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This is a sad story. I used to skydive, but no longer do. I unintentionally dropped out of the sport after my ex died from a base jumping accident. I had quit for a few years with the intention of going back due to going to college and not living near a drop zone. After I graduated college, I caught a nasty strain of covid. I have not been the same since, and I have to admit the fact that I will never be able to skydive again. Before my ex died, I was in the process of building a franken rig. It's not fully assembled and is still missing a few components. I was really excited about it when I was building it, but when my ex died, I kinda put it off to the side. My problem is that I don't exactly remember the specs of my gear. I am 5'3" and about 108lbs at the time. My rig fit perfect for me at that time. But because of my medical condition, I have gained a significant amount of weight and it DEFINITELY doesn't fit me anymore. The chute I bought, I believe is a spectre 150... I don't even know though, and I'm so lost on trying to figure it out. I haven't pulled it out of the sealed container in about 6 years now. I haven't skydived in about 8. I wanted to keep the condition of the chute in tact. I'm almost certain the chute has about 100-120 jumps on it. The rig has an eyeball on it (that's all I know)... And it has a reserve. I want to sell my gear, but I don't even know how to anymore... I am absolutely lost on how or what to do with it. It's just sitting in a sealed container. I think I paid about $1000 for all of it. Any advice on how I can get info on my gear, please let me know. It depresses me to do this, but I now need more money for my medical bills, and I just have to accept the fact that I have to leave the sport.
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Saltos duplos AFF Cessna 182 -
Hi, me and my friends are looking for a place to go for about a week in october where we can jump. We have been to Algarve, Portugal several times and would like to check some other places if possible. However, it seems very few places actually do full week jumping this late in the season. We hope to find some pointers here if possible :-D Is there any possiblities in Italy, Morocco, France, Slovenia..? Or Spain, we have also been to Sevilla and Castellon and those might be options for us if there is activity. Replys are welcomed, thank you! -
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VolkairJordan posted a gallery image in Miscellaneous
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Hey everybody, I'm pretty new to the sport but I love skydiving but before my passion for skydiving started my passion for business mechanics was and still is going strong. I'm really curious what the day to day operation looks like behind the scenes, what are some of the biggest hurdles you have to overcome to start a dropzone? What's the most difficult part of keeping a good dropzone up and running?
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Skydive Fretoy is the closest skydiving center from Paris. Come fly with us We're offering tandem skydiving, skydiving lessons & solo jumps for proflyers. We're opened every weekend starting from Friday noon and during weekdays according to our opening schedule. Please contact us for further information and reservation at +33 3 44 43 68 39. Visit also our website. Blue sky! The Skydive Fretoy Team -
Numerous people have asked me how to start and maintain a club in the past, so I have put together a little (or not so little) essay on how to do this. I started the skydiving club at the University of Maryland, College Park in September 1998. It has grown quite a bit since then and there is much more active participation by the members. The beginning of a club is very strenuous on the founder, as there is a lot of legwork and red tape to get through. But, someone has got to do it. Each school works differently for how a club could be formed. Anyway, you could find our constitution at: http://www.inform.umd.edu/StudentOrg/cpsc/Documents/Constitution.doc I thought that you could use that as a standard constitution to see what you could put into your constitution. Each school has different rules on what should be in a constitution but for the most part, they are all the same. You should see if you your school would actually permit such a club (skydiving) on campus. I say this b/c I have a friend who tried to start a club at U. Delaware and they didn't let him b/c the school takes on a different role with the student clubs there. At U. Delaware, the university has control over the club that they would be liable for any incidents. At U. Maryland, we are considered a student organization/club, NOT a sport club and the university allows us to do pretty much anything b/c they don't have any liability over us. The only thing that we must abide by are the basic university rules (non-discrimination, etc.). Okay, so I could only tell you how I started the club here at U. Maryland as I don't know how it works at other universities. We needed to fill out a student organization form that required a President's and Treasurer's signature. Moreover, it required a minimum of 7 other undergraduate students to sign and put their social security #'s (Student ID's) on it. Finally, we had to have an advisor sign it. The advisor could be anyone who is faculty/staff of the university as long as they are not an undergraduate student (I'm UMD's advisor now as I finally became a graduate student and TA for the university). Most professors are kind of wary about signing a form to be an advisor for a skydiving club. Therefore, you might need to go to your Office of Campus Programs (that is what it is called at UMD) and request some literature to show to the potential advisor on what they are liable for or what they are not liable for within the club. After you get them to sign the application and you have the signatures/SID #'s of other students and the constitution done, you hand it in to the Office of Campus Programs. It may take a little while for them to approve it as they need to read your entire constitution and pick out the details that need to be changed. After they approve it, you might want to apply to the Student Government Association (SGA) to be a club under them. They may require you to change the constitution a