Aerograd Kolomna

I was supposed to propose today. I had been in constant contact with the aerodrome, but when we arrived on the first train from Moscow we were confronted by an extremely rude and hostile woman at the cash desk, who ridiculed us for trying to tandem jump today. Bizarrely, there was no communication between the administration which whom I had been talking and this cashier who is apparently the focal point of this aerodrome. In total we travelled for 8 and a half hours, I didn't get the chance to propose, and my girlfriend is currently wondering why we went through all that today - as I am, considering I was constantly in contact with the centre over the past month and they made no comments saying that if we arrived at 2pm that we wouldn't be able to jump by the closing time of 6pm. One of the worst days of my life

Aerograd Kolomna has everything you need to have a skydiving vacation, from the hotel on the place, with bar and restaurant, 4 active fast twin props engine, the LET L410, confortable and fast, a beatiful MI8 chopper,( they have also a Porter but they don't fly it ), from where I' made the first chopper jump at 13000ft, for 13 euro ( 15 dollar ) jump ticket, and just anything you want at a dz. Also 2 tunnel, Freezone Indoor Skydiving, at one hour driving. If you consider the cab cost you 50 euro ( 60 dollar ) for one hour ride, if you share with friends is really affordable. On top of that, for an european or north american the price are excellent, for both jump ticket and tunnel-time. I' also made my First Flight Course for Wingsuit. If you are training with your team, the low cost tickets make a big difference for your budget. The only negative thing I' can say was the fact to be " alone" because I' don't speak Russian, otherwise the locals are cool. If you are in Europe, it worth the trip.

Did a checkout jump last week and here are the impressions:

Pros:
- Professional instructor that thoroughly reviewed/rehearsed with me everything prior to the jump. My prior jump was a month ago at another DZ but they had me review everything anyways which is always good idea because I had under 100 jumps
- Hotel right beside DZ was amazing and located not far from scenic city of Kolomna. Definitely recommend stopping there to check out local kremlin/museums if you got time or into that stuff
- There were two aircraft constantly taking off and landing so I didn't have to wait long after getting the equipment
- DZ is open 7 days a week (from 9am to sunset) but it is packed on weekends
- All staff speak decent English

Cons:
- DZ is about 100 km from Moscow and train trip will take a few hours. Getting there by car would be ideal. Also stay in the hotel overnight if you can.
- Admin staff is kinda rude but will help if you ask. First time they will make you run around from booth to booth filling out paperwork which seems like waste of time
- Keep an eye on the bill. There is only one location where you pay for things and you take the receipts to the shop/rental place and pay the amounts the tell you so double check everything because they won't do it for you

Overall: great professional DZ with a few minor points to improve

As its my home DZ i love it!
You can find many facilities such as 24/7 working restaurant and all types of accomodation from 1$ for camping area and till 150$ for the new hotel builded right at the dz. At the moment we have 4 Let410 planes and 1 Mi8 helicopter in operation. Also you can find proper load organizing for FS and FreeFly along with professional instructors for learning any kind of discipline. All the summer Olav Zipser hosting his First School of Modern Skyflying at our DZ. Also 4 times a week we organize Tunnel camps in Freezone WT 12,5ft and 16,5ft in the same building, if you taking tunnel time transfer coms along only with gazoline fee. And the most important ticket price now is 13Euro

In general its a skydiving disneyland!

Before we went, we emailed the DZ and made bunkhouse reservations and got travel instructions from Moscow. It was very helpful. It was a long and very crowded train from Moscow to Kolomna, it makes a lot of stops and people smoke and urinate between cars. This is Russia and not the DZ, just cannot omit these details.

When we arrived at the DZ, we had the woman we had been corresponding with via email help us get checked in and fill out wavers. She was lovely and very helpful. But we found out that jumpers with less than 100 jumps are required to do a check dive similar to AFF level 5/6 for ~ 2000 py. (I had 90 and a B license) After that was completed, my self and my friend with 160 jumps tried to do a 2 way. We were told by someone doing a pseudo load organizing in Russian that we were students and must do a solo jump. After that we were allowed to jump together. Something to prepare for if your are newer and looking to increase your numbers.

