{"id":20233,"date":"2019-08-12T09:32:18","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T09:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/?p=20233"},"modified":"2019-08-12T10:04:03","modified_gmt":"2019-08-12T10:04:03","slug":"sequential-games-kharkiv-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/sequential-games-kharkiv-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Sequential Games KHARKIV Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

100-way Challenge Ukraine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every summer from 2014, the Sequential Games team runs a 100-ish-way Challenge, an intricate, beautiful but difficult formation as the goal.  It will only complete with a group of high skill level, everyone performing at their best individually and learning to work together as a team in the training jumps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Excited to check out the formation \u2013 Image by Andrey Veselov<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Formation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This year\ntheir \u2018Kharkiv Challenge\u2019 was a giant, 102-way grid made of cats and bipoles,\nwith some missing links and radical outfacing slots just to make it harder.\nIt\u2019s always a thrill when Sequential Games post the formation on their Facebook\npage, and even more so when you\u2019re assigned your slot \u2013 there is nowhere to\nhide in this formation, every position is a challenge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Patrick, Dieter and Milko, SG organisers, beginning the event
Image by Andrey Veselov<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Team <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 3 organisers of Sequential Games are Patrick Passe, Milko and Dieter Kirsch, an eclectic trio who have been organizing together for more than 20 years. Ilya Balashov was the Director of the event and coordinated everything superbly, including great touches like everyone going out to cheer and welcome the pilots. Sergey Filatov, owner of the drop zone, worked very hard to arrange the aircraft and pilots, we really appreciated his efforts and their results. Sasha (Alexsandr Pelehov) was very good at translating, welcoming and sorting our transport and a huge array of equipment so we had everything we needed. Our super cameraflyers were Andrey Veselov, Gary Wainwright and Egor Vysotsky, who put photos and videos up on Facebook daily. Herman Landsman was an excellent Safety Officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sequential Games team by Gary Wainwright<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The\nskydiving team selected was of the very highest calibre and included skydivers\nfrom 21 different countries \u2013 Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland,\nGermany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway,\nRomania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, Ukraine and USA. It was especially\ngood to see some American friends take the long trip across the Atlantic for\nthis event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Skydive Kharkiv DZ at Korotich \u2013 Image by Gary Wainwright<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Skydive\nKharkiv <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Skydive\nKharkiv at Korotich is a massive drop zone (25 square km!), with ample space\nfor the 100+ skydivers assembled there for this event. Everyone landed on the\nDZ on every jump that followed the exit plan, testament to the skills of the\npilots. There was one skydive where the entire left trail left before the lead\nplane, due to some over-enthusiastic shouting, confusion and trigger-happy exit\nfever, so this group landed miles away, but everyone made it back safely. There\nare virtually no hazards in the surrounding countryside, which is mostly flat\nfarm land. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the\nthird year Skydive Kharkiv have run large events so by now their manifesting is\nefficient and virtually everything ran like clockwork. Safety was brilliant,\nwith no incidents, not even a reserve ride. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Loading the two AN28s and the AN72 \u2013 Image by Andrey Veselov<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Planes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The\ndropzone is full of amazing aircraft from museum-style cloth-covered biplanes\nto state-of-the-art fighter jets \u2013 in which you could take a high-speed\naerobatic flight. Several participants did so to great delight, while those of\nus in the ground were honoured to watch this private airshow display. On the\nother end of the scale, some made a sunset hop\u2019n\u2019pop from the classic AN-2\nbiplane, a little piece of history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An72 by Andrey Veselov<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jumpships<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Someone\nasked me what\u2019s the best aircraft I\u2019ve ever jumped for skydiving \u2013 well it is\nunquestionably the lead aircraft, an Antonov-72, which hauls 64 jumpers to\n15,000 feet in under 8 minutes. This beast has a massive tailgate so you can\nrun 3 lines of skydivers straight off the edge like lemmings, delivering them\nin a close setup for a large formation. It\u2019s a marvel of engineering. The\nentrance ramp slides completely under the plane, making for a more efficient,\nsafer exit without having to run down a ramp. The An-72 is a jet aircraft\ndesigned for STOL (short take-off and landing) and can use grass or tarmac\nrunways. The jet engines are at the top of the plane to keep them clear of\nrandom matter going into the engine. Hence the tail is at the top too for\nbalance. The combination means you do not get hit by the physical blast of air\nthat you get in Skyvans, Casas, Hercs etc. It can fly pretty slowly at 90\nknots, the perfect run-in speed. And at this dropzone it is very affordable,\nunlike a Hercules or even Skyvans, which are expensive due to the cost of\nparts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Inside the An72 by Gary Wainwright<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The An-72\nwas brought in from the military to add to Skydive Kharkiv\u2019s own An-28s, baby\nsisters of the 72. These smaller Antonovs take 22 jumpers, also have tailgates\nand a fast exit. The pilots of all the aircraft were seriously fantastic, with\nvery tight and consistent formation flying on all jumps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were enthralled to meet Anatoliy Myalitsa, the engineer who designed the AN-72. He spoke very eloquently, educating us abut the Antonov-72, entertaining us with stories of the good ol\u2019 days of baton-passing and wishing us well for our Challenge. <\/p>\n\n\n


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