Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Friends And Family Take To The Skies At Perris. Courtney Anderson gets AFF Certification in Colorado.

This week's blog is a little different than most. There's been so much action at the Perris Valley and Mile High drop zones that we put together a special skydiving entry to share all the high-flyin' fun. A lot of the action has been whipped up by Kimberly Nocita as she shares her enthusiasm for the sport she loves with her friends and family. But there have been a few that have decided to jump out of a perfectly good airplane on their own!

We hope you enjoy the pictures below...and maybe even consider coming out with Kimberly and Bart for a day you'll not soon forget.


Kim enjoys going up as much as she does coming
down.

"Green Light!"



That's Kim on the left and Bart with the tube.
Why fly with a tube? It's just fun!

This is what you call hangin' out with your
girlfriend.

One of our favorite pictures of Kim...sitting on
a cloud.

...what a view.
*
*
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COUSIN COURTNEY GETS HER AFF
CERTIFICATION AT MILE HIGH IN
COLORADO. WAY TO GO, COURT!!!
__________________________
Courtney Anderson, better known as Cousin Courtney, had made tandem jumps out at Perris and was ready to take the next step. And take it she did as she recently completed the requirements to obtain her AFF Certification at her local drop zone in Colorado. She plans on making a trip out to So Cal on Labor and "fly the friendly skies" out at Perris Valley. Should be some great photo ops! Congratulations Courtney!!


It's easy to spot Cousin Courtney in these photos;
just look for the yellow helmet.

A casual wave to the camera guy and it's off to
take care of business.



Courtney, you need to try and have a little fun!



No, she's not checking out her nail polish. She's
"locked on" her altimeter.



Courtney Anderson, AFF graduate!
*
*
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JUMP DAY II - "Are You Ready To
Skydive?" Who has more fun than
this group?
_________________________
After last year's "Are You Ready To Skydive?" jump day Kimberly thought it would be fun to make it an annual event. So the word went out, sign ups began and another dozen or so friends decided to go for it. It was a time of sharing the excitement of the day and a chance to make some new friends. Congrats, Kim, on putting together such a nicely planned day. Can't wait for the next one!



Teresa, left, with her sons David and Joseph. She's
the fiance of Wyatt Radke who drives one of
Dalcorp Racing's drag cars.

Valerie Cantrell works with Kim and decided it
was time to "get out of the office" for awhile.

Long time roommate and friend Lauren Paff with
Kimberly during registration.



The boys gave Teresa the tandem jump as a
Mother's Day present. Kids....

Joseph's other half, Josie, was there for moral
support. I think when the day was over she
wished that she had gone up. Jump Day III?





No second thoughts here!

Kimberly and Bart got to go up with the gang
and share in all their excitement.

Lauren...touchdown.

Lauren couldn't wait to get to Kim to tell her
all about it!


The Woods brothers had a great ride!



Pat McGowan, front row center, was one of
Kimberly's jump masters and just had to get in
on the day. Pat has something like 17,000 jumps
but you'd think it was his first time down by his
enthusiasm for the sport.

You really need to be listening to the theme song
from "Top Gun" while viewing these pictures.

Crazy Nick giving Lauren her tandem certificate.
You got another one down, Nick. Good job!



Lauren's "special guy" Jason was there in support.
He, too, has said he'll be up for the next go around.

After all the excitement of the day it was time
for a little "Bart and Kim" time. A quick pack and
it was up for the sunset load.



Great job, guys. Another "Jump Day" success!
*
*
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BART ROGOWSKI ALMOST GRABS
BRONZE AT FIRST "SWOOP COMPETITION."
Competitors put on a show at Perris
Valley Drop Zone.
_________________________________
If you ever have a chance to attend a swoop competition, take it! "Swooping" is part of the sport of skydiving that refers to the rate and the way that skydivers descend and land. At roughly 700 or 800 feet, the jumper will begin to spiral down towards the ground at speeds in excess of 70 or 80 mph and land in a prescribed zone. A competition is broken down into three parts: speed, distance and accuracy. Even though Bart has thousands of jumps and has his own demo team, (they're the ones that fly into events with the American Flag or banners) he had never competed in an actual swoop competition. At the end of the day Bart had finished 4th and put on quite a show for those watching. Nice job, Bart! See you on the podium next time!!


