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Belldemon

Cincinnati Area Experiences

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Hey there.

I've done two tandems so far out at Skydive Greensburg and I like the DZ. It doesn't seem very personable, but I was just a weight belt for a tandem master anyway so I don't expect too much.

My question is, has anyone jumped at both Greensburg and at Start Skydiving in Lebanon and what are your feelings about both.

I read the reviews from the Dropzone database because I am trying to figure out where I want to do my AFF. Start Skydiving is closer to me, but I also have "two jump loyalty" (soon to be three this May!) to Greensburg.

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I second what Spence said, I have made a few at Greene County (Xenia ;)) and was made very welcome.

How many DZ's email you after you've been there to say they hope you had fun? B|

Jim runs a good DZ from the short experiences i've had there.

1338

People aint made of nothin' but water and shit.

Until morale improves, the beatings will continue.

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I'll 3rd what both of these guy said!!! That DZ is fantastic!!


CReW Skies,
bubbles
"Women fake orgasms - men fake whole relationships" – Sharon Stone
"The world is my dropzone" (wise crewdog quote)
"The light dims, until full darkness pierces into the world."-KDM

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I've jumped at all 3. Greensburg you already know about. I've got the majority of my jumps out at Greene County. You are right, it is a longer drive then Start is from Cinci (Its shorter for me from Columbus). Xenia is a friendly, family oriented dropzone. SGC is on a private airport with turf runways and typically flys a turbine and a 182. Start is new but they have some really nice facilities at the county airport. Last year Start had a Caravan and their Cessna. Another option but is a longer drive is Richmond IN. They are a 2 Cessna DZ but you can't miss the airport when you are landing unless you really try to, they have about the largest landing area in the midwest.

Come on out and take a look at all the area DZ's. Each offers something different then the others and you need to find where you fit in the best.:)
Don't do another tandem, get started in the student program at one of the DZ's. Greensburg and Start offer AFF and SGC offers a tandem hybrid program and are going to potentially offer static line also. Richmond offers Static line and I think AFF still. Prices vary some but call around and some are offering package prices also.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

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Great info PhreeZone. Thanks for the reply. I'm doing another tandem out at Greensburg this spring for two reasons.
1) I'm trying to organize a group of friends that have never jumped before to go out there. The last two times I went, I was supposed to go with a group, made the manifest reservation for a group and people backed out on me. I feel like I owe them a couple tandem jumpers.
2) I already have a tandem jump ticket that I bought on a discounted rate from my last jump.

Once the weather breaks, and my semester slows down a little bit, I'm definitely going to go visit a couple of these drop zones.

Obviously, most of you that have replied are already licensed, but does anyone know about the AFF trainers at the various drop zones? Does any one DZ have better trainers than the next or is the training effectively limited t othe capacity of the student?

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Out of all that were mentioned I have been to Richmond and Xenia. I have only jumped at Richmond during the boogie, but Phree is right - you simply cannot miss the airport. It is huge.
At Xenia - three of us just showed up one random weekend. We were greeted by some of the nicest people ever. There is a great energy at that dropzone and it, too, has a huge landing area.
Take your time to find the dz that fits your needs and personality the best. Distance within that limited range shouldn't matter at this point. You want a safe and fun place to learn.
Good luck to ya.
Be patient with the faults of others; they have to be patient with yours.

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You will find great instruction at all the USPA dropzones in the area. The non USPA dz was kicked out of USPA for life for a number of reasons, one of those being the use of non rated instructors and have been known to "make up" their own ratings. Do your home work, Jim Crouch [email protected]
you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

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I haven't jumped at Greensburg but have at both Start Skydiving and Skydive Greene County and would recommend both of these dz's to anyone...

Each of them has a different vibe but both of them are great places to jump and have very good instructors and great fun jumper crowds to hang out with after hours...

