Start Skydiving

There are no complainers here. Everyone gets along very well and invites everyone into other groups. There are no cliques here that isolate new jumpers or styles of jumpers. The talent here ranges from beginners to IE's and S&TA's. You can learn anything you want to learn as the range of disciplines vary from RW, Accuracy, Freefly, Big Ways, Canopy piloting and CReW, to wing suits and Pro team activities and trainers.
Best DZ I have been to in my 15 years of jumping

Start Skydiving offers something for everyone-- from first time jumpers to world class competitors in any discipline.

The facilities, equipment, and aircraft are first-rate and well-maintained. The staff are professional and friendly.

Start Skydiving is expertly run & it shows!

I can't explain the joy I had with my first jump. I only wish I could have started earlier in my life. But my goal is to do this again next year at 74. The guys were awesome and very helpful and full of fun. The gal in the office was very helpful and friendly, the area great! I would recommend sky jumping to anyone interested. After seeing my pictures and video, my friends are ready to take the jump!

I did my AFF with Start Skydiving Ohio and I could not have been happier. Everyone at the dropzone was really nice and more then happy to answer questions... Unlike some other dropzones I have been to who only care about getting you up in the air as $oon as po$$ible.

I am an engineer by education and I like things done the right way, especially when peoples life is in question... I dont think there is a better dropzone out there.

Start skydiving is a fantastic place for jumpers at every level. First time tandems have the experience of a lifetime with incredible tandem masters and videographers. AFF students receive some of the best instruction in the country. And experienced jumpers take advantage of all the extraordinary organizers who call Start their home.

Fun jumpers never have to wait long for a load, because they can electronically manifest themselves one one of the several conveniently located computers.

The landing areas are really big, almost impossible to miss, separated by license levels, and they are close to the hanger.
Start is a great place filled with great people and there is an awesome annual boogie over labor day weekend.

Staff go out of their way to be friendly, making you feel right at home from the moment you walk in the door.

Great aircrafts and manifest - nothing beats the Fast Slots system!

Work Stinks Boogie - need I say more?

Was my first jump - tandem. Had an absolute blast! The staff was very welcoming. TRISH handled the Admin stuff quick and easy. Everyone was happy to help and answer questions. Weather was a bit breezy that day, but no problem. Had a nice ride up on the 206 and GREAT skydive with LEAD. For my first time, I'd give it a 10 of 10! You want to go to Start Skydiving Florida - Coleman, FL !!

I absolutely love coming to this dropzone every other weekend. I live 2 hours away and the drive is always worth it. I love being able to talk to the tandem student and get the excited about jumping and being able to interact with them. It really cares about the fun jumper base there and continually has great activities, such as dollar days ($15 jumps), and bonfires almost every weekend.

The people make a drop zone and this is the place I decided to take my kids to train AFF and started diving again myself. The staff came to my high school and trained my 17 students and took them for their first tunnel experience. Many are coming back to jump at Start Sky diving .com as they get old enough. I love the attention to safety, the formidable staff and the atmosphere. here. It is hard to come back to jump after the last jump you made was a 300 way in Arizona -How long ago?? These people encouraged me and did everything to get me back in the air!!!! Linda Walczak Kretzler

This dropzone is great! I started here as a student and all of the help I received from the coaches and instructors helped greatly as I was learning. There is a TON of organizing and teaching that goes on constantly at Start. If you live in the region and haven't been I suggest you go check it out and make a jump

Started my skydiving adventure in June 2010 at Start Skydiving Middletown and was greeted by the most professional and friendly people I have ever met. I have made 40 skydives now and look forward to the next one everyday with my new family at start. I would not see myself finding a more down to earth and exciting place to enjoy this wonderful sport..Blue Skies!!

Great Facilities, Great people, Great aircraft, Great time.

Start Skydiving moved to Hook Field in Middletown Ohio in 2010 and it really opened up the dropzone. Much larger hanger space, much larger landing areas and more jumpers to jump with. The planes were 2 Cessna Caravans so there were plenty of slots to jump but it looks like in the future they might be getting an Otter and a Caravan so that is good for even more jumps.

The Staff is some of the most experienced in the Midwest and includes multiple Course Directors if you are wanting to get any ratings. There has also been annual rigging courses for anyone that wants to become a rigger.

The Work Stinks event they put on each year is growing larger and larger and is THE event to go to each Labor Day.

For RW coaching they have members of Fastrax around to do any level of coaching needed. For Freefly they have multiple people that were invited to the recent record jumps.

They are located about 100 miles from Columbus and Indy, 30 miles from Cinci and Dayton and are off Interstate 75 so its not hard to get to the location at all.

The social scene is a really fun group that usually has a bonfire every weekend.