Kimberly actually worked the event as a judge
and did a great job...and didn't cheat!

Bart coming in for his second of two speed runs.
Their speed is measured as they fly between a
series of 5' pylons. He was entering the course
at speeds in excess of 70 mph!

Here Bart comes in over the pond and into the
course where their distance is measured. They
must be below the top of the 5' pylong and then
try and carry as much distance as possible down
the course.

Leaning as far forward as possible to try and
trim out his canopy to achieve maximum distance.

Some of the jumpers didn't do quite as well as
Bart. This guy had several adventures throughout
the day, here hitting the ground right at the water's
edge.

He actually hit butt first and then bounced to
his feet. Pretty awesome...we'll see more of
him later.

There are two passes made for each discipline.
The crowd favorite is always the accuracy portion
of the competition. The jumper must drag his foot
across the pond, making sure his foot is in the water
as he or she passes a series of bouys. Then they
must land in a prescribed box for maximum points.
Landing before or after the box will result in a loss
of points. Here's Bart showing you exactly how
it's done.

We thought this guy was going to ruin more than
his day. Yikes! Not sure how but he ended up
missing the pylon and saving the run. He didn't
receive any points but he came away with all of
his pieces intact!

...and here's our friend with the orange canopy
again. Look familiar?

...."Houston, we have a problem."

Luckily the pond is only about 3 or 4 feet deep.
Only his pride was hurt.

Here's Bart coming in...smokin'! A beautiful pass.

It's Miller time....
*
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SPAGNOLA AND FROESCHER SHARE
PERRIS VALLEY ADVENTURE.
"Let's do that again!"

____________________________________
Part of the fun of any sport is sharing it with your friends. And when your friends are a couple and can share it with each other, it's even better. That's what Cassandra Froeshcer and AJ Spagnola decided to do a few weeks ago at Perris when they both made tandem jumps on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The only problem? As AJ put it, "I want to do that again!" We've heard it before, AJ. There are a lot of you out there!


Cass and AJ ready to suit up.

Kim hooked up AJ with Nick. AJ, you're in for
a ride!

Not sure what AJ was saying to Nick but remember,
you're hooked on to him!





We need that "Top Gun" theme song again....







Nice landing, Cass!

We have as many pictures of Nick as we do of
our family!

Do you think they had a good time?

....and do you think THEY had a good time?
*
*
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A CUT ABOVE THE REST!
It's a jump suit and basic blue for fashion
designer Kelly Brown as she takes the
leap over Perris.
______________________________
Kelly Brown knows her way around the cutting room floor when it comes to high fashion and style. But last week it was the desert floor and 12,500 feet as Kelly and her friend, Bahareh, decided to do tandem jumps at the Perris Valley Skydiving School. Kimberly arranged for boyfriend, Bart, to film Kelly's jump as they shared the adventure together. Another great day with great friends.

Bahareh and Kelly signing in...and giving last
hugs?

It's almost like Bart knows something that they
don't know.





Wonder what she's thinking....

"Baha" looked ready go go!

On the way to the plane, Kim giving Kelly some
final words of encouragement.

Bart doing a GoPro camera interview with Kelly
before they jump.

Perris Valley's premier cameraman, Joe, doing
the same with Baha.

....the pattern is full....



A high five from Bart! Nice landing, Kelly!

Here comes Baha!

.....you know the drill....."Top Gun."



Kelly's mom, Denise, came out for the day to
lend a bit of moral support...and pay!

And Kimberly was there to lend a little moral
support to Denise!

...and a good day was had by all!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Mooneyes "Christmas in July" A Huge Success at Irwindale Dragstrip. AJ Nocita back behind the wheel of the BG Oil Chevelle.

