Renewing license in Toronto

[agk23 0]

Hi folks,

I wonder if there is any skydivers from Ontario, Canada, around here.

I need your advice. I recently moved to Canada from Russia and want to get back into the sport.

I have 450 jumps and "C" license from Russia (the license were internationally recognized and comparable to "C" in US and Canada). However, I have not been in the air for almost 10 years now. Back then, I did mostly Style and Accuracy.

I jumped quite a few different canopies including rounds. The ram air canopy that I jumped before leaving sport was with riffing line (I am not sure many remember those here.

Any suggestions on how I should approach this. I have a very demanding workload. However, I plant to make 50-100 jumps per year (weekends during summer)

Do you know if I can renew my license without going through all the steps – “Solo” through to “C”. However, I do think that I need to do AFF to get current (but maybe with much faster progression).

Can anyone recommend good DZ around Toronto to get started? (I did look at the links to all DZ's on dropzone.com)

Your advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
Anvar

[Chris-Ottawa 0]

Hey,

I'm in Ottawa, just a few hours east of Toronto. As for choice of DZ, they're all similar, just find one that you like. Figure out which one has the planes you want, the atmosphere you best fit into etc... Also, consider how much you want to travel, Skydive Gananoque isn't terribly far, maybe an hour and a bit.

It's all about preference, there are no DZ's that operate "substandard" gear or anything. They all follow CSPA guidelines as well.

I also might suggest checking out the cspa website for the nitty gritty stuff.

http://www.cspa.ca/en/index.htm

As far as getting back into the sport without repeating everything...I have no idea, best to talk to the DZ of choice.

Most of the DZ's, if not all in Ontario are closed for "student" jumping. They normally reopen in April/May.

Feel free to PM me if you have more questions!

Chris

"When once you have tasted flight..."

[agk23 0]

I have already checked the CSPA. They do not have anything on renewing outdated license, only what you need to accomplish to get new once. I guess I would need to talk to a DZ about it.

I plan to start at the end of April. How do you personally compare different DZs around Toronto?

"Gravity is a habit that is hard to shake off"
Terry Pratchett, "Small Gods"

[dayle 0]

Hello Anvar, welcome back to the sport! I personally jump at Skydive Burnaby which is located near Pt. Colbourne.

We have a full time otter in the summer which usually arrives in May and leaves in October.

Although jumping is pretty much over for the year I'm sure you can contact them and ask what would be required to get current again.

Gananoque is NOT an hour away from Toronto, however there are a number of DZ's in the area.

Skydive Niagara (dunnville) Skydive Swoop(hamilton) Skydive Toronto (alliston, I think) and there are one or two others.

Skydive Niagara has a King air, all others as far as I know are Cessna DZ's.

Check them out come April and talk with the instructors. They should be able to put together some sort of hybrid recurrency for you to make sure you are safe coming back to the air.

Dayle

[Chris-Ottawa 0]

Dayle,
You are correct, hence why I said Gan is an hour and a bit. Looking at a map just now, it's probably closer to 2 hours. My mistake. Still, depends how far you wish to travel to find a "cozy" DZ.

AGK,
As far as personal opinion, I haven't been to any of the Toronto DZ's. I have only jumped at Mile High in Ottawa, and Gananoque. I'm going to The Ranch in New York tomorrow morning so that should be fun.

I might suggest calling around, finding out which DZ gives you the best "recurrency" jumping, then try out all the other ones and get a feel for which one you fancy.

Chris

"When once you have tasted flight..."

[drudchen 0]

Hey,

Are you looking to start jumping now, or next summer, when it gets warm again? Seeing as you came from Russia, I would guess that you're not scared too much by the cold :P

I jump at the Parachute School of Toronto, and it is open all year round, jumping weekends and holidays all through the winter. They have a lot of rental rigs available various sizes: a few student Tutor288s, 210, and a coupld of rental rigs with Sabre mains: 190, 170, 150, 135. So you have a good selection, and get to fly a few canopies and downsize a little before you're ready to buy your own rig.

There is a cessna 206 plane (some people would say it's a little slow and small, but it seems to get the job done)

Seeing as you have quite a bit of experience over your shoulders, even if you do end up going through the student program again (and it would be a really good idea to - because the gear is different and probably newer, with different emergency procedures and deployment mechanisms) you'd be able to really fasttrack and fly though it.

p.s.Tomorrow the weather is great - you should come up!

-Dmitry

edit: i live in Etobicoke (west end of Toronto) it takes me just under an hour to get to PST.

[gravitywhore 0]

i'll be there tomorrow 8 degrees sunny blue skies ......gonna try and get 3 or 4 in tomorrow
Dave

[ypelchat 0]

Like Chris-Ottawa said, you may want to contact the folks at CSPA, first, and tell them about your situation. They might want to take a look at your log books (although, if your log books are written in Russian.... ) Anyway, talk to them, and you'll see.

