Das FSZ Odenwald verlagert seine Dropzone im Winter nach Nordzypern. Dort soll eine ständige Dropzone eingerichtet werden, die nur während der Sommermonate geschlossen bleibt. Am 4.11.2000 wurde dort der Betrieb mit einer Pilatus Porter aufgenommen. Weitere Infos gibt es auf der Homepage unter www.wintercamp-zypern.de.

Am 29. September 2000 wurde Wolfgang Weinreich, Präsident des Deutschen Aero Clubs, im Rahmen der Generalkonferenz der Fèdèration Aèronautique Internationale (FAI) in Linköping (Schweden) mit überwältigender Mehrheit zum Präsidenten gewählt. Er löst den Norweger Eilif Ness ab, der das Amt die vergangenen sechs Jahre inne hatte.

Pilatus has suspended the production of the Turbo Porter and isn't accepting orders for the single-engine aircraft. The factory says it's having trouble meeting surging demand for the larger PC-12 aircraft, and doesn't know when it will resume production of the Porter. Restarting production will take at least two years. The company has built 441 Porters of various types during a production run that goes back to 1959, 10 were built in the U.S.

The gear store "Sunshine Factory" in Zephyrhills in Florida has set up an auction site at www.sunshine-factory.com.

Jason Dawson opened the Las Vegas Gravityzone Skydiving center in Nevada in October. For more information call 702-612-8221 and visit their web site at www.LVGravityZone.com.

British skydiver Adrian Nicholas was the special guest at BBC Online's "Extreme Lives" Chat September 25, 2000. Adrian built and flew a model of Da Vinci's parachute in South Africa this summer and is renown for his spectacular Wing Suit flights. A transcript can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/wales/talkwales/extremelivestranscript.shtml

Four members from four different participating teams at the 2000 US Nationals were grounded after their Cypreses fired because they took it too low on a 30-way fun jump. S&TA Rich Hyatt stated: "I videoed a side-by-side, two bi-planes and one cutaway main, so I grounded them. They may have been competitors but they're spectators now."

The Norwegian woman's 4-way team "Non Terminal" won the Norwegian Skydiving League. The team also won the bronze medal at the Norwegian Nationals, averaging 11.4 points in 10 rounds.

Swedish Freestyle team "Anima Doggiestyle" won the first Nordic Championships of freestyle held at Gryttjom in August.