little according to their policies but this is usually a standard procedure and the Office of Campus Programs should be aware of it already. So, you end up filling out another application to the SGA with some student signatures and Student ID #'s (25 minimum in UMD's case). After the SGA approves it, you may have to just be a SGA club without funding from the SGA for the first year. Again, it depends on the school. Anyway, the treasurer or whoever you have as the contact person would get a notification that a budget is due if you are requesting funding from the SGA. You need to fill out a budget with items that you wish the SGA would fund you for. I find the best way to get the SGA to fund a skydiving club is to orient everything around SAFETY as you stress that you want to keep all the skydivers in the club safe. They rarely refuse this. But, if you choose to itemize the same exact item without using the terms safety, they may reject your request. For instance, if you want to get some funding for equipment, you could call it "Safety equipment", which you may have to put under "Contractual Services" (as that is what it would be considered at UMD. Another example would be time in the wind tunnel, which you could call "Free fall Safety Training". This would also fall under "contractual Services". At UMD, they have a few different categories that you could itemize things under such as "Transportation", "Advertising", "Contractual Services", "Subscriptions", and "Dues and Fees". "Transportation" would be the use of a motor pool that your school may have (i.e. van). "Advertising" would be something such as an ad in the school newspaper. "contractual services" typically means paying for a "lecturer" to come (in skydiving, it would be an instructor or some other skydiving expert). Or you could use "Contractual Services" for stuff such as Safety Training (as in my example of the wind tunnel). Moreover, you could designate the "Contractual Services" to alleviate the initial cost of 1st timers. The SGA would also be happy with this as you tell them the entire goal of the club is to get more students into the sport of skydiving and introduce diversity among the club while keeping it as cheap as possible. "Subscriptions" would be something like a subscription to "Skydiving Magazine" in the name of the club. But, this would be rejected if you don't have a centrally located office where students could come to. "Dues and Fees" would refer to the club membership fees to USPA ($200 the first year and $100 every year thereafter). The money from the SGA doesn't usually go directly to the club, but rather an invoice may need to be required by the company, which you want the SGA to pay with the Federal Employee # and mailing address for the check. The university may take a while to process this and send it to the company that you want the money to go towards. Our university is big on "Safety" and "Diversity". So, you could tell the SGA that you are trying to make the club as diverse and safe as possible, so you need their financial assistance. If the SGA says no, they are just pricks. You could make your club a "sport club" by contacting your school's "Campus Recreation Services" department and talk to them about it. They may fund you after a year of recognition or so. This funding may include club gear (rig, etc.) and owned/maintenance by the Campus Rec. Services. But, at UMD, it ends up being a huge hassle b/c the Campus Rec. Services requires meetings every week, a lot of paperwork, permission for the club to leave the state (our dropzone is in a different state), and permission to spend money where we want to. The only advantage of becoming a sport club is that the Campus Rec. Services may potentially buy us gear. Of course, this all depends on the school. Next thing you might want to consider (depending on the drop zone's waiver and the university's policies) is a legal waiver for your members to sign. You could get this done through the Student Legal Aid Office that some schools may have on campus. We started using the legal waiver when we first started but that got phased out b/c the drop zone's waiver covered us, as well as our club is just considered a "referrer" as opposed to a profit organization. A website helps the club enormously in getting information out to the public and to the students who don't quite understand what skydiving is about. You should have descriptions of the types of jumps (i.e. Tandem, AFF 1, and Static Line), prices of the jumps, and pictures of what each type of jump looks like. Also, you should have directions to the drop zone, contact information for possible students, events calendar, FAQ section, statistics on how skydiving is safer than driving your car or even walking on a treadmill. You could take a look at our club's website to get a general idea of what information you may want to have on your web page at: http://www.umd.edu/StudentOrg/cpsc You need to choose which drop zone will handle your club. You should call all of the local drop zones nearby and tell them that you are apart of a club at a university and you want to set some prices that are discounted dramatically from the regular price. If you are apart of a big university, you could tell them that and that you are potentially able to get hundreds of 1st timers each year. Also, you may want to work a club membership fee into the price of the 1st jump. That way, the club could make some money towards other things (i.e. boogies, gear, etc.). You could even have a "referral fee" worked into the price but that is your choice. Basically, you should have the total price be lower than the regular price by a good amount, which will increase your potential of getting students to jump through your club. Another thing to consider when choosing the drop zone is the type of aircraft they have. Drop zones with little Cessna's may not be able provide the necessary service for large groups. Also, if you were to charge a membership fee to people who are jumping through your club for the first time, you may want to give them something back in return such as a "free" t-shirt, sticker, etc. that would cost the club $5 per person. This money would be met up with the money from the membership fee. Anyway, this item that you would give the student would also allow you to get advertising on campus. A t-shirt would be worn around and others