Yves.

[CloudOnMyTongue 0]

Hey,

I live in Toronto too. I've done the drive to Gan, it's 2 1/2 hours from Toronto in good traffic, I choose to make the same drive the other way to Skydive Burnaby.

The closest dz to toronto is Skydive toronto, A cessna DZ

You'll find most people in the Toronto area drive to either Burnaby or Gan, for the good vibe that these DZ's have.

(all of course is subject to opinion)

[skypuppy 1]

Skydive Toronto is just off the 400 about 1/2 hour north of the 401/400 interchange (5 minutes from the Cookstown Outlet mall). We do have at least one Russian tandem master, Igor K., with over 3000 jumps. We also have a Hungarian and at least one Romainian (Spelling?) tandem masters. There are at least 5 past members of the Canadian Style and Accuracy team jumping there (Romainian and Hungarian included), so you shouldn't feel too out of place.

The dzo has a lot of international competition experience as well, so he's familiar with the Eastern Bloc training.

You could do worse than go up there to get back in to it. I know a couple of the Eastern Europeans paid for a lot of their jumping here by packing, so it doesn't has to cost you a lot if you're willing to do that. If you don't need the money, no worries.

As far as renewing licences, they don't expire -- each dz probably would have its own idea of how to get you back into the sport in a safe manner. The only way you might need to get Canadian licences is if you decided to get a Canadian coach/instructor rating.

You can call Skydive Toronto at 1-800-ONT-JUMP, or check the website at
skydivetoronto.com

If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead.
Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

[buzi 0]

What's wrong with the vibe at Skydive Niagara? I jumps there, and find the people really nice.

Just curious...

• Quote

[buzi 0]

Skydive Niagara (http://www.niagaraskydive.com/) is a really nice place to jump, as well as Burnaby. Both DZ have turbine aircrafts for the summer, and good people to jump with. Also both are 1 1/2 hours from TO.

[mccurley 0]

I ysed to jump at Gan when I lived in T.O. and can tell you it's closer to three hours.
Great place to jump but so was Burnaby back when I lived there

Watch my video Fat Women
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRWkEky8GoI

[agk23 0]

Thank you everyone for your input. That really helps. Following your advice I decided to visit all local DZs and since this weekend was really nice, I figured folks would be jumping and I can see some of the DZs in operations even before the spring. I managed to visit four DZs.

On Saturday I visited Parachute School of Toronto and Skydive Toronto. It was nice to see some of you at PST. I was pleasantly surprised when I was told that I do not need to go through all the steps of getting license, apparently my old papers are still good. All I need is to get familiar with new technology and safety procedures, which should not take long. Overall atmosphere at PST reminded me of my old club, very family like. I really appreciated personal approach of the management.

In Skydive Toronto my experience was not as good though. I guess I came at the wrong time. They were closing for the day and were about to go to a party (I am guessing X-mass).

I talked to the owner for two seconds. She said to me she was too busy and could not think straight. She said that my case was too complex to discuss now, and I should come back in the spring to talk it over when I am ready to jump.

The crowd was pretty lively there though. I guess I should try again in the spring when the time is right.

On Sunday I hit Skydive Niagara and Burnaby.
I was very impressed by both places. Folks there were eager to help me and quite helpful. I was assured in both places that it would be pretty easy to get current.
I was a bit surprised to see two strong DZs right next to each other. They must be stealing a lot of business from each other. I could not find many differences between them too; they both have big birds, good locations, and pretty good facilities.
Both seam to be pretty popular among jumping crowd too.
Can anyone share with me your ideas on what would be main differences between the two?

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the sport is pretty active around Toronto and there are so many options for folks who want to jump. It was also very nice to hear that it would not be a major problem to get back into skydiving even after 10 years on the ground.

I can't wait until spring returns. I will be filing my CSPA membership today.

Thanks again for your help and see you next spring!

Anvar

[pchapman 262]

Quote

In Skydive Toronto my experience was not as good though. I guess I came at the wrong time. They were closing for the day and were about to go to a party (I am guessing X-mass).

Yeah, basically mid afternoon onwards it was hectic, was a Santa Claus jump for the local kids, then a pre-planned 2 plane formation for a jumper doing his 500th (which got up just at sunset), and then everyone was trying to get the hell out of there to prepare for the annual x-mas dinner / presentations / party.

There was more time to talk Sunday, given that it was solid cloud and hop and pops only...

If you aren't totally lured by the turbines at Burnaby and Dunnville, do call the DZ back during the week to talk instead of waiting for spring. Those other two DZs are rather close together, but at least if someone doesen't like the atmosphere or needs a change of pace at one place they can go to the other for a while!

[agk23 0]

I hope you guys had a blast (isn't it a bit early for x-mas?
I will try to stop by some other time or call in.

When does spring season starts here? is it May or April?

"Gravity is a habit that is hard to shake off"
Terry Pratchett, "Small Gods"