With your experience, you should be fine. I believe that most anyone that has at least an "A" and receives a solid briefing should be fine. You just need to be aware that the winds blow nearly all the time. Don't expect to be jumping after around 3:00 or so. Skydive Hawaii/Pacific Skydivers share the same strip of grass, one using the farther end than the other. They're not small, I'd estimate 100 yds wide, 300 yards long or so. But there are very tall trees to the north that create rotors from the tradewinds, there are powerlines everywhere along the road, and the primary out is about half a mile away at a polo field (don't land there during a match). The skydive operations (both DZ's) have administration, packing, etc on the south side of the landing area, so they're hazards too. Beautiful place to jump, great people at Skydive Hawaii. You just wanna not find yourself too far west (towards runway) of the landing spot on most days. This pic is of my 50th jump under a big boat 190. The person taking the pic is at the fenceline on the south part of the landing area. You can see the north fence, trees, and powerlines. The west side of the landing area is the runway (planes are not flying that far west of it when I've been there) and the east side has a fence and powerlines, it's the airport access road.
(This post was edited by DSE on Oct 23, 2007, 4:27 AM)
I've only visited once. It was early June and the wind usually started edging up to around 25 mph around noon. I got there early in the morning and didn't have any problems getting a few jumps before it got too windy for my taste.
I did my AFF and first 40-50 jumps there around this time of year, and from what I understood, the winds are different at other times. But when I was there, during the early morning and prior to noonish, the winds were pretty steady from either east or west. If they happened to be from the north (?) they would land at the other end of the runway, although it was a B license or higher thing so I never did. Pretty much everyday around noon-2 pm the winds would shift from the south and all operations shut down, as the North Shore was only a couple hundred feet beyond the north side of the dz.
I learned there, so the winds didn't bother me. I didn't know any better anyhow. But now I can see how some might think they're really bad if you haven't been exposed to winds like that before. From what I remember, they seemed to me to be quite predictable, which was comforting.
Anyway...that's my 2 cents.
Oh yeah, one more thing...when I was there, and this was 6 years ago, PISC did an "early bird" load which they manifested the day before and it took off just after sunrise. I got on every one I could, absolutely awesome views, you could see some of the other islands silhouetted by the sunrise.
(This post was edited by dmetz on Oct 23, 2007, 10:06 AM)
No there not to bad, it can get a little bumpy at times but it's not too bad. SDH requires a "B" licence now for visiting jumpers. And you don't have to worry about polo matches going on right now they just finished there last match about 2 weeks ago.
DSE's comments are spot on. My home DZ (PISC) for past few years.
With your experience and jump numbers, should not be a problem. As always, a thorough DZ brief will round out the details.
The only thing not mentioned was the south "Kona" winds. It's that time of year again and when they start, even the most experienced Hawaii jumpers stay grounded.
We'll see you out here then! As most said, with your jumps and a good briefing that you pay attention to you will be fine. On south wind days none of us jump b/c of the mountain turbulance. I've learned out here and its a great group of people who all look out for each other and any newcomers. See you soon!
The only thing not mentioned was the south "Kona" winds. It's that time of year again and when they start, even the most experienced Hawaii jumpers stay grounded.
Kona (west) winds usually aren't a problem. If south winds get REALLY strong, we'll concider stopping operations. There's no, more experienced jumpers then the Skydive Hawaii staff.
The big trees on the east side of the LZ mentioned in DSE's post have been almost completely chopped down over the past month or so. Every one of them will be gone soon thus eliminating those rotors.
DSE (D 29060)
Moderator
Nov 19, 2011, 10:53 AM
Post #18 of 19
(535 views)
Shortcut
The big trees on the east side of the LZ mentioned in DSE's post have been almost completely chopped down over the past month or so. Every one of them will be gone soon thus eliminating those rotors.
Did they get the dispute over the trees worked out with the neighbors? That would be terrific!!
hawaiiLanding2.jpg