may ask that person about it. Then, they would probably direct those people to your club. You should choose 2 - 4 jump dates throughout each semester to start off with. That way, if someone can't make it 1 of the dates, they could make it to another one. Before each jump date, you may want to have an "information session" meeting somewhere on campus. In the meeting, you should go over what each type of jump is like, the costs, the places to sleep/shower at the drop zone, safety, clothing to wear on the jump, what skydiving feels like (not roller coaster type of feeling), pics/video of people who already jumped who are in your club, etc. The pics/video of professional skydivers are good to get the students interested but it is also good to have some of the experienced skydivers at the university. That way, the students would realize that it is very possible that they could become good at the sport while having a good time as you started out the same way at some point. You may want to have the club pay for some pizza, which sometimes is an initiative to get people to go to the meetings. It is okay b/c it will pay off as people will become interested in skydiving through the meetings. You could make this meeting as formal or informal as you wish. You might want to have some gear there to explain the different components of it along with its safety devices (i.e. AAD and RSL). Moreover, you might want an instructor from the drop zone come and make a speech about skydiving and the drop zone itself. Just remember this, the students are going to be very nervous and scared about their first jump, so keep that in mind when giving a speech in these meetings. Don't make any skydiving jokes mocking death. In fact, explain to them that skydiving is safer than most acts of daily living. But, still keep their attention by telling them that you are a student too and like to have fun. Just don't act cocky about it as the students will think that their safety would be in jeopardy. The most important key to these meetings is to smile and act extremely excited about the sport. The students will draw off of your enthusiasm and you will have more students wanting to jump despite the costs! Besides these information meetings, you should have general club meetings with the active members. You should discuss advertising issues, budget issues, etc. with them. This way, you all could brainstorm for more ideas as well as it would get the other members more involved with the club. This way, you don't have to do all the work. You could delegate the work so it is easy for everyone including yourself. Advertising: You should plaster the campus with fliers in the most NOTICEABLE areas. For example, at UMD, no one put fliers up on the bathroom doors in the dorms nor in the elevators until after I started doing it. Students notice these fliers while ignore the most used flier spaces (i.e. kiosks). You may want to make quarter sheet fliers and pass them out at a place on campus that many students frequent (i.e. Student Union or Dining Hall, etc.). Make the fliers have a dark background with light colored writing (i.e. white letters). This also, makes it more noticeable. Try not to have too much text on the fliers as students would just glance at it. You may want to just put "SKYDIVING" in large letters with information on the next jump or meeting along with your website. Other ways of advertising are pretty much infinite. You could put an ad in the school newspaper, put an ad on the football stadium's TV screen (or basketball), have some demonstration team jump onto campus with a banner trailing behind them, set up a table in front of the student union with pics of skydiving on a poster on the front of the table, co-host a happy hour with a local bar, or just email all of the presidents of other organizations (including frats/sororities) with information on your club. Fund raising would predominately be through your membership fees or referral fees. But, you could always purchase t-shirts or stickers, etc. with your club logo on it and sell them at a reasonable cost. If you have any more questions, please feel free to email me at: [email protected] Blue Skies, Soft Landings, Lewis D-25265
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Bodyflight Bedford in the UK proudly presents its monster of a wind tunnel to the world this summer. The flight chamber measures a massive 16 feet (5 metres) across and over 26 feet (8 metres) in height. This superb feat of engineering will produce unrivalled air quality. Bodyflight took over the ex-Ministry of Defence science facility which was built in the 1950s to test aeroplanes. In January renovation of the complex started and the wind tunnel is well on track to open, as planned, in August. The unrivalled space and air quality, along with our newly recruited skilled staff, will not only give non-jumpers an incredible leisure day out, but will mean that skydivers who choose to train in Bedford can receive superb air, plenty of room and expert coaching. All skydive 4-way blocks and many 8-way blocks can easily be turned in the tunnel, whilst others will find the consistent and fast wind speed superb for free flying. Bodyflight Bedford is located in a village near the county town of Bedfordshire, easily accessible by road, rail or aeroplane. The site is very close to Luton airport and is only a two hour journey by train from London airports. Bodyflight offers training rooms, lounge area, equipment shop, en-suite accommodation, bunk rooms, kit up area, top-of-the-range digital video systems, creeper areas, showers & changing rooms, large viewing area, lockers and snacks & drinks vending. The price structure will be published shortly which includes discounts for groups, block booking, coaching in all skydiving disciplines and various lessons to suit all abilities. The Bodyflight membership scheme ensures that 'frequent flyers' are rewarded for their loyalty. The new propeller and motor arrive in the next couple of weeks, testing will be throughout June and preview flights will be available in July. August will see the grand opening and party, with invitations going out shortly. If you're in Europe this summer, come and try us out; you won't want to go home. Bodyflight UK Web Site -
