkyQuest and Kaleidoscope T-shirts will be distributed. Also, the National Skydiving League has generously offered to donate a free pair of gloves to each Kaleidoscope Diver.

Technically, attending this reception is not mandatory for team members, especially if you have not yet arrived in DeLand. However, if you are in town, it is highly requested that you attend this reception prior to your regularly planned social activities for the evening. The more familiar our team members are with the Kaleidoscope Dive program, the more prepared we will be to skydive at a very high level - and to set some world records along the way.

We hope to see all of you tomorrow at the DZ during the day and at the Clarion when jumping has concluded for the day.

Safe Kaleidoscope Skies,

BJ