The Parachute Industry Association recently announced that it established a new award, the PIA Mentor Award, to recognize people in the parachute industry who have contributed to the knowledge and skill sets of others in a classroom environment, through seminars or by performing on-the-job or individual training. The PIA Awards Committee will approve up to 10 recipients per year for the award. Recipients may receive the award—an engraved medallion in a presentation box— at any skydiving or parachute industry event from any PIA member in good standing. Those interested in nominating a mentor for this award can find the nomination form and additional information about the award at pia.com in the Standard Operating Procedures document in the Public Documents tab.

All USPA Group Memberships expire March 31. U.S. drop zones that have not already submitted renewal applications should do so as soon as possible. After March 31, USPA will remove any non-renewing Group Member’s listing from Parachutist and the USPA website. If a DZ renews after membership has lapsed, it may take several months for the listing to reappear in the magazine due to publication deadlines and print cycles. USPA mailed renewal packets to Group Members in mid-January. DZs that have not yet received a packet should contact the Group Membership department at groupmembers@uspa.org as soon as possible.

On November 4, Sharon Har-Noy Pilcher and Luis Prinetto, longtime organizers and coaches with years of experience organizing movement jumps, held a Leading Workshop at Skydive DeLand in Florida. The program gave attendees the tools to make informed decisions when leading and participating in any type of jump in which the jumpers fly away from a single column of air. These include tracking and angle jumps, as well as wingsuit skydives.

Corrections from the January 2019 issue of Parachutist.

In December 2017, Luther Kurtz, DZO of the Phoenix Skydive Center, prevailed in his Federal Aviation Administration Part 16 formal complaint against the City of Casa Grande, Arizona. Kurtz alleged that the city’s denial of access to his skydiving business was discriminatory and thus violated the city’s FAA grant obligation to accommodate all types of aeronautical activities.