posted Jul 29th, 2011 - The NSL News mentioned with the story on 3 July 2011 that the trip to Germany and the coverage of the World Cup 2011 begins with a promotional visit at a skydiving center near Halle where FSC Remscheid and the NSL have joined forces to introduce 4-way Formation Skydiving competition to the FSV Merseburg members and other German skydivers.

Other events are taking place in Germany at the same time, and the weather has not been favorable recently. The annual Nuggets Cup in Leutkirch was completely weathered out last weekend while another regional championship in Kassel-Calden was limited to four rounds. The weather was not much better in Berlin today where Go Jump is hosting a 5-year anniversary boogie. It was raining all day long.

However, the situation was different and much better further away from Germany's capital city. In fact, good weather is coming to the west and southwest of Germany, which is the area where Saarlouis is located, host of the World Cup next week. The weather was not perfect in Merseburg, however, the AN 28 made a few loads to full altitude at the end of the day, which was the plan.

The dropzone in Merseburg is located at an airport that used to be a base for the Russian forces in East Germany. The DZ facilities are nicely embedded in one of the bunkers that was hiding the MIG 21's that the Russian Air Force had stationed in areas all over Germany.

The jump plane, an Antonov 28 (AN 28), is also related to the presence of the Russian forces in Germany after the second world war. They powerful transport planes are almost perfectly suited for skydiving with the tail gate and two engines.

There are several of those AN 28 in Germany and in the neighbouring eastern European countries. This weekend features the annual Antonov Boogie in Merseburg, and any 4-way jumps will be launched from the comfortable tail gate. The video clip does not only show the facilities and an AN 28 on the way to the takeoff. The hosting country of the World Cup 2011 is also famous for the quality of a certain adult beverage, and a local brew is being served in Merseburg...