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mirage62

If a Sky Ride Dropzone was the only Dz I could get to I'd.....

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I'd really like to know the people that would stop skydiving if this was the case.

YOU CAN'T get to another local dz. It's Sky Ride or give it up. (Let's say that the equipment is well maintained and the staff is nice)

And it's my question so don't say "you can always go to another dz"

I feel that a lot of people that are so upset fall into number four. Lot's of passion, little jumping, over this subject.
Kevin Keenan is my hero, a double FUP, he does so much with so little

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or maybe I could jump at the dropzone with the best airlift around but they stop jumping at noon because the tandoms are done for the day and they dont give a fuck about the fun jumpers...

Fun jumpers are fun jumpers, I dont care where they jump. It's the greedy DZO's that are fucking things up.

If you have the option support your local skydiving CLUB!
if you can't I don't think the sky cares how you got there
Have you seen my pants?
it"s a rough life, Livin' the dream
>:)

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I'm guy who brought up the idea that some jumpers don't have a choice with regards to where they jump if they want to jump at all. The idea comes from my personal situation, which is as follows.

There are two DZs within an hour of where I live. The one is actually just over an hour, the other is closer to a half hour, but that's because I moved to the other side of town to be closer to this DZ. In all fairness, they are both about the same distance from the center of town.

Either way, one of them is a turbine DZ known for generally being a 'safe' DZ. They lease a plane from a part 135 cargo/charter operation that runs one of the top maintenece shops in the area, and own a 182 that's maintained by a shop and A&P that I know. The 182 is nice enough that the DZO keeps the seats in the hanger, and re-installs them to fly his young children to fly-in's and pancake breakfasts while we a busy jumping the turrbine.

Without going into details, the other DZ lacks the turbine, or all of the extenuating circumstanes outlined above that lead me to believe that the aircraft is well maintained. They lack the lift capacity and confidence I have in the aircraft of the other place.

The nearest turbine DZ otherwise is just over two hours in either direction, and I would be happy to jump in either place, but I'm on call for my 'day job' every other weekend, and can't drive 2+ hours out of town and still be available to work in a timely manner. On the alternating weekends, I have visitation with my kids and sometimes spend a half day at the DZ, sometimes not at all.

The end result is that if I didn't jump at the DZ where I do, I wouldn't be jumping very much at all. I could rework some areas of my life to make it more viable to drive the 2+ hours to get to another 'viable' DZ, but even then I would be lucky to get out there once a month. Factor in weather, and other things that 'come up', and I'd be looking at making 50 jumps per season.

I'm not saying that anyone who makes 50 jumps per season shouldn't be jumping, I'm just saying that it wouldn't be worth it for me to rework my life and dedicate the time it would take for me to make 50 jumps a year. In my current situation, I manage closer to 200 jumps a year, and that's without building my life around jumping.

The point is that things are more complicated than they seem online. People sometimes do have to make a hard choice, and sometimes that choice is jump someplace owned by someone you don't agree with, or not jump at all. Anyone remotely dedicated to jumping should have no problem making that choice. Nothing lasts forever, things will change sooner or later, and if you're planning to be around the sport for a while, DZs and DZOs will come and go, and the next round might be better or it might be worse, but in the meantime, it's not worth giving up the sport.

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The theme of this thread is more serious than most of us realize because having the only DZ's around is Cary Q's master plan. He wants to have the monopoly on ALL skydives that occur in the US, up-jumper, student, and tandem included.
I'd quit and only jump when I travel to areas of the world that Skyride is not present.

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I think that was their business plan at one time. I think opening the two other DZs is what caused them the most trouble (well, that and fucking the wrong person in Georgia) as it showed their Skyride affiliates that as soon as they had a foothold in an area they would open a DZ.

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I'd move.

Or quit.

They will never get my money.



Hence the U-Haul.


I'm not living with you andy!:|

Well - I guess we could get a 36 foot Uhaul and convert it.

Hmmmm.:ph34r:
I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

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I'd move.

Or quit.

They will never get my money.



Hence the U-Haul.


I'm not living with you andy!:|

Well - I guess we could get a 36 foot Uhaul and convert it.

Hmmmm.:ph34r:


If that van is a rockin....:o
"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

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I'd move.

Or quit.

They will never get my money.



Hence the U-Haul.


I'm not living with you andy!:|

Well - I guess we could get a 36 foot Uhaul and convert it.

Hmmmm.:ph34r:


If that van is a rockin....:o


. . . then that would be my side of the converted van, Pops . . . well . . . you know.[:/]

:D:D:ph34r::ph34r:
I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

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I don't like Skyride, but I wouldn't quit skydiving rather than jump at one of their DZs. For some, moving isn't an option due to education, work, or family situations. To simply refuse to jump period is far too extreme for me.
I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

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I voted "stop jumping". The one thing about people like Cary is that they can't do it alone. They have to have help. If you jump at his DZ, you're helping him, no matter how much fun you're having.
You don't have to outrun the bear.

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If that van is a rockin....:o



. . . then that would be my side of the converted van, Pops . . . well . . . you know.[:/]

:D:D:ph34r::ph34r:

Yeah...I remember a certain Dublin boogie when somebody ran off with the girl I was workin' on...
>:(

Nevermind that I didn't have a real shot anyway but it's the principle of the thing.
:D:D
My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

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If that van is a rockin....:o



. . . then that would be my side of the converted van, Pops . . . well . . . you know.[:/]

:D:D:ph34r::ph34r:


Yeah...I remember a certain Dublin boogie when somebody ran off with the girl I was workin' on...
>:(

Nevermind that I didn't have a real shot anyway but it's the principle of the thing.
:D:D

:o
But - But - I'm pure and innocent -
Surely I was only trying to rescue her from your letcherous grip.:)

Right?:o
I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

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If it was the ONLY option I would jump there, and I would still have as much fun doing it... even if I didn't support those behind it.

What I get out of skydiving is MUCH greater than anything Sky Ride could take away.
*I am not afraid of dying... I am afraid of missing life.*
----Disclaimer: I don't know shit about skydiving.----

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