posted Jan 24th, 2007 - Round 4 of the NSL Championship 2006 has now been added to the NSL-TV page. The videos of all competition jumps that have been posted so far can be viewed at the 4-way page of the SkyQuest website.

The AAA Class competition between Optic Nerve, Teiwaz Lake Wales and Italy's Fast + Furious continued in a very similar way compared to the earlier rounds. Teiwaz had recovered from the exit troubles in Round 3 and tied Optic Nerve's 16-pointer. However, Dr. Shugar's team was now five points ahead and maintained the lead.

Fast + Furious was still seriously challenged by the exits from the left-hand door of the Twinotter. The Italian team is used to the right-hand door of the Pilatus Porter and lost several points in each round due to problems with the exit and the sub-terminal phase. The official scores don't show that Fast + Furious actually competed on the same performance level as the other two AAA Class teams.

The AA Class teams had once again exactly the same sequence as the AAA Class teams, and Air Force CAD was only two points behind Optic Nerve and Teiwaz with a 14-pointer.

The meet videos of Air Force 7XY and DC3 are not available. However, both teams enjoyed the casual competition atmosphere of SkyQuest 2006 and performed well. Air Force 7XY came with Matt Cunningham in the Center Outside position for Caroline White, while DC3 competed with the original line-up of the 2006 season.

It was the first 10-round competition for the team from Virginia. DC3 consists of Christine Bruchac (Inside Center), Chris Halsan (Tail), Christi Meyer (Outside Center), Dave Owens (Point) and Todd Porter (Video). Tres Waugh joined and filmed the VPC team when Todd Porter had to attend military training out of state.

DC3 competes in the Virginia Parachute Council and calls Skydive the Point, in West Point, VA, the team's home dropzone. Skydive the Point is a shared operation, home to West Point Skydiving Adventures, the skydiving school, and Skydive the Point, the parachute club.

The 2006 season was the first year for DC3, which is made of a mixture of experience and talent. The experience level ranges from a rookie competitor to multi-season veterans. Team member and VPC Director Chris Halsan explained how the team was created:

"All members of the team were good friends before we decided to compete together, and the friendships grew stronger during the course of the competition season."

The original team line-up had to be modified almost immediately after the team was formed, as the person initially in the Point slot had to have emergency surgery, which resulted in a break for two months.

Chris Halsan provided insights of the Virginia Parachute Council operation, as well: "The VPC 2006 season almost didn’t happen. The former league director resigned surprisingly, and the schedule was organized late in the spring. So the 2006 turnout was low at all the VPC meets."

Unconcerned with the lack of competition, DC3 set dual goals of winning the VPC in the AA Class and competing at a national event by the end of the 2006 season. The first 10-round competition as the VPC representative at SkyQuest 2006 completed the team goals.

All of DC3's team members work at Skydive the Point, and two are on active duty with the military. Training days had to be coordinated well in advance. The busy agenda of the team members, including boogies, load organizing, DZ events, student training, tandem mayhem, etc., all contributed to an average of one team training day per month.

Chris Halsan said that DC3 didn't have the benefit of coaching or wind tunnel training in 2006. The team members watched a lot of videos, copied the techniques of the top teams and tried to work through any issues as efficiently as possible. He added that enthusiasm can add a lot of energy to the training process.

However, the DC3 members realized soon that lack of experience and competent coaching slowed the team's progress. DC3 still attended every VPC meet in 2006 and won the VPC Championship 2006, which qualified the team for medals at the NSL Championship 2006.

Chris Halsan mentioned that the competition at Deland was a lot tougher than the team experienced during the VPC season. However, the VPC team maintained its season average throughout the first 10-round competition at Skydive DeLand and looks forward to the upcoming 2007 season.