Rules - I dont know what Russian rules are regarding skydiving, but there are some notable exceptions to USPA standards here.

No seat belts on the aircraft - only helmets until 300m, Exit order is dictated based on the feel of the load organizer but the jumpers don't usually follow, so freefly is interspersed with belly fliers and then maybe a 4 way with camera.
Some of the rental rigs aren't equipped with an RSL. You are basically required to jump with a suit - "t-shirts will get caught in reserve handles."

Some of the things I did like. They count the jumpers out of the plane and on the ground for every load. There is an onsite medical room and they pick you up immediately with minor injuries and treat you there. They use an all computerized manifest system with cards preloaded with your money. They turned a ton of loads, they were running 3 L-410 aircraft and a helicopter. There were 50 loads after a weather hold until 11 am. Helicopter loads don't cost extra, but you have to catch it before it breaks down.

It was a good experience and a lot of fun. Just be ready to adjust to a different jumping climate.

Very good dropzone.

Great coaching, massive landing area, super fast packing.

Staffs were very friendly and helpful and they all speak good English.

Highly recommended dropzone, one of the best I ever been :)

Will visit again for sure.

We have been to Aerograd / Kolomna two times - this year and last year. Unfortunately it was our last trip to this DZ.
The good things on this DZ are fast explained:
- ticket price
- aircrafts
- safety-conscious

Now we come to the list of bad things:
- the "hotel" has the standard of a better youth-hostel in Europe and is more expensive. (Windows without mosquito net, bathrooms without windows and airing, ants coming out of the splices in the bathroom, windows besides the airing of the kitchen)
- The "restaurant" is expensive as Munich city, the food is between edible and awful, the servings are small, the service is horrible (no English, up to 45 min waiting time for a beer), in ten days we didn't get one correct bill;
- The cafe is also expensive as Munich (a small coffee with milk is about 3-4EUR)
- The only announcements from manifest which are in English are load calls; for the reasons of holdings or how long they will take you have to ask separately
- You have to count your jumps because there are frequently errors in the jumping-bill
- A lot of holdings because of the military
- They raised the ticket prices against last year by 15% (actual 500RUB (13,5 EUR) when you buy 50 tickets;
- they reduced the exit level from 4300m (at the first exit) to 4000m; so if you are the last exit you are on 3800m;
- They take more money for the helicopter (Mi-8) tickets now, but that doesn't matter because it doesn't work anyway :(

Result: If you only want to jump and don't worry about anything else, it's maybe worth the trip (depends on the holdings). But if you like to have a cold beer and good meal after more than 10 jumps a day, without driving to Kolomna to go to a even more expensive restaurant, don't do it!

Ok, Ive only been skydiving for a few months and I learnt at Kolomno, doing my AFF with an english speaking instructor. Since this is the only DZ ive been to I cant compare it, but Ive met lots of people from abroad there, really lots of people and I ask them all how they rate it, and they all say its the best place they've been. Some of the comments they told me was, "as a skydiver, all you want to do is get in the air, and here it is hassle free to get airborne", another guy was saying about how beautiful the scenery is, and then I started to look around myself and I have to admit, its beautiful.

Ive never had any hassle regarding admin etc, they are all friendly and theres a few nice looking chicks there too, which aint too bad ;)

I regularly stay in the bunk house and ive stayed in the hotel before and it a nice western style hotel, not your typical soviet style.

One gourp of foreigners I met were wingeing about the service and prices in the restaurant, but since then I know that the menu has expanded, some cheap dishes some more pricey, and they have more staff working there now. I guess as with anything, the longer the restaurant and DZ exists, the more they improve it.

Also, if you want cheaper food, there is a canteen which does hot sandwiches etc.

I currently live and work in Moscow and I had an offer to move to a different location for work, bu this DZ has been a major factor in me staying.

Laters

My home DZ since I started skydiving a year ago. Last November I jumped two days at Eloy, and Kolomna does not lag behind in terms of manifest and load organisation, communication, and infrastructure. This winter they started year-round operations on weekdays and weekends, a new restaurant has opened, and with global warming there is a definite improval of wintertime air temperatures.