Skydive Sibson re-launches as Skydive Airkix for the 2008 season and offers £15 jump tickets for regular jumpers. It’s all change at Skydive Sibson, now known as Skydive Airkix. 2008 promises to be an amazing season at the UK’s oldest and most respected drop zone where over half a million successful skydives have been made since it started as the Peterborough Parachute Centre at Sibson Airfield. Joining the Meacock family, who founded the club in 1971, are two new partners. David Turner has purchased 50% of the centre and will manage the business. Airkix plc becomes a 20% partner, and will introduce new systems and coaching programmes to the drop zone (DZ) utilising skills learned in one of the most successful vertical wind tunnels in the World. There will be cross-benefits for Skydive Airkix jumpers and customers of the Airkix wind tunnel in Milton Keynes. There are also other major changes happening at Skydive Airkix. Following a fire that burned down the clubhouse in 2006, a brand new, purpose-built bar, restaurant and clubroom is planned to be open in time for Easter this year as the new season kicks off. To haul jumpers, Skydive Airkix has a completely overhauled 16 place, fast climbing, turbine-powered, LET 410 that is permanently based at the DZ. The aircraft, which comes with a complete set of spares, is owned by two of the Skydive Airkix partners. Best of all is the new simple pricing scheme for experienced jumpers who can purchase a ‘high’ (max altitude) ticket for just £15, this is considerably cheaper than at other UK drop zones. New coaching programmes will make Skydive Sibson the centre of excellence for freefly as some of the best flyers in the UK work seamlessly between the Airkix wind tunnel and the drop zone. First time students wishing to learn to skydive will also find the Skydive Airkix programme quite unique through a specially designed AFF (Accelerated Free Fall) programme that utilises effective wind tunnel simulation and training. A normal AFF course of 8 jumps currently offers about 6 minutes of freefall time, a Skydive Airkix course will start at a minimum of 16 minutes and the gold programme over 60. The centre will be offering low price tickets in unrestricted airspace up to 15,000ft, allowing jumpers to get more airtime in a shorter period for less money. In a new move to the skydiving industry, Skydive Airkix will be the first DZ to offer jumpers the opportunity to Carbon Offset. By adding a voluntary £2 to each jump ticket, Skydive Airkix will pay into a recognised established offset programme. The new clubhouse complex will feature a restaurant serving meals at all times of the day, a fully stocked bar and comfortable areas for jumpers and visitors. In addition, free Wi-Fi will be available as well as bunkhouse accommodation, camping and shower facilities. For further information visit: www.skydiveairkix.com
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14R1400. Sound like something out of a Swartzenegger movie? Its not exactly extraterrestrial, but as Simulators go, this one comes pretty close. Montreal businessman and investor, Alain Guerin, has embarked on a groundbreaking wind tunnel simulation project in Canada, involving a 1400-horsepower, energy efficient recirculing tunnel. 14R1400 is 14 ft in diameter, the first cylindrical flight chamber with four 350-horsepower fans. The foundation for Skyventures' $6 million green wind tunnel, a below-ground 100 ft long plenum installation is to begin in September, followed by erecting the 70ft tall frame. The project is set for an April 2008 completion date. 56-year-old investor, Alain Guerin owns several businesses as well as an accounting firm and lectured as a professor at the University of Quebec. Unlike most Chartered Accountants, Alain has a penchant for adrenalin-based sports. In the infancy of his skydiving career he found hitches getting through his certification which lead to revolutionary ideas. Alain says: "I needed a way to hone my skills in a safe, stress-free environment and every answer I found pointed to Skyventure." The design is like 'freefall virtual reality', offering skills honing for skydivers on all levels of experience. Unlike previous designs, the wall-to-wall airflow reduces the danger of falling off the column of air. Alain and his partner, Pierre Beaudoin have selected three locations in the greater Montreal are which will eventually be narrowed down. Skyventure Montreal will be constructed near a fully equipped shopping mall complex with movie theatres, restaurants etc. "Our mission is to provide the Quebec market with the most advanced, efficient, safe, reliable, powerful and realistic skydiving simulator in the world. More specifically, to become the most sought after, fun, exhilarating experience for the local population, the tourism industry, corporate groups and skydiving enthusiasts." adds Guerin.
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Iran's first skydiving centre also open to fairer gender PAAviation recently opened the world's first Muslim skydiving school in Tehran. In accordance with Islamic regulations, a team of female instructors have also been employed to facilitate local women's' enjoyment of the thrill of skydiving. Iran has one of the youngest populations of any country in the world. (Tehran's population clocks 14 million alone) and being Iran's only skydive centre the demand will be significant. The political and historical significance of this event extends to the center's exclusive use of a brand new Britten-Norman Islander aircraft, the first western - made plane supplied to Iran since the Islamic revolution. PA Aviation provides British and European instructors with full international certification to ensure their students are trained in a safe and highly professional manner. Sky-dives are pre-booked. A private villa with pool has been allocated as accommodation for jumpers and transport will be provided. Jumps typically take place from an altitude of 10000feet with freefalls of 300kph. A professional skydive cameraman is available to shoot the jumps, upon request. The drop zone can be viewed at the following address: http://www.aii-co.com/en/azadi.asp The centre is approved by the Iranian sports federation, Iranian Civil Aviation Organisation, Iranian women's institute and the Iranian ministry of culture. -
