For the 3rd year running we attempt to make the largest UK head down record!!!!  With the Euro record fast on the heels of the UK record it’s all about size in 2011.

Not everyone will be involved in all the record jumps, so the Skywalkers will be on hand to organise a separate group to be used as a group to feed into all record attempts.

More info to come over the next few months as the planning evolves. If you want to make the event, then make sure you get to one of the warm up camps organised by the BLTs:

• 30-31 July at Skydive Hibaldstow organised by Daniel Parker
• 24-26 August at Skydive Hibaldstow organised by Matthew O’Riordan, Jim Harris and Mike Carpenter from Volare

If you intend on coming to the UK record, then please register your interest on the Facebook event for the UK record.

Feel free to contact the guys at team@thebadlieutenants.com​ or the team Facebook page if you have any questions.

2011 is looking good, let’s super size it!

Three Bad Lieutenants visit The Zoo (best place for them!)

This years Eurosequentials was announced early in the year, and saw the introduction of a new venue. I think all participants were excited to see that this year we would be traveling to Rome to perform in an arena 15,000 feet above the coliseum.

The Eurosequentials has now become a well established invitational event bringing together some of the worlds best flyers from the tunnels and skys of Europe with the aim of performing 25 jumps over 3 days. These jumps had been constructed and thought out in advance by 2 of the worlds leading flyers and organisers (Mikey Carpenter and Fabian Raidel), with the aim of pushing the boundaries of sequential group flying. These skydives, planned and performed, encompassed launching an 8 way base from a Cessna Caravan, Launching 2 four way round bases simultaneously, building a 9 way head down  round with half of the flyers outfacing and then constructing a 3 way round in the centre which then eagled out to a head up round as the 9 way round reconstructed around it again with half the performers outfacing, a 12 way sequential jump with 5 points where pieces rotated around, and culminated in a 12 way head up round, constructing a head up line crossed by a head down line of flyers, then the head down flyers moving up and rotating the line 180 degrees above the head up flyers before coming back down to re form a cross, and then moving into an infinity shaped formation with all flyers outfacing, an 8 way rotating base with 4 flyers stinging and then releasing simultaneously to half eagle the rotating base and re-sting on the opposite flyer (guess you have to see the video for this one!), and a couple of tracking dives with a twist, one of the track dives saw the 2 organisers leading 2 separate groups of flyers and leading the flyers so that the 2 formations crossed over and under each other.
Obviously the jumps were the highlight of this event, but one other amusing and noteworthy item from my log book was…

“First jump Sequentials 2011. Cessna Caravan ran in at 14,500 feet, 2 rear floaters and one front floater climbed out. 8 way base began to climb out, and from my position in the base outside the door, I felt the plane becoming unstable, and watched as the horizon went from where it should be, to 45 degrees, I realised we were stalling, and just had time to reflect on how happy I was to be already outside of the plane, before the words GO…GO…GO… cut through the background noise of wind blast and shuffling in the door. The exit resembled seeds scattered from a poppy in the breeze, and thankfully all were unharmed. Obviously the pilot had been briefed on our planned exit prior to take off, but had not realised how much speed he really needed to run in with, to allow for about 8 skydivers to hang off the side of his plane.”

The moral being, try and predict safety issues whenever you can, but always be prepared for the unexpected, stuff sometimes just jumps up and bites you! The pilot did an excellent job in the situation, and for the rest of the jumps exit involved climbing out, no flaps at MAC 1!

Participating at this event… Andy Lovemore (event organiser and flyer), Mikey Carpenter (jump organiser), Fabian Raidel (jump organiser), Max Heim (video) Markus Schwarz, Frazer Smith, Haavard Flaat, Kristian Moxnes, Gregor Vandeneynden (Sonic), Peter Nilsson, Andrea Fast Scarramuzza, Adrian Wild,
and  3 of The BadLieutenants, Martin Reynolds, Matt O’Riordan and Dan Parker.