Kolomna is home to a number of the best formations in Russia and their jumpers are regular - and successful - participants at skydiving events abroad. During summer season you will meet foreigners from as far as South America, benefitting from the low prices for jumps (USD 16) and AFF courses. With announcements in Russian and English and widely English speaking staff there are few language hurdles.

Problematic is the transfer from the Sheremetyevo airport in the north of Moscow, so if you have a chance, book a flight into the nearby Domodedovo airport! Visa and registration is a challenge typical for Russia, and not related to the DZ as such. Being a Moscow resident I can't say to what extent DZ staff are actually involved. They probably send an invitation for presentation at your nearest Russian consulate, and then help you to get your registration stamp upon arrival. Talking to foreign skydivers at the DZ last year I don't remember any critical remarks in that respect.

Several bunkhouses and a small hotel are available at the DZ, and all year round they organize evening fun, ice hockeying in winter, BBQs, music and so on. Visitors usually spend most of the evenings at the DZ or in the nearby town of Kolomna. Moscow is a two hour drive away and best visited on a weekend day before departure.

I love the place for it's friendliness, cosmopolitan atmosphere, and high standards in the sport.

After being there in 2006 I wrote a 90% positive review. We went there again this year to do 4-way training. Now I feel that I have to correct my first review. Still Kolomna is a very professional dropzone and you can still easily make 10 jumps a day, but there are a few more cons now: Their ticket prices are raised. Due to two days bad wheather we didn't manage to make the 50 jumps ticket price level - so we had to pay all our 36 team jumps (x5) as we would only make one jump. Calculating all the extra costs for the ride from the airport, visa + airline ticket we came to the conclusion that we may as well jump in Spain for less and warmer (in May).
The other reviews are right regarding the restaurant. The quality and the service don't match the price level. As for the accommocation we again stayed in the cosy wooden bungalows for a reasonable rate.
Meanwhile Aerograd has some helpful girls taking care of typical foreigner problems. Anyway regarding service one cannot compare Russia with Japan. Knowing how service usually can be in Russia Aerograd staff is to be considered very friendly. Alhough having thousands of jumps they don't behave it.

Having to cut away on our last day the rigger repacked the reserve nicely within an hour. As my reserve is quite big for my container size, I didn't even expect him to get it in properly.

Conclusion: If you want to make as many jumps as possible within a limited time with very professional staff at hand you are at the right place. If you go there to save money - make sure to include all side costs into your calculation.

Markus Bartels

We went for team training, and can not fault the ablity to get on a load or the size of the landing area, the only small problems were with the manifest and office when it came to visa's. top tip, keep a track of yor account while your there.

I visited Aerograd Kolomna in June ´06. The place exceeded my expectations. The mastermind behind the Dropzone development certainly knows what western skydivers appreciate.

The location is ok (some 110 km South from Moscow) and the dropzone was happy to help with the transportation. The dropzone is a privat compound with several guards on watch.

The city of Kolomna is 6 km away from the dropzone. It´s a basic Russian town I guess. Nothing special there and nobody really speaks english.

I might say that the most important thing was that I felt safe and welcomed during my stay. The organization was very efficient with lots of friendly staff. The language barrier was a bit of a problem but it didn't really cause any big problems.

Jumping felt safe with an experienced load organizer and a doctor on-site. Pilots did the spotting and the manifest was very efficiant. You could easily make 10-15 jumps per day thanks to the quick packers.

One anecdote: There's a river right next to the dropzone. If you land on the other side, they´ll send a helicopter to pick you up. (Been there, done that).

The spots were accurate (besides the one incident mentioned above) and the landigs (direction, swoop area etc) carefully instructed.

The facilities were ramping up. Lots of indoor space, teamrooms, tv´s, internet accesses etc. They had built nice bungalows & bunkhouses. And there was still more to come. Nice clean showers with hot water. The toilets were quite Russian but ok and clean. I was though a bit disappointed by the small cafeteria in a tent. If you were really hungry after a day of jumping you had to head for the city. I guess they are enhancing the restaurant quite soon.