I'm sure by now you have heard the buzz in the Skydiving community about the newest SkyVenture wind tunnel being built in Lone Tree, Colorado. Well, the buzz is true; finally Colorado will have its very own indoor flight chamber. All of SkyVenture's latest technology wrapped in a single spectacular package and placed in the middle of The Entertainment District next to Park Meadows Mall located at 9230 Park Meadows Drive, in Lone Tree, Colorado. SkyVenture Colorado tunnel has all the latest improvements in design. The first thing you'll notice is the building is a single fully contained facility. Behind the unique architecture you will find a massive amount of very sophisticated components making up what is referred to as a "re-circulating tunnel". This technology has many advantages. By re-circulating the air they can maintain a very comfortable 70 degrees in the tunnel even when it is snowing outside. By virtually eliminating all influence from outside wind gusts and channeling the air early on it gives the ultimate smooth as silk air. Combining extremely tight tolerances on aerodynamic design and 1200 hp they have created the finest, smoothest 160mph+ air available in the industry. SkyVenture Colorado LLC is a private Colorado based company formed to own and operate the most technologically advance and realistic skydiving simulator in the world. A group of investors headed up by Norm Rosendale are not new to the world of entertainment. Norm was involved in the SkyCoaster amusement ride business and served on the Board for Sky Fun 1. He has flown hang gliders for over 25 years and owned and operated his own hang gliding business. Norm's mission is to create a comfortable atmosphere for the skydivers and non-skydivers to relax and interact with each other and share their dreams and experiences of flight. "If we all don't walk away with a smile on our face then we are not doing it right". Construction is going very well for a late December early January opening. Please sign up for e-mail updates or buy now and make your reservations to be one of the first fliers at www.SkyVentureColorado.com -
ELOY (September 14, 2005) - Skydive Arizona, an Arizona-based company that is one of the world's largest drop zones and skydiving centers, announced that it has filed a lawsuit against Cary Quattrochi and Ben Butler, the principals in 1-800-SKY-RIDE. The complaint filed in federal district court in Arizona alleges violations of federal law prohibiting false designations of origin, false or misleading descriptions of fact, and false or misleading representations of fact in commercial advertising. According to the complaint, the named defendants misrepresent the nature, characteristics, qualities, and geographic origin of their services and commercial activities. The complaint also alleges claims of consumer deception, unfair competition, and trademark infringement. The complaint alleges that the defendants have more than 900 websites purporting to offer skydives and related services at locations in Arizona and elsewhere, which are allegedly used in a common plan or scheme to deceive consumers and to perpetuate a scam on the public. The defendants are alleged to have a website that misrepresents the defendants as "Arizona Skydiving," "Skydiving Arizona," and as the "Skydiving Arizona Center" in the State of Arizona. According to the complaint filed by Skydive Arizona, the 1800Skyride represent that their facility at "Skydiving Arizona" is "the busiest skydive center serving Arizona," that they "run multiple turbine aircraft," and that they have "multiple large screen TV's in our hanger for you to use and watch your video for the first time," when in fact the defendants have no such aircraft, hanger, large screen TV's, or skydiving center in Arizona. Skyride allegedly have websites for fictitious skydiving centers in Phoenix, Tempe, Scottsdale, Mesa, Glendale, Gilbert, Yuma, Flagstaff, Chandler, Peoria, and Tucson, which are alleged to falsely represent that defendants have a skydiving center at each such location. Skydive Arizona has alleged that the defendants have one or more websites that include photographs of Skydive Arizona's aircraft which are misrepresented to be photographs showing defendants' aircraft. The complaint also alleges that many of the defendants' websites include a photograph of skydivers taken at Skydive Arizona, which is allegedly represented to be a photograph of the defendants' experienced staff of instructors, and the same photograph is allegedly misrepresented as the staff at defendants' fictitious skydiving centers in Green Bay, Wisconsin; Springfield, Illinois; Nashville, Tennessee; and Atlanta, Georgia. The complaint alleges a nationwide scheme to mislead consumers with websites for fictitious skydiving centers throughout the United States, while it is alleged that the defendants have no such physical facilities, instructors, or aircraft at the locations represented on the websites. Consumers are allegedly provided with a toll-free number to call to make reservations to skydive at the defendants' fictitious skydiving centers, and the telephone calls are allegedly routed to a telemarketing center in Georgia. The complaint also alleges that the defendants on at least one occasion fraudulently diverted telephone calls from a legitimate skydiving center to the defendants' telemarketing center after the owner of the business died, and while the decedent's widow and children were attempting to sell the business. Also named as defendants in the suit are the Atlanta Skydiving Center, Casc Inc., 1-800-SKY-RIDE, and 1800SkyRide.com. Skydive Arizona is represented by Sid Leach of the Phoenix law firm of Snell & Wilmer, L.L.P. About Skydive Arizona, Inc. Skydive Arizona has grown from a business established in 1978 by Larry and Liliane Hill, at a time when they owned a single Cessna 182. Operating under the name "Skydive Arizona" since 1986, the business has grown significantly, and is now recognized as the world's largest skydiving center. Skydive Arizona tallies over 150,000 jumps annually at its facility in Eloy, Arizona. Skydive Arizona provides state-of-the-art training, world-renowned instructors and staff, pilots, videographers and coaches, and has established an international reputation in the skydiving industry. For further information, contact Betsy Barnhouse at Skydive Arizona, 4900 Taylor Road, Eloy, Arizona 85231; telephone: (520) 466-0493. Also see: The SkyRide Virtual Network Scam What can we do about Skyride?