Big thanks to all the sponsors of this event, Bottrop (wind tunnel), Sonic (suit manufactures), 90 Percent (magazine) and Vector (Rig manufacturer)

Finally, Speaking on behalf of all the participants, a big thankyou to Andy Lovemore (www.andrewlovemore.com) who spent a lot of time and effort organising this event (sponsors, location, flyers, excellent evening entertainment etc…) we all realise these events don’t just happen, so thanks for stepping up to the plate and organising another successful Eurosequentials. Andy has also had the foresight to organise very successful training events prior to the Eurosequentials, with the aim of training up and bringing in new talent to the Eurosequentials group in the future, and anyone interested in this kind of flying should keep an eye out for future Eurosequential warm up events.

Martin (The BadLieutenants)

The Bad Lieutenants would also like to take this opportunity to say a big thanks again to all of their team sponsors in no particular order!
British Parachute Association,
Skydive Spain,
Performance Designs,
Airkix,
Velocity Sports Equipment
Vertical Suits
Larsen and Brusgaard,
Talent Stream
And finally a big thankyou and welcome to our latest, and prestigious sponsor, Airtec Cypres

Thanks
The Bad Lieutenants

Its April already and The Bad Lieutenants have been busy. We kicked off the season with a group flying event at Skydive Hibaldstow which saw some really cool head up/headdown sequential jumps with Frazer, Glenn, Gary, Southall, Aidy, milne, Tiziana, Weed and Dan. The weather was nice all day Saturday and by the time we made it the bar everyone was thirsty, especially Milne who’d spent most of the afternoon when not jumping looking for his detachable slider he lost somewhere over Lincolnshire. We had just enough time to get a couple more nice jumps in on the Sunday before the weather closed in and everyone headed home. The quality of the skydives has already gone through the roof this year and all those hours people have spent in the tunnel this winter is paying off.

Next came the Huck Jam, it was a little more of a quite affair than the last but it proved that bigger is not always better . We changed the format for this one a little and split the sessions in two half’s. The first half everyone was separated into smaller groups depending on their requirements and a Lieutenant organised the flying time. The second half took the American approach of turning the tunnel on full blast and everyone piling in and out as they pleased. Respect was shown to each other and everyone finished the session with a big smile on their face after lots of time flown with a mixed bag of experience levels. Expect this format to be repeated.

Onto the serious stuff. The team has just completed a weeks training at Airkix Manchester, there are new additions to the dive pool this year and its been a blast getting to grips with them and continuing to progress with the original elements. Thanks to the staff at the tunnel who are always great and thanks to Julien who was great when he was there;-)

Easter weekend (22-25 April) sees us organising the scrambles down at Skydive Hibaldstow, We’ll be there from Friday morning and registration for the scrambles closes that evening at 10pm. This is a fantastic opportunity to come down jump with some people you might not usually jump with, have some fun and maybe grab the glory. The competition takes place Saturday and Sunday and the other two days we will be available for coaching and organising. We hope you’ve all had a great start to the year and we’d love you to come to some of our events, check the calendar for details or get in touch with us at team@thebadlieutenants.com

The Bad Lieutenants.

Greetings humans, aliens and flat flyers!!!! He he

A massive Happy New Year from the BLT’s!

It’s been a while since we posted something, big slap on the wrists for the BLT’s on that one, our bad!

So what have we been up to since the last write up?

The Skydive Spain Xmas Boogie has just been and gone. Jim and James were out in Seville representing for the BLT’s along with Mikey C, Stephanie Soria and Andrew Lovemore who all helped cook up some major Xmas pie fun for those in attendance. The boogie ended with a brilliant double tube jump, participants all around, smiles everywhere!!!!

Thanks to everyone who came to Seville to jump, the Boogie was lots of fun, even if it meant jumping with the Finns and Norgies!!!  Just kidding, you guys rocked the skies! Shame you couldn’t drink as fast the BLT’s in the boat race!

Jim has also been busy with his Track Dayz camps in Seville, keep your eyes peeled for more of his wicked skydiving events over the winter months in the warm weather of Seville.

Dan and James have also been running 4-way VFS tunnel camps which have been a great success!!! Think Claudio, Will Blackie, Tiziana and Jay Southall might be kicking our asses soon! Nice work guys!