Start just moved into this facility and while still growing its already a great place. Their "Work Stinks" boogie was over the top fantastic - complete with a fireworks display that was better than most major cities. They have a kick-ass electronic manifest system that allows self manifesting and account management online. Pick your own load, what equipment and when. Great group to jump with too, safety aware, and an all-round top notch operation. Five stars in my book!

I have done 2 tandem jumps with them so far. The people there are professional and very knowledgeable. The equipment appeared to be in top condition. Dave, the instructor on my first jump, did a great job explaining everything to me - there were no surprises. He helped to make it a great experience.

We did our very first jump this weekend for our anniversary and chose Start Skydiving to make it happen. We couldn't have been happier. The atmosphere from the moment you walk in is great. Lots of friendly, helpful people who are there to get you excited and make you feel comfortable. This was such an amazing experience with Start that we have decided to make it a regular anniversary tradition. I recommend them whole-heartedly to anyone looking to make the jump.

This is a new location for Start, it`s nice & clean plus friendly. Can see that with the service & everything that gos with a good DZ they will be expanding again, local wont change but all the good things will.
Fun jumpers are important there & prices seem to be at the min. to allow more jumps.
No question for me where in the area to jump at, this is it.

I jumped for the 1st time and went to Start Skydiving for my experience. They made me feel comfortable and relaxed. I would recommend this place to everyone. Staff and instructors were awesome.

They say it is a truly life changing experience and they're right. Had a beautiful day to jump, and it was an absolute blast. I'd recommend this organization to anyone going skydiving.

I did my first jump at StartSkydiving and was immediately hooked, starting the AFF program as soon as I walked back to the hangar. Since I'm still very new to the sport, I can give you a newbie's opinion.

First, the instructors are great. They are very encouraging, talented, and well, just neat people. In no time at all, they knew my name and were joking around with me.

Second, the facilities are superb. Yes, another coke machine would be nice but hey, that is minor and McDonalds and other food outlets are right down the road. More importantly, the gear is top-knotch, the planes are in great shape, and the wifi always works.

Third, my wife, daughter, and several of my friends have now jumped at StartSkydiving. They all have been impressed by their experience and the way they were treated.

I've been nothing but impressed with StartSkydiving. If you are looking for a great place to jump, to learn, and to have some fun, this is it.

MY instructors gave great directions. I felt incredibly prepared on my first jump and had a blast. I will definitely be coming here again.

Had an amazing time. Music selection while waiting could be played louder and updated. all in all, had a great time and strongly recommend.

This was my first jump, and I went AFF at Startskydiving in Middletown OH. The instructors gave me lots of help and were very encouraging. They put me at ease during the training even while covering emergency procedures and especially on the plane ride up to the drop altitude. My jump went well and everything went off safely! I'm trying to convince my siblings to come back with me soon!

Such a great time. Very smooth day. No problems. Cannot wait to try it again!

They say that in life, there is always that one moment that can change everything. For me, the one moment that changed my life was Skydiving.

The first thing I would like to say is thank you. Thank you, for the incredible experience you gave me. My skydiving experience truly impacted my life in such positive way it touched my heart in a way I cannot explain. The staff is very friendly, patient, caring and encouraging. When I got home it was one of the first things I shared with my family.

One of my most memorable moments was when I changed mind and decided not to go through with my jump. I was sitting in the video room feeling defeated. Travis Donley came in and said “you want to do this, you know what to do so do it”. I talked to him about my fears and he helped me to overcome my doubt. His confidence in me gave me the courage to try again. I can tell you right now that I will never forget his words. Niklas Hemlin, made me feel accepted. He said “There’s a lot of people here who care about you and want to see you overcome your fear, we are confident that you have the knowledge and capability to do this”. I will never forget that feeling.

Start Skydiving does more than open doors to a new adventure for an individual...it rebuilds the person. It rebuilds the person into someone who is strong and believes in him or herself. Start Skydiving teaches all of it's students that taking risks in life is necessary to grow. It teaches each and every student that anything is possible and most importantly have faith in yourself. There is no better place to learn this unteachable lesson. This experience taught me that I should never give up and of course "BE CONFIDENT IN ME“. I am thirty three years old and for the first time in my life I know that I can overcome any obstacle.

The Start Skydiving Team are more than instructors, divers and Riggers. They are amazing people that literally encourage others to reach for the sky and never give up. Thank you David Strobel, Mathew Strobel, and Jonathan for giving me the skills to accomplish a successful cat-A skydive. Thank you Scott Stilwell for encouraging me and for the four leaf clover, thank you Brad Hunt for the amazing video and pictures. Thank you, all of you at Start Skydiving.

Start Skydiving opened my eyes to an entirely different world and gave me the strength and courage to live out my dreams. I learned so many new things and met some awesome people! I had a great time at Start Skydiving and am planning to go again!


Sincerely,

Charity Hollin