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Lone Tree Colorado - Norm Rosendale, CEO of SkyVenture Colorado, during ground breaking ceremonies announced the opening of SkyVenture at Lone tree near the end of the year. The facility design is a 1200 Hp. vertical wind tunnel for the entertainment and training of skydivers of all ages. The Colorado sky diving community has been waiting for construction and completion of the tunnel for approx. three years. Mayor Jack O'Boyle, Mayor of Lone Tree, believes the addition of SkyVenture along with Brunswick bowling and miniature golf in the Entertainment District of Lone Tree will bolster the plan for district development SkyVenture Colorado is looking forward to becoming a full fledge member of the skydiving community. For those divers wondering about the high altitude and the cold weather of Colorado, don't worry. The recirculating 1200 Hp will provide all the climate and wind necessary for excellent flying. SkyVenture will employ both full and part time instructors along with support staff. -
On September 7th, Skydive Arizona celebrated a ground breaking ceremony for the largest SkyVenture Wind-Tunnel ever, to be located right on the dropzone. Since then, construction has been underway for the only 14 foot tunnel that will satisfy flyers of all flying styles, using four 400 hp engines. Construction is expected to be complete in less than 70 days. There are many advantages to having a larger tunnel. This 14 foot diameter chamber will provide extra room for novice Relative Work flyers to practice 4-way. The additional room will increase the comfort level for newer tunnel flyers as they gain experience and adapt to the confined space. A total of 1,600 hp will easily lift Freeflyers and enable them to sharpen their skills within a few flying sessions. SkyVenture Wind-Tunnels have successfully proven themselves as extremely effective training-tools over the last years. Skydive Arizona’s world-champion staff will cater to your training needs and bring out the best in you. Competitive skydivers will be able to jump during the day, relax in the afternoon, and tunnel fly at anytime that fits their training schedule. Tunnel coaching will be available from highly experienced Tunnel flyers, in RW, Freefly, Freestyle and “Funstyle”. Arizona Airspeed, innovators of the tunnel-camp training concept, will provide coaching at any level with at least one Airspeed tunnel-camp per month. The tunnel facilities will host a Health-center with Yoga, Acupuncture and Guided Meditation, to add to the already offered services of Massage, Reiki and Pilates at the dropzone. Come to the sun, take advantage of the largest fleet of skydiving aircraft, rely on the Arizona weather and fly with the best. Skydive Arizona is the mecca of skydiving, with over 150,000 skydives made annually. As a global destination point for travelers the inclusion of the wind tunnel only serves to put the crowning touch on the most complete full service skydiving resort in the world. Whether you are a competitive skydiver, or someone that is looking to hone their skills SkyVenture Arizona is here …for you! -
As many of you already know, on Friday, August 13th, the category 4 Hurricane Charley hit Florida's west coast with winds of 145 mph. It cut through the state, right through Lake Wales, destroying the Florida Skydiving Center. The US CF Skydiving team was at Florida Skydiving Center, practicing for the upcoming World Championships in Croatia next month, when the hurricane hit. Thank God no one was killed or injured at the drop zone, although we are getting reports now that, so far, 16 people throughout Florida were killed by "Charley". The past two days, the US team has been there with the owner, Betty Kabeller-Hill and Roger Hill, going through the debris, searching for whatever they can salvage and cleaning up the terrible mess left by this destructive storm. They've had no power in the area for 3 days now and their cell phones are not getting a signal. Raul said the top half of the tower was on the ground. The phone line is working now. Betty said half the hanger is gone. "We've lost everything", she said. She also told me that there is no insurance. Some of the Mobile homes at Florida Skydiving Center were smashed to pieces and some were flipped over. People who lived at the drop zone are now homeless and I guess jobless too. The Skydiving community has been a family, always helping each other out in times of need. Here is an opportunity for us to reach out and help these people, our family, in their time of suffering and need. We've set up a "Florida Skydiving Center Disaster Fund" and a "FSC Employee Disaster Fund" for the people who lost their homes there. If you can help, please specify on your check or money order, the Disaster Fund you are contributing to and send your donation to Betty's home at: Florida Skydiving Center c/o Betty Kabeller-Hill 400 El Camino Drive #203 Winter Haven, FL 33884 If you want to use a bank wire transfer, Florida Skydiving Center already had an account set up for event registrations that you can use. Just specify in the Special Instructions that it is for the Disaster Fund. The account for bank wire transfers is: Wachovia Bank Routing # 063000021 Acct. # 2090002569803 Acct. name: Phoenix Air, Inc. If you have any questions, you can call the Florida Skydiving Center at 863-678-1003. Keep in mind that they are overwhelmed and hard at work trying to clean up. Anyone who can come out to help in the cleanup efforts, your help will be appreciated. Thanks! Gail Ramirez Forum Discussion and Updates PayPal Donation Information Lake Wales, Florida Skydiving Center Web Site
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On December 18th a DC-9 jet landed at Perris Valley Airport in Southern California marking the latest addition to the largest fleet of skydiving aircraft on the West coast. The DC-9 is an ideal jet for skydiving because the rear steps can be removed making for a clean exit out of the rear of the plane while in flight. Owner Ben Conatser said it will take several months to get all of the FAA paperwork processed but you can look for the plane to be flying during special events here at Perris Valley Skydiving and on the boogie circuit later this year. Ben's son and co-owner, Pat Conatser, said that he had been keeping an eye on DC-9s for sometime, waiting for the right deal to come along. He said they are quite fortunate with the plane they found because it is in such good shape both mechanically and cosmetically. "Really the bulk of the work needed to get this bird ready to fly jumpers is administrative." In addition to flying sport parachutists, Perris Valley Aviation plans on using the DC-9 for movie work as well as military training.
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The entire staff at Perris Valley Skydiving is excited to announce that Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld is joining the Conatser Family as a partner in the operation of Perris Valley Skydiving. Dan brings with him nearly 25 years experience in the sport and industry of skydiving. Starting the end of June, we will see Dan more and more often as he relocates his family to their new home in Southern California and quickly transitions to the full time scene. Best known for his unparalleled accomplishments in competitive formation skydiving, Dan BC is a founding member of the Arizona Airspeed team. He has earned 7 World and 19 National Championships in every formation skydiving discipline. Dan was also one of the organizers of the Go Fast 300-way, the current World Record for Largest Freefall Formation and has received numerous other skydiving honors. Dan BC's experience in the skydiving industry goes far beyond his competitive accomplishments and 18,000+ jumps. He has worked as an AFF Instructor and Evaluator, Tandem Master, Senior Rigger and Pilot. He has owned and managed drop zones, run schools and organized boogies and competitions. He also served as an S&TA; for the United States Parachute Association. Dan has appeared on national and local television numerous times representing our sport. As one of the sport's premiere skydiving coaches, he has shared his wealth of knowledge around the world and helped develop the training programs used by tunnelcamp.com. and at Arizona Airspeed events. Dan is very excited about this new direction in his long and illustrious career. The opportunity to become a part of what is already one of the most successful drop zones in the world, with the addition of a SkyVenture Wind Tunnel, is the kind of challenge he could not pass up. Dan is joined on his return to Perris Valley by wife Kristi and his two children Chloe (8) and Landen (4). Please join us in welcoming Dan and his entire family to the Perris Valley team!