So what has 2011 got in store? Event dates are soon to be released, but there are Huck Jam’s a plenty, 2 scrambles, another UK head down record attempt, head down skills camps, a trip to Empuria for the 2011 Euro head down record attempts, UK nationals, 8-way FS vs FF speed skydiving and of course some monthly Hibaldstow organising!!!!!

Irrespective if you like the tunnel or the skies, 2011 is shaping up to be a massive year!!!! Bring it on.

Don’t forget the BPA AGM hosted at the Hilton in Coventry on Saturday 22 January 2011. It’s always a riot, so get involved and meet new and old friends alike.

Keep your eyes peeled for the soon to be releases dates!

Have a great 2011 everyone!

The BLT’s

So what’s the latest news from all the BLT’s?

The last weekend of August provided us with a nice long bank holiday so there was only one thing to do, set a new UK head down record! In addition to the head down skills camp held earlier in the year, Jim Harris was on hand with Adam Mattacola’s help for the 3 days leading up to the record weekend to provide some warm up jumps, a last minute opportunity for people to show their stuff or just get some cool jumps in! The weekend was not kind weather wise, but Saturday allowed us to jump all day. We started with all the participants splitting into 3 groups for some warm up jumps before starting with the record attempts. After 3 attempts and a few adjustments we ended the day with a new 22-way head down record on the final jump! Perfect, it’s always good to get a new record set! Sunday was not kind weather wise, so the event was called with Monday’s weather looking even worse. It was a shame as having done only 3 attempts we were confident of going bigger. It was also a massive shame as people who had been waiting to be added didn’t get the chance to attempt a record and the record stood at the 22 set on the Saturday. A massive thanks to everyone for turning up, especially those who didn’t get to jump but were involved in the process. It always sucks waiting on the bench, looking at the decisions being made, but unfortunately its part of big ways. We really hope everyone learnt something, even if it was just experiencing the process of a big way!!!! Next year we go bigger and everyone will know what to expect! Special thanks to Performance Designs in the form of Dedric for turning up and supporting the event, very cool to have you there!

Record Holders:  Jason Southall, James Davies, Dumi Ndlouv, Martin Reynolds, Frazer Smith, Daniel Parker, Andy Newell, Mike Carpenter, Claudio Lettieri, Adam Mattacola, David Joyner, Chris Lynch, Glen Phillips, Alistair Milne, Mark Joyner, Kurmet Jaadla, Matt O’Riordan, David Pacey, Andy Ford, Charlotte Kemp, Catriona Adams & Jim Harris.

Cameras:  Olly Burgin & Axel Zohmann

The following weekend saw a free weekend, so a couple of the BLT’s headed out to Ibiza to show off their stella tans and rippled bodies. Well rested, Matt, Dan & James headed to Langar for Langar Boogie 2. Saturday saw some fantastic activity and a lot of freeflyers jumping. A full Beech 99 tracking load was managed along with some really fun head up jumps. The final Saturday night of the boogie lived up to the reputation and took a few victims. Fortunately Martin Reynolds was on hand in the morning before the bad weather dispersed people.

From Langar Boogie 2 it was on to the Euro Sequentials for the better looking BLT’s. Once again James remained in England. Mikey C and Fabian Raidel were once again on hand to organise the cream of Europe’s freeflyers. Two 10-way groups jumped consistently at Skydive Spain for 4 days, making some awesome jumps. Babylon, BLT’s Volare, Skywalkers, Axis 21, Frazer & Kurmet all pitched up to make the event a fantastic experience! Nice one Mr Lover Loverman for arranging it once again. Looks like freefly in Europe goes from strength to strength at all levels!

This weekend sees Matt and James coaching at Dunkeswell as part of the BPA road show. Remember, if you’re a BPA member, just pitch up, pay 2 jump tickets and you get free coaching from the boys. Not a bad deal, so come make the most of it! Hibaldstow’s Dornier is joining the Beech 99, so fast jump turn arounds will be the order of the day!

Other upcoming cool events include Huck Jams, tunnel camps and the 8-way FS vs FF at Hibaldstow on the 9-10^th October. If you haven’t got a team together yet make one! It was an awesome event last year. Check the facebook page or www.thebadlieutenants.com for information on the rules!