I'm sure to visit the place again.

I've spent the best 2 weeks in my life here...simply wonderful!
Staff is professional, kind and...girls are veeeeeeeeeery good ;-)
Well organized, with a great landing area and incredible aircraft!
The best packer is there...2'55" to pack a Sabre2 135!!!
I've found food awesome also...ZAPIKANKA IS GREAT!!!
Thanks to all staff members, see you again next summer ;-)

I visited kolomna with an 8-way crw team in june 2005.
Despite the fact that we wanted to exit at 7000ft and then fly across the dz building canopy formations this seemed to cause no inconvenience to the dropzone due to the very professional staff that run the dz control and on the busiest day they still did 58 loads and were still jumping when we left the dz.
Kolomna was operating an MI-8, let-410 and an AN28. Even at the busiest time we had no more than 30 minutes between manifesting and jumping but 10-15 minutes was more normal.
This dropzone is rapidly becoming one of the best in the world and offers excellent facilities with all buildings being very modern and well maintained. The recently completed toilet and shower block is as good as you would find on a dz anywhere, and accommodation is also rapidly being completed on the dropzone.
There are two large covered packing areas, good catering facilities and the dropzone is large and hazard free.
I would recommend this dropzone to anybody but it may be worth making the effort to learn a little russian before you go, however if this is not possible you will get by without too much trouble as the staff and local jumpers are all very friendly and helpful with a few of them speaking good english.
Would i return, definately.
Enjoy.

This was my first visit to Russia and I spent 4 weekends jumping at Aerograd where I easily got 46 jumps. I could have got double that amount if I was at the club from 1st load to last load every day.

Everyone was very friendly and even though there was the obvious language barrier by learning a few Russian words you can easily get by.
The food hall is great and by pointing or making friends with one of the regular jumpers you can eat very well.
The toilets and showers are very good and the club is busy building huts to stay in which should be ready in the next few weeks.
From the moment I got out of the taxi at the DZ (3pm) I was made to feel very welcome and after the paperwork and a slight weather hold I was up in the air (4pm) and managed 6 jumps by 9pm.

My only problem was that I could not stay longer.
This is a very very well organised professional safety conscious club.
I do not have a negative thing to say about this club.
My thanks to all staff and club members for making my trip to Aerograd very memorable.
I WILL BE BACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

I have just got back from a week at Kolomna and would definitely reccomend this dropzone to anyone else. The waether was excellent (32 degrees in the shade) and the facilities easily rival those in the US. We easily managed 10 jumps a day with one rig and the packers are excellent. This would be an excellent place to team train (approx £7 per jump) and the dropzone are building 'huts' for people to stay in that look like they will be really good. just beware the food isn't too good and the mosquitos are pretty hungry about this time of year!

I was in Kolomna two times for my skydiving vacation and it's amazing place!

They have great aircrafts (a few An-28 and Mi-8 helicopter) and very friendly stuff. Toilets and showers could be better, but it's one of the part of russia. Restaurants are also big adventure, but food is cheap and delicious ;)

The only problem is very poor communication via e-mail with DZ operators. We wanted to go there last year, but we need a visa to Russia and nobody wanted to send us an invitation sheet. This is why we decided to go to another place somwhere in Europe.

They will work with these cons and they will have thousands of skydivers from diferent countries every year.

They are still in working progress with their DZ facilities. Bath and toilets were still not acceptable, the last time I was there. Bunkhouse and restaurant could use some work too.
But they are working on overall repairs of this charming old military DZ base!

Besides from this, its a really great DZ. Great new video and team rooms. Good packing + creeper facilities.
Very nice staff, efficient aircrafts (MI8 + AN28). Good prices. :)

I spent 3 weeks here this summer and on the whole enjoyed it... 300 rubles a jump (about $10) and about a third of those were from an MI8 helicopter which was a nice novelty! They also have 2 AN28's running so there is rarely much of a wait between manifesting and getting in the air. The busiest day saw 60 loads taking off! The landing area is big and there were coaches for both FF and RW available whilst I was there.

