posted Oct 26th, 2004 - The SkyQuest website is quite silent for most of the year. However, the information gets updated when the event comes closer. Some contents of previous events remain on the website, others are being replaced. SkyQuest 2004, including the NSL Championship, is now close enough for more recent updates.

The SkyQuest website has already been offering on-line sign-up procedures for this year's event for a while. Special offers for hotel accommodation with special rates were added. The event schedule gave participants and visitors an overview of the activities.

SkyQuest 2004 will be a bigger event compared to the events in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Fantasy of Flight is once again the host after three successful years with only one weather problem in 2002. The Kaleidoscope Dives, managed by BJ Worth and his veteran team captains, have grown in size, as well as in quality. After years of 100-ways Worth ran into a convenient problem. The interest in this year's event was so immense that he was overwhelmed by the applications for the Kaleidoscope Dives at SkyQuest 2004 shortly after announcing the event. Worth said that he had 150 people ready to sign up.

SkyQuest management and Worth discussed the situation considering aircraft situation, facilities, landing area, safety concerns and quality of the dives. Finally, all parties agreed to go a little bit bigger and add one plane to the large formations of the Kaleidoscope Dives. Three Casas and two Twinotters of Paul Fayard's jump fleet are now set to get the participants to jump altitude. The formations have also grown accordingly. Worth is now planning the dives for a group of approx. 120 Kaleidoscope Divers. The current team roster is already posted at the website, as well.

SkyQuest 2004 and Worth also decided to allow a higher number of jumps and added the Thursday as a full performance day for the Kaleidoscope Divers. The largest group of SkyQuest 2004 plans to make a total of 16 jumps in the four-day period. Ten of these 16 jumps will be from 17,000 feet, just as in the past years. The additional six jumps will be from 20,000 feet. Worth reported that many participants felt that the quality of the jumps in 2003 was on such a high level that a few more seconds freefall would allow additional maneuvers. This year's dive plan shows that Worth has ambitious challenges in store for the Kaleidoscope 2004 divers.

The interest in the annual SkyQuest event at Fantasy of Flight did not only grow within BJ Worth's group of the World Team flyers. The SkyQuest management at the NSL headquarters in DeLand has also received several requests for fun jumping at Fantasy of Flight during the event duration. Even though the usual manifesting of other larger skydiving events does not work for the SkyQuest format, there was still the option to add additional self-sufficient events. Result of more thoughts, discussions and evaluations of the previous events was "Team Elite" for SkyQuest 2004.

Guy Wright, veteran organizer of large formation events, was interested in leading a 40-way team through the first year of 40-way jumps at Fantasy of Flight. Team Elite will make 15 jumps from 15,000 feet and one jump from 20,000 feet at SkyQuest 2004. The 40-way event could have a bright future if it works out well and melts smoothly into the whole event rotation this time.

The SkyQuest format was created to add other attractive skydiving events to the NSL Championship as the core event. It is still a competitive event on a high quality level. NSL President and SkyQuest director Kurt Gaebel had the traditional 40-way speed competition from DC-3's as a long-term project in mind when he thought more of the new 40-way event at SkyQuest 2004. A successful "Team Elite 2004" would pave the way for a 40-way competition in 2005. Team Elite will use two Casas this year. The DC-3 is on the "to do list" for future events. More SkyQuest 2004 updates will follow soon.