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Taylor Air Sports has folded it's last parachute and closed it's doors at the Fairfield County Airport. "We told them we were not going to renew their lease when it runs out next May," said Steve Goodyear, president of the Fairfield County Airport Authority. Gene Taylor, president of Taylor Air Sports, said they decided to close the doors Jan. 1. Taylor Air Sports provided parachute training for students and carried out jumps at the airport during good weather. Taylor said they were running approximately 1,000 students through the school a year and providing between 3,000 and 4,000 jumps a year. "We've been there for 14 years, and I spent the last two years there full-time trying to make it a go," Taylor said. Goodyear said one of the reasons for not renewing the lease was concern about the number of jumps being made onto the runways with the air traffic coming into the airport, especially on the weekends. Taylor said the closure and the non-renewed lease was partly political and partly because he just didn't want to bother with it anymore. Ron Houser, a member of the Taylor Air Sports Skydiving team, said he would miss it. "Taylor Air Sports has run a safe, fun and friendly operation at the Fairfield County Airport since 1988," Houser said. "Their safety record is impeccable, as any of their customers can attest to." Houser said Taylor was the life at the airport. "Taylor Air Sports actually breathed life into the Fairfield County Airport. On Saturdays and Sundays, when TAS was open for business, a majority of the cars in the parking lot belonged to TAS members or skydiving spectators. There were countless people who had no interest in the airport or flying at all who would come there to watch the skydivers," said Houser. "With the departure of TAS and Gene Taylor from the Fairfield County Airport, that facility will lose a very valuable resource of aviation knowledge and experience. These are qualities that any airport of that size would be proud and happy to have available to it." Taylor said that he was looking around and trying to find a place to base the school, but it had been a tough couple of years. "If we don't find something by the beginning of the season, sometime by April or May, we will quit," Taylor said. "It's too bad, but that's life. I quit a lucrative full-time career to pursue this, but business is tough enough without having to fight the Good Ole Boy network at the Airport Authority. It's time to move on." Goodyear said the airport was looking to use the hanger for other aircraft.
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Marissa Partners, LLC has come to terms on a property located on the corner of Mission Trail Road and Corydon Street in Lake Elsinore CA. The 2 acre parcel is adjacent to the Lake Elsinore MotoCross Track and in very close proximity Skydive Elsinore. "The Company is very excited about this location and we see some wonderful opportunities to work with both Skydive Elsinore and Lake Elsinore MotoCross on this project." said a spokesperson for Marissa Partners, LLC. The Tunnel VS 1™ is the world's most advanced design indoor skydiving facility. The state-of-the-art complex will be the widest diameter commercial facility of its kind at 14 ft. and capable of producing wind speeds in excess of 150 mph. The Tunnel VS 1 Promotional GiveawayTo promote The Tunnel VS 1 the company is giving a way 500 T shirts for FREE to registered Dropzone.com users. The promotion will start run for 30 days till October 15, 2002. For more information and to register to enter the promotion, click on the link below. T-Shirt Giveaway Registration About Marissa Partners, LLC Marissa Partners is an investment holding company. Our primary business is the development and operation of The Tunnel VS 1™. The Company’s focus is to create and market an exciting new indoor sport called Sky Flying ™ and to provide a realistic skydiving and freefall simulator for skydiver and military training. CONTACT: Marissa Partners LLC Bruce Federici, 909/615-3052 [email protected]
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For about 20 years, Cathie Schlatter has been parachuting at Frankfort’s airport. She has six more days. Skydive Indiana decided to pack up its parachutes and leave the Frankfort airport at Thursday night’s Frankfort Airport Authority meeting. Dave Geyer, president of Skydive Indiana, presented the authority a contract to sell his hangar for $90,000, and the authority accepted, said Mike Reeder, president of the airport authority. Geyer has been in Frankfort for nine years and was in the fourth year of a 20-year lease with an option for five additional years. “They made us an offer to buy the building and cease operations, and we accepted,” Reeder said. Schlatter said Frankfort’s days of having sky divers are over. “Nobody wants to come here,” she said. “Frankfort’s airport has a reputation for being hostile, not just in the jumping community, but in the entire aviation community. (Geyer) was forced to close up shop. It’s sad for me because it used to be so different. Frankfort’s airport used to be a really fun place to go.” Now Schlatter and other Skydive customers will search for another landing zone, she said. “When a restaurant closes up, you go down the street and look for another one,” she sad. “For us, it’s a little harder. But lots of communities love us.” Skydive Indiana will stop jumping at the airport within the next week and will vacate the premises within 30 days, according to the resolution signed by the authority. Skydive Indiana has battled both the authority and Frankfort Flight Services, who runs the day-to-day operations of the airport, for the past two years. In April 2001, Frankfort Flight Services demanded Skydive Indiana stop allowing parachutists to land at the airport because it was dangerous to the parachutists and planes. In response, Skydive Indiana went to