Ok guys, hasta la pasta, until next time!

The Bad Lieutenants

After the great start of Day 1 in Russia, we finally finished our first World Championships in 3^rd position with a 12.9 average, which is a significant improvement on the 2009 results. The French and the Americans battled it out throughout the 3 days of competition, with the French finally ending up in the top spot. Fantastic skydives were displayed, the quality of the jumps was fantastic. It’s also great to see a team bridge the gap to the top American team, Arizona Arsenal, who have lead the way over the last few years and been setting the standards. Respect!

A quick shout out to the BLT’s coach Julien Guiho who is a member of the French 4Speed team, nice one mate, and to Cyril Colin who finishes his competitive career as a world champion in VFS (2010) and freestyle (2006)!!! Not bad for baguette eaters…….

Also massive respect to Al & Pixie for their silver medal in freestyle (hard work, talent and dedication do pay off), the other GB medal winners Volare (freefly silver) and Team Bodyflight (silver female 4-way) and GB team Satori who shredded in the ultra competitive open 4 way FS competition. Nice one people!

For the BLT’s it was great to win the bronze medal, but we’re also looking forward to pushing on and bridging the gap between the top two teams. The French showed it’s possible, so time for another team to make it up there, especially as the SoCal, Paraclete and Chicago Standard guys are also out there!!!

Continue Reading

Having arrived to Menzelinsk, Russia at lunch- time last Wednesday, the VFS competition & artistic competitions finally got underway this morning.

Wednesday was spent recovering from the long and tiring trip, Friday was used for training jumps, whilst Saturday saw the last few practice jumps and Sunday the opening ceremony and initial competition rounds for 4-way. VFS was stood down until Monday, which allowed the local hospitality and culture to be enjoyed before experiencing a very warm welcome from the town of Menzelinsk at the opening ceremony. We finally got to sample what it may be like to be a rock star, if only for 2 hours………

Continue Reading

Freefly scrambles, a trip to Voss in Norway, a UK Funshine Boogie, a BPA road show, a Spanish Funshine Boogie and some weekend team training meant May was a very busy month for the boys. It also signalled the start to the 2010 jumping season.

The month kicked off with the UK edition of the Funshine Boogie at Hibaldstow. The Funshine Boogies continue to go from strength to strength in both the UK and Spain. The basic concept of walking a fine line between a boogie and coaching is ever present. Coupled with an enthusiastic atmosphere Dan, Matt and James had a great time working the boogie at Skydive Hibaldstow. A massive thanks to everyone who made it to the boogie, we can’t wait forward to being involved in the next one!

Continue Reading

What’s the difference between the erupting volcano in Iceland and Cheryl Cole? The volcano is still ………….

That’s right, the pesky volcano affected our first sky camp last week, preventing us visiting Eloy in Arizona for a first sky camp of the year. Along with many others, our travel plans were thrown into complete chaos, so there was no Eloy action for the BLT’s!

However, a little bit of rescheduling lead to a pretty intense training week none the less.

The BLT’s travelled down to London hoping the flights to the USA would take off, before heading straight back to Manchester for a day of tunnel at the Manchester Airkix after discovering the flights were cancelled! We then headed to Skydive Hibaldstow for 2 days of jumping. Thanks guys for operating, those days were really enjoyable and much needed! The ash radar then indicated it was time to head back to Manchester for 4 more days of tunnel before the skies were deemed safe to fly in once again and we could hit Skydive Hibaldstow up once again! Continue Reading

The better looking Bad Lieutenants were at Skydive Spain from the 4th until the 7th of March for the first ever European Sequentials, James was pretty disappointed he couldn’t make it. The event aimed at emulating the famous Lodi Sequentials established in California over the last few years.

30 flyers were invited to form 2 groups of 14 with camera and the goal was to create some interesting multi-point, mixed head-up and head-down skydives. The groups were led by Fabian Raidel and Mike Carpenter, and participants included members of Babylon, Tora Tora, Skywalkers, Darkside Freefly, Volare and of course the BLTs.

Continue Reading