There are downsides... some of the non-jumping facilities are a bit basic but they are working very hard to improve them. When I left in July the bathrooms were close to being finished - another week and I would have been able to have a hot shower! (I needed one after 3 weeks camping!)

There is a bar/ food hall which is great if you want to save your money for jumping - but for 'western' style food or if you you want something a bit more interesting you have to head into the nearby town.

Getting to the DZ from Moscow is cheap on the bus but a bit daunting - I was lucky to find a Russian jumper in Moscow who helped me out with finding the right bus. The DZ can arrange collection from Mosocow which if there is several of you is probably worth the extra cash.

The weather was mostly good, only one day in 3 weeks where there was no jumping at all and a few other days where wind / clouds were a bit iffy (for me) but jumping was still possible.

There are lots of non-russian jumpers there, either for fun jumping or training and the DZ had a pleasant international feel. During the week there were more FF than RW jumpers but at weekends there was excellent RW organising, 20+ ways and even a formation load using an AN28 and the MI8.

Several of the manifest staff and fun jumpers speak excellent english and many of the international jumpers also speak english as a second language. I had to rely on various Russian jumpers to explain the debriefs for the RW loads to me but no one seemed to mind helping me. For getting there, getting around town and so on some basic Russian would have been really useful but I managed to get by with a phrase book and lots of pointing!

A great DZ for training or just getting lots of jumps in. When jumping's over if you want to party, beer and vodka are cheap and plentiful and skydivers can make a party happen alomst anywhere!

I have now been there 2 weeks last year, and 2 weeks this year. Both together with a lot of other danish skydivers, and making a holiday out of it. 60 jumps in the 12 days taking it easy. We came as a group as 40-50 people, so they had 2 very good looking AN-28 on the DZ in addition to the MI-8 helicopter.

It is a nice friendly DZ, but the language can be a bit of a problem. Try to learn the russian letters before you go, and you can understand many signs.

In the weekends, Victor is organizing the RW group, which is mostly fun jumpers, and I felt welcome. Rest of the staff is also very friendly.

They are currently building up the DZ, and a lot of buildings had appeared since last year, and they were working on the the bathroom facilities.

They love safety. chest strap is checked before you can move past boarding area, they pull a bit higher, they won't make loads lower that 1200 meters (4000 ft). And we had one guy landing out in the woods, and they used the helicopter for Search and Rescue.

I will most certainly return.

My skydiving group found this drop zone as having a safety concerned Chief and staff that is also accomodating and friendly to eveyone. Kolomna is a nice place to skydive. Will be happy to return soon for another visit.
B.J. Alexander USA

I've just returned from a 10 days skydive trip to Kolomna, and it has been a true fairytale. I made 84 6$-jumps from the Mi-8 helicopter. Nice and friendly people, good atmosphere, fifty-fifty freefly-RW, good and cheep food and next year there will be a windtunnel at the DZ. This DZ is indeed a perfect 10!!

Za poslednee vremja eta dropzona stala naibolee populjarna v Moskovskom regione. Ochen' otvetstvennye instruktora, teplaja ukladochnaja, kvalificirovannye riggery, teplaja atmosfera, vybroska s vertoleta po GPS, razlichnye vidy obuchenija, magazinchik na territorii aerodroma.
Kolomenskij aerodrom obladaet samym bol'shim polem, chto vazhno dlja novichkov i delaet ego esche bolee populjarnym sredi nachinajuschih.

Lately this dropzone become the most popular in the Moscow region. Very responsible instructors, warm packing-room, qualified riggers, warm atmosphere, dropping from the helicopter by GPS, different types of educating, small shop on the territory of aerodrome.
Dropzone possesses a largest airfield that it is important for beginners and does its else more popular among beginners.

This is the really best DropZone in Russia today. The largest field, big and fast helicopter, professional staff.
I jump there every week-end and I like this place and its atmosphere.
I can recomend this dropzone to anyone who wants to jump in Russia as the primary choice.

Antonio.