MRay

I just had a fantastic weekend at Skydive Delmarva! -Suzanne (sp?) at manifest greeted me with a smile on her face a never misses a beat, -Dave the genl manager is very involved and has built a safety culture that's visible in the air as well as on the ground -Dave the AFF instructor went up with me and taught me some good stuff on turning points -Rob invited me onto a big-way and a 3-way (this guy's exit count is so loud you could probably hear it from the ground!) (Sorry about that kick in the teeth, Rob) -the packers happily squeezed my pack-jobs in between the tandems and the team rigs -I got invited to a really nice cook-out, with a bon fire that I'm sure was visible from the ISS. -the twin-otter is great; apparently it just got upgraded with bigger engines -the facilities look a bit ramshackle on first impression (they're working bit by bit to take down what's left of the older hangar buildings) but the landing area is really big, and there's camping space and good showers. I have to say that of the dozen or so DZs I've visited, this is by far my favorite (excepting my home DZ, of course). Delmarva captures everything that I could possibly want in a drop zone. And for those of you looking for a site to do your first tandem jump, I highly recommend Delmarva. You'll get exposed to the full breadth of what the skydiving world has to offer by coming here.

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!