Quantico Parachute Club

[Deisel 35]

Hey gang. I'm starting an effort to bring back the old Quantico Parachute Club. Please let me know if there's any interest out there. It will be open to all active duty but retired and non military will be able to participate as well. This thing is still in its infancy and I will post more info as it becomes available. For now, i need to determine the interest level of potential participants. So let me know if you want to come out and fly!

D

The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

[flyboy6554 3]

Good luck...I was a member and jumped there from Jul 76-Jan 77 while I was going to TBS.....lots of good memories!!

[TriGirl 268]

Hey, Lou. I'm trying to get a gig at Quantico starting next summer. If I get that (or anything else in the DC area), you can count me in! Sounds like fun. I'll let you know what the monitor says in January.
T

See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus

Shut Up & Jump!

[Deisel 35]

Damn straight! Would love to have you on the squad.

The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

[Deisel 35]

Ok guys, time for another update on the parachute club/team. Over the weekend I was able to make a couple of gentlemen’s agreements with the DC Skydiving Center and Warrenton Air Park. They are located at 9272 Green Meadows Rd in Warrenton, Va. It’s about 45 minutes away from MCB Quantico and the closest DZ (4 miles out) to the no-fly airspace over DC. Beautiful views of the capitol and the Appalachian mountains on clear days!

Once again, we are going no frills and low budget. The skydiving center operates out of an old hangar and there are no services available. This place is a high volume tandem operation with very few, if any, fun jumpers. There are no riggers (except the DZO), no gear store, no packing area, no showers, no Wi-Fi, no bunk house or any other creature comforts. But they do fly a PAC750 and regularly turn 20-25 loads per day on weekends.

And just FYI – I’m a TI there as well. And for the public record, I do not have any kind of financial agreement with the Skydive Center or Air Park associated with basing the club/team at this location. I am not being compensated in any way by either entity and I’m happy to answer any specific questions that may come up. It all just happens to fit really well at the moment.

The air park is home to not only the skydiving operation but also ultra lights, powered Para gliders, and a few small single engine planes. The landing area is skinny in some places and the airspace can get crowed, so any A&B license holders will have to sit through my extended ground briefing and canopy flight review before being allowed to jump there. Student training is NOT being conducted at this time but stay tuned, I’m working on that as well.

I am going to set up initial operations there with the potential for a long term arrangement. This of course, depends on the level of success that we achieve across various fronts. So at this point I should clarify exactly what we have here. There will be two different entities; team and a club. The main differences;
Team – is eligible to receive MCCS funding for Armed Forces level and international competition (NOT local, regional, or national competitions). The expectation of participants will be to commit both time and money in order to train. We’ll work out the specifics as we go.

Club – is not eligible for MCCS funding but authorized to use USMC equipment (like airplanes and helos). This is simply a group of Marines (and friends) that are skydivers getting together to jump. I plan to do demo jumps into local events as well. Former Marines and civilians are welcome to participate but would not be have to sit out certain events. I’d like to have a monthly club outing at the DZ and may be able to work some discount lift tickets depending on participation.

Well, enough for now as this is already way too long. Step by step we are working toward competing in 2014! Stay motivated and stay safe.

Semper Fi

The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

[fencebuster 7]

If you have a problem getting slots at DC Skydiving, feel free to bring the operation out to New Market. We fly C-206 and C-182, but we are fun jumper friendly, have 3 riggers on site (including a Master Rigger), and have an AFF student program.

Charlie Gittins
LtCol, USMCR (Ret)

Charlie Gittins, 540-327-2208
AFF-I, Sigma TI, IAD-I
MEI, CFI-I, Senior Rigger
Former DZO, Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures

[Deisel 35]

Thanks for the support Charlie. I'd love to talk it over with you and explore some options. I'll come by for a face to face in the next couple of days/weeks and see what we come up with.

The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

[Deisel 35]

In an attempt to get information out sooner than later, I'm posting what I currently have (more or less confirmed). Some of this may change a bit, but you can start planning now! I will post more details soon.

TENATIVE SCHEDULE

September 14, 2013
DC Skydiving Center
Warrenton, Va.
PAC750XL
Notes – a Wounded Warrior event will be held concurrently. Come out to support and say thanks, as well as jump with fellow Marines. This event is open to all.

October 19, 2013
Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures
New Market, Va.
Cessna 206 & 182

November 16, 2013
Skydive Orange
Orange, Va.
Twin Otter

December 14, 2013
Virginia Skydiving Center
Richmond, Va.
Super King Air

The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

[forteenerdaddy 0]

Louis, good talking with you yesterday at Warrenton! Keep me posted!

[jhh166 0]

Nice. I will be tad for a few weeks and miss the september 14, but I look forward to meeting some new people at BRSA on the 19th of october.

