Skydive Pennsylvania

A friend and I made our first visit to Skydive PA this past weekend. It was a great experience!

1). The DZ owner(s)...Cecil (and Keith?)...are really passionate about making SPA a great DZ. We were welcomed with open arms. Cecil really sets the tone for the entire DZ experience. He is enthusiastic, passionate, friendly and encouraging.

2) My friend and I are just starting in the sport and Katherine(sp?)helped us a lot in fixing some problems with our exits, and really encouraged and challenged us. She's wonderful!

3) The King Air is awesome.... Fast and comfortable....even though the door is teeny tiny! Even though the DZ was busy, we never waited long to get on a load.

4) We flew into the DZ and thus didn't have a car, but one of the manifest ladies did a lunch run for us . Very nice!

5) I made the mistake ( being unfamiliar with the airport) of pulling my plane up into the loading area. At many airports I would have been chewed out for this. But Cecil set me straight with a friendly smile on his face. Thanks for that, Cecil!

Though SPA is a bit out if the way for me, I will definitely be coming back.

Thanks everyone for a great day of skydiving!

Recently added new equipment to rentals. Top notch instructors. Knowledgeable riggers. Beautiful scenary.

When I first went to Skydive PA, it was my third summer trying to get through AFF. I had 9 jumps but my last one was the year prior. From the begining they were super friendly and took me in like one of their own. I never had that feeling like I was a bourdon to them as a new student like I have at other dropzones. Every coach or instructor I had was very experienced and always had tons of advice and tips. Even on bad weather days I still love to hang out and get every little tid bit of help I can get, and everyone there was more than happy to give it out.

The only downfall is the landing area is very small and the turbulance from the trees around makes it even harder to land. Where I first started AFF I was off radio by my 3rd jump. At skydive PA I am still relying on radio assistance to land after AFF level 10.

All in all the dropzone is great, it's not too big to where you are pushed to the side, but still big enough that there is a ton of very experienced instructors and coaches that are always willing to help out a newbie like me.

I highly recomend stoping by and making a jump or 2 if you are in the area. The partying afterwords is a good time too.

A group of 11 of us went to Skydive Pennsylvania for a memorial day skydive. We got an appointment about a month in advance because we knew that would be a more popular weekend, and we wanted to make sure that we all got to jump. The day before, we checked the weather report and saw that there would be rain by 1pm, or 2pm at the latest. We called the day of the jump to make sure that it would still go on with the possible weather and the number of us, and were told that it would not be a problem.

We arrived at 10:15 just to give us a little more time incase the weather showed up early, and 2 of our group was able to jump before 11am. Then the next four were directed out to the plane, but had to sit next to the plane in their gear and the May heat and humidity for half an hour without an explanation. But they got to go up by noon.

The last five were told that they would need to split into two groups because of the plane's size, but that there was a freejump group that was going up before us. We were a little worried about the weather, but it was not even 1pm by that point. However, another group was inserted before us, and we were told that we would definitely be next after them. But then a demo group went up.

I talked to the guy that was running it (the owner of 35 years) and asked him when we would go up, because I had been there for three hours already and I was concerned about the weather. He told me not to worry because he "was driving the bus" (he said this repeatedly to anyone that was concerned about being able to go up). This happened a few more times as more groups were put in front of us. Then as the weather was almost on top of us, he decided to stick one of the five of us on the plane that was about to depart to atleast get her up there (this was at 1:30pm).

At this point, the owner came over to our group and asked someone to come inside. He showed us the weather radar on the internet and showed us how a storm was coming right up on us, but pointed to a small hole and said there was a possibility that we might be able to get a jump in there (I didnt see how... it was small). And just as the weather forcast predicted the day before, the weather (very heavy rain) came at 2pm.

I went up to the owner and told him that I was really disappointed that I had been there for four hours and had seen group after group go in front of me, and only to be told that I was going to be in the next group over and over. I also told him that one of the remaining people in our group was a solider who was now having his Memorial Day skydive rained out. However, the owner did not care to hear about any of this and dismissed us by walking away. At this point, the weather was right over us (as predicted, right on time) and did not look like it was going to break anytime soon (it did not). So we left. It was a waste of a memorial day for us, and one of our service members.

