skyfool

I'll be flying into Long Beach on the 10th for the Big-Way camp. I'm planning on renting a car. I'd offer you (or anyone else) a ride, but San Diego is a little too far south from Long Beach.

I don't need a ride from the airport to Summerfest. But I do need a ride from SDC to O'Hare on the last day of Summerfest, Sunday August 5th. My flight is at 9PM, but I would be willing to go to the airport much earlier if someone is headed that way. I will pay $50. Anyone want to help a jumper out? And make $50? PM me if you can help. Thanks, Patrick

I like organized RW, especially between 8 way and 20 way, but I don't expect to see that. In freefly, I'll just settle for somebody to do some stable head up flying with. Organized track dives are cool too.

I did my first jump there a few years ago when the dz was just tandems and AFF. What is the vibe like now? Any regular fun jumpers? Will there be organizers? Blue skies, Patrick

Oh, right. Oops. I meant the Skyventure tunnel in Orlando. Blue Skies, Patrick

Would anyone be interested in sharing an hour of tunnel time on Friday, December 10th? I'm getting coaching from Guy Wright and he he charges $25 per person for each session and the tunnel costs about $550 per hour, but that can be split among however many people are in the tunnel for the hour. PM me if you have any interest. Blue Skies, Patrick Dugan C-34078

I visited Skydive Delmarva a few times in the summer of 2002. At the time I had less than 50 jumps, and every time I went there, people jumped with me. Friendly jumpers are the most important thing about a dz to me, so this place is very high on my list. When I was there, they had a Caravan and King Air, I've heard they have an Otter now. The landing area was wide open and easy to spot from altitude. And they're near the beaches, so that's cool too.

I did AFF there, so it has a special place in my hart. The staff is very cool (especially Patrick Osbourne). They have Skydive University and Freefly Training Center (you can learn to freefly from the best, in the sky or in the tunnel). There are always lots of students going through AFF. The aircraft: Skyvan, a very fast Super Otter with bench seats, and a Caravan. The only negatives: Jumping operations were put on hold sometimes for broken clouds that a lot of other DZ's would have put loads up in. I like to make the call myself whether or not I will jump. It also seemed that most of the fun jumpers were freefliers. Other than the guys from XL (who are very cool, by the way) I didn't see a lot of RW jumpers. I highly recommend Sebastian for AFF or a winter vacation.

The Ranch has been my home DZ for the 2003 season. Here's what I know: Weekends are so busy you may have trouble finding a place to pack. The landing area, while not large, is not tiny. The problems are the trees (stay as far away as you can). Depending on the direction of the wind, there can be rotors off the tops of the trees. There are also downdrafts and thermals on hot days. The Ranch may be a litle difficult to spot your first few times up there, so ask people to show you the tricks on how to find it. If you have a cutaway, your canopy may end up in trees or some other hard to reach place. Study the outs and the winds aloft before you jump. That said, there are some really cool people at the Ranch despite its proximity to New York City (I grew up in NYC, its a nasty town). Max Cohn runs the freefly school. Jack Jefferies is there running camps, organizing big ways, and just fun jumping. Unlike any other DZ I've been to, there is PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION to the Ranch. There's a bus from NYC that takes you to New Paltz, then you can get a cab for $11 to the Ranch. And someone will almost always drive you back to the city at the end of the day. I took some friends for tandems, and they had a blast. Their videos were very well done too.

I visited Z-Hills a few times in the fall of 2002. I had about 50 jumps at the time and I did some fun RW jumps, some with a coach (and I didn't have to buy his slot.) They have three or four Super Otters and a big safe landing area. Its been a home to skydiving forever. Lots of people live there in trailers in the winter. I took some friends for tandems and they had a blast. The instructors were very friendly. I've heard that New Years Eve is really cool there. I will definitely visit again.

I've been to ten drop zones. This is the best of those ten. I was there for Summerfest 2003 and the people were so friendly. They truly took me in and made me one of their own. Spread the love; its for real. There are lots of people who will jump with you in any discipline. I did 4ways, 5way, 6 ways, an 8way with Billy Weber, and my first 10way (2points and a completely free flown exit!) And some of the best skydivers in the world call it home. What else is good about SDC? Fast and comfortable airplanes, big safe landing area with lots of outs (the whole place is 300 acres), great food, an auditorium, a real bar (not just a counter and a cooler), a fitness room, internet access, a river with canoe rentals, a pond to swim in or swoop (I think you need approval from the S&TA to do that), lots of open area for camping, bonfires and cookouts by the pond, and the list goes on....

I almost always pack for myself. I have no problem with other jumpers using packers (it keeps people employed, right?). I take pride in knowing what the hell I'm doing, whether that's in freefall, under canopy or sweating it out on the packing carpet. If I have a malfunction, I'd like to be able to know what I did wrong so as not to do it again. On the rare occasions that I do use a packer, I only go to someone I trust. Oh yeah, and the money thing is important too. Blue Skies Patrick

Chris, Err, nice to meet you, in an internet sort of way. I will be at the Ranch on July 4th, but I am interested in taking a trip to SDC for Summerfest. I've never been there before, but I've heard a lot about it and I've been doing my research. My only problem is that I don't have a car and wouldn't want to rent one because I don't plan on leaving the DZ during the boogie. Is there a way to get from any local airports to SDC? Any local jumpers out there who might be willing to help a fellow skydiver? My other option is to try to get some people from the Ranch interested in driving out there. Any thoughts? Blue Skies, Patrick Dugan

Tanto, I can see the altimeter well in any belly position I've flown, including mantis or traditional boxman. I have been checking the altimeter in the sit position by turning my head and wrist. At this stage, I'm still concentrating on where my arms, legs and torso need to be to maintain stability and heading, so I wouldn't want to bring an arm in and have to figure out how to compensate. I said that the alti was "right in front of my face" because in the mantis position (as I was taught) it basically is. I initiated this whole thread because I've found that even a turn of the head and wrist can make my sit a little shaky. My goals right now are stabilty, heading and of course altitude awareness. I've just found that, as opposed to when I learned how to fly on my belly in AFF, checking the alti in my first few sit jumps has not been as natural. Thanks for all the great input everyone! And BTW, I am getting coaching from a world class freeflyer, so its not like I'm just tumbling through the sky with my altimeter glued to my face. Blue skies everyone!

For those of you who jump with an audible altimeter, how often do you check your visual altimeter? I just started learning to sit-fly and I'm very aware of the fast fall rate compared to my belly-fly rate. Checking my altimeter on my belly is just a natural thing (I usually fly in mantis position, so its right in front of me. I check it every few seconds.) While learning to sit, checking the altimeter has not been easy. Makes me a little wobbly. I don't want to get an audible and become compacent about checking the visual. I'd appreciate it if some more experienced freefliers could share their own methods of keeping track of the altitude. Thanks!