Parachutists Over Phorty Society
POPS means Parachutists Over Phorty Society (English "Society of parachutists over forty years"). Membership requirements are that a person has done a skydive or a tandem jump and is at least forty years old. There are POPS associations in many countries around the world. Whose members meet regularly to attend competitions in conventional skydiving - disciplines or fun competitions to participate. They also meet to break records, see old friends, and make new friends.
Smaller groups within the POPS are the SOS - Skydivers Over Sixty (jumpers over sixty), the JOS - Jumpers Over Seventy (jumpers over seventy) and the JOES - Jumpers Over Eighty Society (jumpers over eighty).
history
The first association of skydivers over forty, POPS, was founded in the USA in the summer of 1966 by Lenny Barad. The first POPS meeting took place in Germany in 1977. In 1994 in Hoogeveen, Holland, 17 German parachutists over forty officially decided to found POPS Germany.
Since 1989, the POPS have come together every two years for a world meeting, the "World Meet". The previous venues (as of June 2008) were:
- 1989 Australia
- 1993 Umatila in Florida USA, at Skydive Orlando
- 1995 Ampuriabrava in Spain, at the Centro de Paracaidismo de Costa Brava
- 1997 Aqaba in Jordan, with the Royal Jordanian Parachute Club
- 1999 Chilliwack, Canada
- 2002 Matamata in New Zealand
- 2004 Gruyere in Switzerland
- 2006 Eloy, Arizona, USA at Skydive Arizona
- 2008 Toogoolawah in Australia with Skydive Ramblers
- 2010 in Reggio Emilia, Italy