Charlie and his wife are very nice people and provide a great atmosphere In New Market. I wish I could get there more often.

[Deisel 35]

With great regret I have to announce that both the Wounded Warrior and club event scheduled for 14 September has been cancelled.

On a more positive note - I will be recruiting new club members at Quantico and Henderson Hall on 24 and 26 September, respectively. I'll have a table set up at a few different locations (gym, PX, club) over those dates to distribute information and answer questions. If you're in the area, stop by and say hi!

The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

[jhh166 0]

Deisel

With great regret I have to announce that both the Wounded Warrior and club event scheduled for 14 September has been cancelled.

On a more positive note - I will be recruiting new club members at Quantico and Henderson Hall on 24 and 26 September, respectively. I'll have a table set up at a few different locations (gym, PX, club) over those dates to distribute information and answer questions. If you're in the area, stop by and say hi!

I am directly across the river from Quantico in Indian Head, MD with the USMC - Chemical Biological Incident Response Force. I have managed to get a couple young Marines involved in the ISP and they have been making a few jumps here and there. Not sure if there is any room for students or what your goals are. I can pass the word along if you like?

Also, in a post prior you mentioned no riggers at a certain location. If any of the Marines need some simple inspections, assemblies, repacks - I can help out with that, I enjoy taking care of our own, within reason because this unit keeps me extremely busy.

Deisel, are you in the global? Do you plan on starting a distribution list?

[Deisel 35]

Check out the Marine Corps Skydiving Club on Facebook. I post quite a bit more about club stuff there as well. That's the closest thing to a distro list we have at the moment.

I'm currently working on developing a student program about an hour away from Quantico for Marines in the NCR. Actually, it will be for anyone that wants to learn. But due to multiple concerns, I'm not prepared to publicly announce anything just yet. Give me a couple of weeks and I'll be ready to get everyone up to speed.

The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

[Deisel 35]

Fresh off the press...

http://www.quanticosentryonline.com/news/article_273a06ca-2064-11e3-a321-0019bb30f31a.html

Posted: Wednesday, September 18, 2013 9:13 am | Updated: 9:24 am, Wed Sep 18, 2013.

Lance Cpl. Cuong Le, Combat Correspondent | 0 comments




Still in its early stages, the Quantico Parachute Club promises to be a fun and exciting activity that anyone interested can participate in.

Capt. Louis Delair, team captain, Quantico Parachute Club, will be holding recruiting opportunities throughout September for those willing to test themselves at new heights.

“Although there are certainly enough Marines with the skills required to be competitive, there is no United States Marine Corps Team currently being fielded,” said Deliar.

Delair who started the team, expects it to compete and, hopefully, win in next year’s military games, he said.

Delair’s ultimate goal is to form a team that will become good enough to compete and beat the Army Golden Knights, the Navy’s Leap Frogs and the Air Force’s Wings of Blue.

“It started over the summer. Anyone who is interested can join the team,” said Delair. “I have the experience to train those who are new to skydiving and lack the necessary skill to do it.”

However, the time and money that the team members put in will be from their own schedules and pockets. Delair, who works at the Office of Legislative Affairs on Capitol Hill, knows the price of upholding the team, but will still hold recruitments while at Marine Corps Base Quantico.

Delair is currently recruiting Marines from the National Capitol Region, both experienced and novices to join the club. An information booth will be set up at Quantico and Henderson Hall on Sept. 24 to 26 for those who are interested in joining the Quantico Parachute Club.

Those interested in finding out more information can contact the captain at [email protected].

Combat Correspondent: [email protected]

The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

[TriGirl 268]

Hey, Lou!

For those of us not on Facebook, what's the latest news with this adventure? I'm still waiting for the monitors to work out the slate, so I'm not even sure I'll be moving to DC this year (the Quantico gig fell through with the force downsize, but I may have something lined up in DC).

Looking forward to jumping around the area!

T

See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus

Shut Up & Jump!

[Deisel 35]

I hope that everyone has had a productive winter. But now spring is here and it's time to get back in the air! So to kick things off, the QPC will be having it's first annual BBQ and new member drive. It will go down on 25 May at Skydive Orange. Check out the Facebook page for updates as we go.

Please let me know if there are any questions. And for those that can't make it but want to participate in future events, contact me at [email protected] for more details. Semper Fi!

https://www.facebook.com/events/792872174057652/[url]

The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

[TriGirl 268]

Good luck, man. So bummed I won't be able to join. Stupid assignment system.

I hope your event last weekend was a huge success!

See the upside, and always wear your parachute! -- Christopher Titus

Shut Up & Jump!

[Deisel 35]

Sorry that you couldn't get there too! And while the event wasn't widely attended (couldn't compete with VSC and Carolinafest), we continue to move forward. Stay tuned, much more to come throughout the summer.

D

The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.