I spent most of last season at Start but spent a couple of years before that at SGC... The Wests (SGC's Owners) are great people but John Hart (the owner of Start) is also a really top notch individual.

I hope to see you out at the dz this spring...
Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife...

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Thanks Strato and Icon,

I definitely plan on doing some research on the various DZs that have been mentioned here. Mostly through internet searches now and maybe a visit or two in the spring.

Icon,
Are you in or around the Cincinnati area since you spent much of this past year at Start?

In general, I suppose that my OP is a bit off in that I shouldn't need to feel any DZ loyalty yet as I've only done two tandems. That and as I previously mentioned Greensburg, to me, seemed to treat tandems as just one and done, never to be seen from again.

I will say though, that Phil Schmit out there is a really great guy and encouraged me to go through the AFF training after my second tandem. I think he's also the S&TA out there. Not sure where he spends his winters jumping.

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Welcome to skydiving! Let me first say that I'm an AFF instructor from Start so I'm biased :) Kip Lohmiller is the manager at Start and he's both an AFF Instructor and Examiner (which means you are the one who trains other instructors), as well as a Tandem Instructor and Examiner. So I don't think you can go wrong with someone as experienced as that who's in charge of the operation. And I think all of the instructors are very professional, encouraging, and well trained from Start. Hope to see you there, but blue skies wherever you end up!

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Head to Startskydiving.
John, put all brand new gear on the line last year and a fresh out of the shop Caravan. He is adding more new gear this year and expanding on the DZ.
The staff is top notch and run very well by Kip. The Fun jumpers are top notch as well.

But if you want to see and experience some "founding fathers of skydiving type history" and meet more great people go to Xenia.

I've enjoyed both DZ many times, I think you will too!
Welcome to the sport, focus on the fun, don't let us hard headed buggers sway ya!:P

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

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I did a tandem and my 1st AFF jump at Greensburg this fall and subsequently switched to Start Skydiving to finish the AFF course and A-license requirements. There were some very nice people at Greensburg; however, I just didn't feel like it was the place I wanted to do my training. Fortunately, when I went to Start I found the people, training, professionalism, atmosphere and my overall experience to be much more positive. Even better it is closer to where I live. This is from my particular experience with the 2 DZs.
The training I received in the AFF course at Start was very thorough and well-taught by top-notch instructors who really went out of their way to make sure we were well prepared, safe and having fun. I found all of the people at Start to be friendly, happy to answer all of my questions and made us feel like part of the family. Kip, the instructors, coaches and jumpers were always going out of their way to teach us important bits of information even on those days when we couldn't jump and we were just hanging out at the DZ. They would drive us out to the landing area and talk about landing patterns, canopy flight and obstacles, and go back to the hanger and hang up a canopy and give us a thorough introduction to its construction. If you want to learn, you will learn a lot here.
There is a wide variety of experience levels at the DZ from students to low- and high-timers to Team Fastrax, who trains there and from whom you can get coaching. Since the DZ is just 1 year old all of the equipment is good quality and in new condition.
Overall, I would highly recommend Start for your training, but check out the others and make the decision you feel comfortable with.
Good Luck and hope to see you this spring.
Blue Skies

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I've jumped out of Greensburg and Start as well. Start is absolutely more professional and seems a billion times more student oriented, but there's no shortage of community spirit. The people there are amazing and welcoming.
As an added benefit, it seems they just bought a second Caravan, which will translate in more fun jumping all around.
---
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.
~ Bertrand Russell

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Once the weather breaks, and my semester slows down a little bit, I'm definitely going to go visit a couple of these drop zones.



Are you a student? If so Skydive Wayne County offers great discounts for college students. All you have to do is pay $25/year to join the Tri-State Dropouts and you will get free gear rental on all of your jumps and can save up to $400 on your A-license progression! Good luck in your decision!

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Hey there!

