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Having no other way to contact others, I am making this request via this forum. I would like to do RW and have spent 3 separate days over the last two weeks at Skydive Orange doing solo jumps because I could not get anyone to do any RW with me even though there were several RW groups. Sad. I left there after one jump today frustrated and seeing again, what was happening. One lady asked me if I do RW and I responded that I was trying to if I could get someone to jump with. That seemed to end the conversation somehow. She was in a 4-way group. It is hard to ask and not feel like you are imposing on others. My progression is going to stop by doing all these solo jumps (8 in those three days.) If anyone is interested in teaching this new Skydiver, please let me know. Would love to be in an RW team and learn new things. If not, I will find another DZ to go to that is more friendly and doesn't ignore people. You would think someone would have noticed me leaving early with my rig in my back. Makes me feel like I am not a skydiver. David

Hey Phree, Reemeber me from last year at SGC, around Labor and later? I am jumping at Skydive Orange now. Hope to make it back to SGC at least once this season. Living in Maryland now. Couldn't make enough money in Columbus to survive. I still want the EOY DVD if you can get one to me by mail. Will send check. Let me know. Talk to you later, David Burnworth

Skydiving always looked really cool as a kid. I was sheltered as a child and wear glasses and felt kind of handicapped. My parents kept me away from the dangerous stuff like motorcycles and such. I have overcome many of those parent caused fears and do what I want to do. The first of them, was motorcycling, then came scuba, flying and skydiving as the latest. I am not sure what else to try next. Made 6 jumps this weekend after a layoff since December. I am glad I went back. Pursue your dreams and never give up on them! David

Moving sucks! Anyway, I jsut got off the phone with PEckerhead. He is goign to do my repack for me and is relatively close by. He even gave me some really good info on "local" DZ's to. Thanks to Peckerhead! I guess everyone thought I was giving up to easily on this. I had two backup plans, but they weren't going to happen real quickly. Don't need them now. I guess I wasn't as calm as I thought I was when I wrote the original post. I feel better now and thanks to everyone for their help! David

I am in Southern Maryland about 70 miles south fo D.C. Mapquest puts me at 168 miles to Chambersburg. I think that is doable for a whole weekend of jumping. I appreciate the suggestion and will give them a call later this week. Or I may just show up which would probably not work. David

It is a silly reason. I am just really frustrated that the DZ. won't at least help out some since they know who their riggers are and I haven't been there yet. All I want to do is keep from wasting a trip out there. Any way, thanks to the good folks here, there are more options. I didn't know of Chambersburg, so that adds a DZ to check out. David

I have been trying without success for the last 2 weeks to get a reserve repack. The situation is pissing me off more and more because I live about 130 miles from the closest DZ. I now live in Maryland and the closest DZ's are in Delaware and Virginia. One DZ in VA doesn't offer rigging, you are on your own. The second in Delaware, shut down for who knows how long. The third in DZ, supposedly a popular one, has been playing email and phone tag with me. I have tried to make them understand that I live far away and I need to get this done so I can jump. They don't seem to care much and didn't even offer to do it for me after dropping my rig off and pick it up later. A rigger was supposed to call me back last night, but never did. This is just a summary of my feelings. I waited all day to calm down before posting this. It seems to em that the DZ's are their own worst enemy. I am going to give them one more chance and then I don't know. What other options are there for me to get a repack? Or should I just let my USPA membership lapse in June and quit the sport for good. I haven't made a jump since December 16th due to weather and job switching/moving and I miss it very badly. I regret as far as Skydiving goes, having to leave the last two DZ's I patronized. At least there I felt welcomed. David

I emailed them yesterday to get some information about jumping there and I was told it was due to "airport access issues." No other word in the email. Guess I will have to find another new DZ to go to. David

Report both of them to the local FSDO (Flight Standards District Office) and to the USPA. Also, I wouldn't jump from that plane. No if's, and's or but's about it. I am a Private pilot and I am smarter than to do that. That pilot is logging flight hours as a jump pilot which is considered compensation by the FAA. Besides, he/she may not have enough training to save your life. 'Nuff said. David

So, this looks like a lot of fun to do! How much experience should the average rookie such as myself have before attempting this exit with others? David

Oops!