It all comes down to terrible management, and could have been avoided if he allowed appointments to come before walk-ins.

Nikki, Jeff, ET AL. make safety and caution their top priority; hence the absence of fatalities when searching dropzone.com. They are informative and do not "dumb it down" when it comes to the 'winds aloft forecast'.

I felt immediately comfortable with the staff: Jeff, Nikki, Sherri, Don, Johnny, Cindy, Cedric and Beth.

Recieved the recommendation of Skydive City in Zephyrhills, FL near Tampa for the winter. I hope to get another jump in PA as a student and finish up and get licensed in Zephyrhills, FL.

The DZ is NEVER open, even on good weather days. Not sure if they are still open. Calling leads to voice mail.

Honestly, the landing area is by far the worst part of the DZ.I have excellent accuracy with my canopy but for not so good pilots, and newbies the area is dangerously small.It is surrounded by a chain link fence that I have seen several people almost hit in my very limited time there.I don't know how there aren't more accidents because of this.The plane is fine, the people are fine but if I were doing my AFF level 1 there I would be quite afraid of the landing areas obstacles.

I went up there (about and hour and half drive) to go tandem skydiving with my boyfriend, we both went tandem. To our amazement, neither of us were nervous or scared. We both felt safe and content throughout the whole process. The instructors were extremely nice and made you feel comfortable. It was extremely busy there but so worth the wait. I had an amazing jump and can't wait to do it again!!!

This is my Home DZ and I don't think I will every move to another, unless on vacation. Haven't found any skygods here. Jeff is just a kool person and always willing to give some advice. Instructors are like a waterfall they never run out of tips and trick to tell you. John and Mike both rock, my AFF instructors. Cindy did a first class professional job on my First Jump DVD and the 35mm stills. Safety first here. It take me an hour just to drive her but I'd drive 10 hours just to get here. It all worth it. Visit the place!!!

i wouldn't have changed a thing..... you really learn how to just let go

Skydive Pennsylvania has a great bunch of friendly skydivers. They made me feel right at home. Love the Porter jump plane. It was well worth the trip. Thanks for the fun. John

Jeff, Nikky, Cush, Mike, Susa, Cindy, Ed, Dan and everyone else are very nice and friendly. I am sure I missed a few names but it happens. I have made 3 jumps so far at Sky Dive PA and I am making several more this weekend. I did two tandems and then started the AFF program. My best advice when doing AFF is to go get your training and come back later on. It was raining the day I received training. I feel like I got a better, more personal training. Also there wasn't the uncertainty of when I was going to jump. Also I was more apt to learning since there weren't as many people running in and out of the building as when it is a normal jump day. I came back the next week and did my first AFF level 2. I can't wait until I am through with the program and I get my USPA A license. Another fun factor or tid bit of info is that the P.Porter they use is the identical pink plane from the movie Drop Zone! To everyone at Sky Dive PA, thanks!

The local jumpers are very friendly and included me in their jumps and formations. I had a great time visiting Skydive PA.

I can't compare this DZ to any others as this is the only place I've ever been to. I've only done one IAF jump so far, but I can definitely say that I will be doing another one real soon and I will quite happy to return to Skydive PA to do it.

Mike, Jeff and all the other guys and gals are very friendly.

The days training helped alleviate all my fears and prepare me for my first jump. The day was long (i was there for 12 hours!), but very enjoyable with the training taking most of the day. I was ready to jump by 5pm, but the weather kept me waiting until 8pm before they suited me up and took me out to the plane.

I was the last person to jump that day and I felt sorry for the other guys who came with me who couldn't jump on the same day, but they will be going soon I hope and I will be there to watch them land. I may even decide to do my second jump on the same day!

The jump went very well, thanks to the excellent instructions from Mike (JM1) & Roger (JM2) and Jeff on the helmet radio guiding me down to the Landing Zone.

Thanks guys, you made it a real pleasure and I'll see you all again real soon.

Jason Stubbs