court. Three months later, the move landed both sides in federal court. Eventually, both sides agreed to let the jumpers return to the Frankfort airport on weekends until the FAA decided whether they are safe. Skydive Indiana also agreed to dismiss its lawsuit against the authority and the city. Last month, Geyer complained that the reduced hours hampered his business and that his jumpers suffered harassment from the airport’s management. In 1999, Skydive Indiana customers performed 6,000 jumps; in 2000, they did 5,800 and in 2001 they did 3,300, Geyer said. Even though Skydive Indiana will not be jumping at the airport, the FAA will still make a ruling, Reeder said. “(The FAA) won’t just drop this,” he said. “I don’t know when, but they will make a ruling.” The authority is not sure what it will do with the hangar, Reeder said. “We might work with the city engineer and fire chief to see if we can rent it for aircrafts,” he said. “It could act as storage, although other options are available.” Skydive Indiana and Frankfort Flight Service first clashed in July 2000, when both wanted to manage the airport. The authority was unable to decide, with former authority members Stan Smith and Bill Clinton in favor of Geyer’s group and Reeder and Gene Watchbaugh in favor of Frankfort Flight Services. The authority turned the decision over to the Frankfort City Council, and Frankfort Flight Services was awarded the contract. In the following year, both Smith and Clinton were not reappointed to the authority by Mayor Roy Scott. Geyer could not be reached this morning for comment.
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Today, Sky Venture announced its acquisition of TunnelCamp.com and the construction of Sky Venture Arizona. Alan Metni, former Arizona Airspeed member and owner of TunnelCamp.com, will join Sky Venture as its CEO. Sky Venture also made public its immediate expansion into new markets with tunnels slated for construction in Southern California, New Jersey, Chicago and Texas. Sky Venture recently begun franchise operations in Malaysia and is building a tunnel in the UK for its military. The company has the capacity and financial ability to build multiple units simultaneously. Sky Venture Arizona - a second generation Vertical Wind Tunnel located just outside Phoenix - will be less than 20 minutes drive from Sky Harbor Airport and 45 minutes from Skydive Arizona. Site selection, financing and design are complete and the company has begun fabrication of the enormous steel superstructure and components. Sky Venture Arizona will reportedly be faster, smoother and quieter than previous Sky Venture tunnels and superior to any other known design. Sky Venture Arizona will produce 45% more horsepower than its Florida predecessor and will be optimized for the sport skydiving and military markets (as part of the expansion plan, the Florida tunnel will also undergo substantial upgrades). Sky Venture has filed for additional patents on many of the improvements. Bill Kitchen is the inventor of the Sky Venture Vertical Wind Tunnel and the majority owner of Sky Venture. Kitchen built Sky Venture Florida as a working prototype in 1997. Its unique design employs multiple ducted fans situated above the air column to provide a flying experience almost identical to free fall. The device has not only proved the concept but has been operating profitably for the last three years. Recently, teams and individuals of all skill levels have flooded Sky Venture with business. As a result, Sky Venture Florida is now running over-capacity, often booked weeks or months in advance. The upsurge in demand has prompted the large expansion program announced by the company today. The company recently completed the engineering and plans for a recirculating tunnel to be used in colder climates. Alan Metni is a former member and manager of the United States National Formation Skydiving Team, Arizona Airspeed, and the owner of TunnelCamp.com. TunnelCamp.com has both benefited from and contributed to Sky Venture's success. TunnelCamp.com has trained more than 350 skydivers of all experience levels at SkyVenture. Its popular training camps are generally sold out 45 to 60 days in advance. TunnelCamp.com has flown more than 900 hours at Sky Venture and is reportedly the largest single civilian purchaser of tunneltime in the world. TunnelCamp.com plans to offer training camps at Sky Venture Arizona and Sky Venture California in the latter part of 2002. For further information, please contact Bill Kitchen ([email protected]) or Alan Metni ([email protected], 480-283-2603).
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Cape Town - Two Cessna aircraft and parachutes worth R6 million were destroyed in a suspected arson attack at Melkbosstrand near Cape Town on Tuesday morning, Western Cape police said. The fire started around 03:00 in a hanger at a parachute club said Superintendent Wicus Holtzhausen. "The hanger and everything inside it have been destroyed." The club is situated on Peter Dale's farm along the West Coast Road between Atlantis and Melkbosstrand some 20km from Cape Town. "Dale noticed the flames and alerted police," Hotzhausen said. "Details are still sketchy, but we suspect that it was arson," he said. "There is no electricity or any other power supply that could have caused the fire." A number of homeless people live in the dense vegetation along the West Coast Road in the immediate vicinity, but no witnesses have yet come forward. Equipment lost in the fire includes: 11 Vector Tandem Rigs 12 Student Rigs Cessna 206 Cessna 182 Video Equipment Private gear of more than 20 members. The whole hangarThe club is looking for donations or assistance in any form and specifically requests that you contact them if you have decent second hand Vector Tandem gear for decent prices. Please contact Peter Mauchan (Long Pete) at: [email protected] Skydive Cape Town www.skydivecapetown.za.net