Last December's Mooneyes event at Irwindale Dragstrip was about as wet and rainy as it could be. Many hardcore fans and racers tried hanging out til the bitter end in hopes that the weather would break and the event could go on as planned. It wasn't meant to be. So Mooneyes owner, Chico Kodama, rescheduled the event and created "Christmas in July" and what an event it was. There was something for everyone in the way of hot rods, rat rods, a swap meet, vendors of all kinds, exhibition cars, F/X cars, jet cars, nitro burning cacklefest cars...I think you get the picture. Since the number of race cars was limited, everyone got as many hits as they wanted which is something that rarely happens. The day went off without a hitch and all the Mooneyes staff should be congratulated for a job well done.

It was also great having AJ Nocita back behind the wheel of the BG Oil Products '64 Chevelle. Even though it had been almost a year since he'd been in the driver's seat, he picked up right where he'd left off and never missed a beat all day. Nice job, AJ!

The highlight of the day came when our good friend "Ernie the Attorney" went to the finals in the highly competitive A/FX class with his 1966 Ford Fairlane and took the win. Ernie and his Ford performed well all day and were the class of the field by far. Congratulations to Ernie and all of his crew for a job well done.

Check out this A/FX Plymouth. How cool is this?

This '61 Ford was a crowd pleaser in the A/FX
class. She didn't run like no dawg!

AJ had his game face on early and drove the
wheels off the Chevelle.



The stands were packed and people we 10 deep
all the way down the fence to the finish line. Wanna'
take a ride with AJ? Click here.



Towing Bob Hansen up to the starting line for the
cacklefest felt like being back in 1966.





After so many years of putting other people
in Bob's car, "The Wynn's Spoiler," I finally got to
take the seat for the start up. I wasn't alone in the
car...I know I had Elvis in there with me! Thanks, Bob!!





Like we said...a little something for everyone.

Buster, right, talking to our friend Tony Franco,
the pilot of the "Terminal Velocity" Jet Car.

You gotta' love Tony's driving suit...





Tony with another awesome run on the 1/8 mile.
A 3.90 e.t. at over 200 mph! You're the man, Tony!

"Ernie the Attorney" goin' rounds.



AJ with his final run of the day...right down the
middle.

Unfortunately "Tuna Pete" and "The Super Tuna"
had an issue and couldn't get to the starting line.
The car is always a crowd favorite whether on the
track or in the pits. It's always "Tuna Time!"

"Ernie the Attorney" celebrating with the main
man, Chico Kodama, after his win. No appeal
needed here. Case closed!!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

The "S & P 60!"....years, that is. Scott and Patti Kendig double the fun as both celebrate 60th birthdays at AREA 51..

When a husband and wife are turning 60 within days of each other there really isn't much else to do but throw yourselves a party. And that's exactly what Scott and Patti Kendig decided to do along with 90 or so of their family and friends. With the dj spinnin', "The Hoister Bar" flowin' and the dance floor rockin' it was "on the mat" all night as Scott and Patti made sure that their guests wanted for nothing. TangorrAmore' put out an Italian spread that would have pleased The Godfather while Scott made sure that everyone made an appearance on the dance floor. The birthday boy and girl proved that 60 IS the new 40! No slowin' down for these crazy kids! Happy Birthday S & P! We had a blast!


Scott made us promise to be the first one to sign
the picture. Here's proof, Scott!





Here's a happy face...



No one went hungry thanks to TangorrAmore'
Catering. The food was awesome!

Scott and Patti know how to roll...





.......Sisters.



I think Scott was having a good time...just a guess.







They don't look like they have 120 years between
the two of them!

Pasta! Pasta! Pasta! Soooo good!!!



Scott was "Disco Danny" all night. He made
sure that everyone was dancing!



You know it's a good party when the "Conga Line"
starts making the rounds!



Scott even got Kristy out on the dance floor!





Happy Birthday you crazy kids!!!