Thanks for the tips Dave. I am used to small town life. My motorcycle, flying, scuba diving and skydiving will help with that and usually take up most of my time. David

I tried them awhile back about a D-bag and they said they would not sell to me. Unless it is in their catalog, they won't sell it. David

I feel your pain. I have about 30 jumps on my new Pilot 210 and am just getting the hang of packing. David

hat would be nice. I have had only one repack so I have no clue how long it takes. New rig in July so it hasn't seen a whole lot of use or repacks yet. I am going to try to catch the rigger here in town if I can though on the way out. Thanks, David

I must add one other comment, I will miss Skydive Greene County in Xenia, OH. SGC Rocks! I will try to come back occasionally to see my friends. David

Cool. Will try to be there for safety day but won't be able to jump any if I can't get the reserve repack in time. David

Delmarva will definitely get points for having and Otter. Looks like all of my choices are near the same mileage or longer. I only have to drive about 80 miles now. It appears that Delmarva is an open to the public airfield so there is always the possibility of me renting an airplane and flying across the bay. Would be a lot less time traveling and more jump time. Are you all jumping in the cold weather or shut down for the winter? I have to try and get a reserve repack before I leave here or I am not going to be able to jump when the time comes. Would hate to drive all that way just to drop off my rig. Thanks, David

What kind of aircraft does Chambersburg offer?

Hi all, I am moving to Maryland in 2 weeks. The only DZ in Maryland according to DZ.com is not for experienced jumpers, tandems only. I will be moving to the Patuxent River area near the base. I am looking for info on the best place to go and closest as I apparently will have to travel to jump. Thanks in advance, David

I have gotten most of my parts on Ebay, but the handles are the most difficult to find. I got lucky and was able to bu ya black MT-1X harness from Ebay a while back and got 2 uncut canopies through Ebay also. Check your DZ to. I bought a complete MC-4 system a couple months ago for $250. The guy was tired of it. I haven't been able to jump either system yet, so don't ask. The MC-4 needs a repack and the MT-1X needs to be put together. Will do it when life settles down soon. If you PM me, I will send you someone's name and emaill address in Florida. I got my canopies from him. David

I like your idea of posting notices to pilots, but unfortunately, both places I fly out of don't really have stuff posted for piltos to read. There also is no where for pilots to hang out and shoot the !@#$. So, I suppose it won't work at every airport. David

32 first tandem, 35 first AFF through a license

We have Flight Service Stations you can call any time and any where. Unfortunately, in July they are going from 58 to around 10 stations so it will be more inconvenient to use them and the briefers will not be very familiar with a given area at the time of a call. The system is going downhill thanks to privatization. The "centers" are available pretty much anywhere also, but if you don't request flight following as a VFR pilot, you aren't talking to them anyway. Unless you were to monitor the frequency, you will never hear the announcement. I am taking instrument lessons currently, and the airport I fly out of for them is near a dropzone. We always get flight following during my training for the traffic advisories as I would be wearing a view limiting device to simulate instrument conditions. Anyway, it is strange to hear those skydiving advisories and not be able to look out the window for traffic avoidance. It bothers me, but that is what the safety pilot is for. David

I am a skydiver AND a Private Pilot. I sympathize with your position and have the fortune of being on both sides of the issue. In my opinion the dropzones are marked well enough on the sectional charts with a picture of a parachute. Pretty obvious. It is the responsibility of both sides here, pilot and skydivers, to look out for one another. I am biased to the skydiver side when I am jumping, but do make a bigger point to look at my charts when flying. I became a skydiver after being a pilot for 5 years. Anyway, as has already been emphasized, spotting is probably the key here. From the pilot's point of view and air traffic control, if the pilot is not talking to ATC, which is not required in uncontrolled airspace, there is no other way for me to know if there is jumping going on without looking at my sectional, checking the Notices To Airman and monitoring the local frequencies in hopes of hearing something. All this is proper procedure all pilots are taught to my knowledge. In my experience, the jump runs at each drop zone will change due to winds. How can you expect a pilot in other than the jump plane to know where the jump run is going to be? The DZ I jump at now adjusts the jump run after the first load goes. The first load goes based on the winds aloft forecast which is subject to change and has been wrong on occasion. I landed out because of this type of first jump run once so I speak from experience. I have had this happen on flights to. It is easier to deal with when you have ailerons and an engine. Anyway, I am not getting on your case here. I just want you to understand there are many factors for another pilot in another plane near a dropzone. Spotting is the easiest way to avoid this type of problem. One other thing your dropzone might consider is submitting a notice to airman (NOTAM) that would be given out to every pilot when he or she gets a preflight briefing. This not fullproof either as preflight briefings are conducted different ways and generally are not required for VFR flights. David