I actually did my AFF at Greensburg. It was my experience that there were not a lot of "fun jumpers" out there...they are more focused on the tandem business. Once I got through AFF and onto coach jumps I felt a little lost. So much so that after I made 17 jumps I stopped jumping for 11 months and probably would have quit jumping if I hadn't gone to another DZ. Not that you would necessarily have the same experience at Greensburg, that was just what happened to me.

I've been to Richmond for the boogie and to Start Skydiving and Greene County on regular weekends. Of the 4 DZ's in your area I would recommend either Start or Greene County. They both have a very different feel, but I felt very welcome and comfortable at both. I'd check them out and just see which one you like better. Start is a very easy drive from Cincinnati. It's brand new and I'm sure the instruction there is excellent. Greene County has more of an old-school, laid back feel.

I hope you find what's right for you, that really is a great area for skydivers, with all the options so close by. :)


Enemiga Rodriguez, PMS #369, OrFun #25, Team Dirty Sanchez #116, Pelt Head #29, Muff #4091

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Thanks all for the info. I wouldn't say that my mind is completely made up yet, but it is nice to have so many options around here in relative proximity.

Wishnstar,
You had asked about students. Is there an age cut off? I'm an adult student (soon to be 31), going back for a degree.

**Off to google Tri-State Dropouts **

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Nope, there's no age limit! All you have to have is a current college I.D. and you can join the club! Just bring your I.D. and pay the $25 when you get to the dz and you're good to go!

Our site is www.mudropouts.org but it is currently down at the moment. It should be up and running soon.

If you have any questions feel free to email us at [email protected]

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Icon,
Are you in or around the Cincinnati area since you spent much of this past year at Start?



I actually live in Dayton at the moment and it's about a toss up (driving time wise) for me to go to Xenia or Start... Part of the reason I generally went to start was that my parents live about 10 minutes from Start Skydiving and I can drop my dog off at there place to play while I played at Start.

It's also kind of fun to see my parents house and the Highschool I graduated from during climb since they only live a few miles away from the dz and my HS Alma mater is also just north of the Airport...

one of these days I'm hoping to have a "bad spot" and do an accidental demo into a football game... j/k... :P
Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife...

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That reminded me of something that is a little off topic for this forum. I'll ask it, but if I should move it to a different forum, someone tell me.

Since I'm doing another tandem at Greensburg this spring (as you may recall from my OP, I already have a jump ticket), are there any skills, pointers, suggestions I can make to my tandem master. The "bad spot" part made me think about it. I guess in simple terms, what should I be trying to learn on this next jump that will benefit me in my AFF (wherever that may be).

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You should down load a copy of "The Skydivers Information manual" or "sims" at www.uspa.org you can down load it for free or order the fancy one for 25 bucks, it will cover all types of training under each program that most USPA dz's and instructors would teach using the ISP, in the book is the answers you seek.
you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

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You should definitely talk to them at Greensburg about actively participating in the tandem jump. There are some student progressions that involve tandems for the first jumps, so it is possible for you to work on proper arching and body positioning, heading control, turns, altitude awareness, pulling the main, steering the canopy and possibly even flaring (not sure exactly I didn't do this myself, so you will have to check on it). You should explain to them that you are planning on progressing in the AFF course and what you want, hopefully, they will be able to help you. If you are really ambitious, you could get to the DZ early in the day and talk to the instructors about landing patterns and spotting on the aircraft, how to check the winds aloft report, watch people pack and look over a canopy and get a sense for what the whole sport involves- watch groups plan jumps and do dirt dives, watch the patterns people fly under canopy, watch the tandems come in preceded by their crazy-flying cameramen. Don't be shy, the best way to get into this sport is to get involved and learn all you can. In the very least, the tandem jump will count towards the 25 jumps you need to get your A license.
Blue skies
By the way, where in the cincinnati area do you live?

Edit update: Make sure you get a certificate for the tandem or get and start a log book, as you will need documentation for the jump to count. You should also have them mark the previous tandem you did.

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