skreamer

I know there have been some bull-shit DZ reviews posted by dodgy DZ operators, well guess what? This isn't one of them. Skydance has got all the usual stuff you would expect from a world class DZ : nice planes that work, pilots that fly them, nice view etc. etc, but this isn't why this place totally rocked my jaw. The folks there are awesome! I showed up on my own with VERY few jumps (last jump 2 months previously had been AFF hop 'n pop graduation), so I showed up as both 'Nigel No-mates' and 'Larry Low-timer'. I had bought a 2nd hand rig and had it shipped to Action Air. They were really professional and had it ready for me when I arrived (canopies and container inspection, reserve repack, RSL fitted and Cypres fitted). I flew out from London, so everything had to be arranged via email, which it was. I had initially emailed ALL the dropzones in northern California, Skydance was the only one that bothered replying so they got my business. A couple of notes on Action Air and Flitesuit : I bought a jumpsuit off the shelf. Later in the week Ryan TWICE came to me and told me to bring it in so they could modify it for me. I didn't ask them to do it and I wasn't charged. These guys know how to look after their customers (and I have already got measured for a freeflysuit from them). They also recommended I buy a bonehead when they could easily have sold me a full-face that cost a lot more, they sold me the gear that was right for me (and gave advice that made sense too). As for the skydiving, weeeeell, there was Ed who I did my check-out jump with. Great instructor, really nice guy, commands respect the right way. Then there was Markus, one of the regulars at Skydance. He saw me geeking my little head off (6 jumps in one day, which to me is a LOT) and asked me if I wanted to try going head-down. The next day he was true to his word. Of course I screwed it up about 3 seconds after exit, but I got to watch him and JP from the best seat in the world (referring to the view there, not my sit-flying ability) AND it was the sunset load. Get this part : Markus would NOT take a jump-ticket off me and insisted on paying for his own. JP from Action Air also gave me some 2-way coaching and on our second jump we turned 6 WHOLE POINTS (maybe not much in your book, but it meant a lot to me, OK?). In the evenings after jumping I got invited along with the staff every night and I had a really good time. They were even nice to me after I observed that all Americans are evil capitalists - Ed simply observed that that was pretty rich coming from a guy jumping a red, white and blue main. :) This is a pretty long review, I know, but hell nobody told you to read this far anyway. I still had 7 Skydance jump tickets left at the end of my week there (wind), but decided then already I was going to hang onto them and fly back out for their boogie in June. Any beginners, low-timers or prospective tandem luggage : sell your grandmother and go to Skydance! Here's an email address in case you would like to get in touch with me and have this review verified as authentic : [email protected]. Drop till you party! William Walls PS I have given them 10 stars, but if it shows up as one star out of five then that is a bug on the review code (seems to happen on all the other DZs' reviews).

Umm, I would say your name, say your name - but I'm not sure which one to use...

T-rex - now I bet you wherever Marc Bolan is now, he is sorry he ever let the chick drive his car...

Hey FFF To geek or not to geek that is the question... /s PS I think we ALL do a lot of 'geeking' though!

Dan You've got mail! /s

Not true - that guy in South Africa started packing for money when he was 13 (his dad is a skydiver). Frank, packer at Skydance, also started packing when he was 13 - reckons he has over 25 000 pack jobs. I repeat I wasn't having a go at you, just a bit curious about how a 16 year old got that kind of cash (legally). Anyway, good luck with the AFF and just think in 13 years time when you are my age you could have a helluva lot of jumps to your name. (great, now I am really jealous and depressed) /s

Omri, how serious are you about AFF and skydiving? I'm not having a go or anything, but if you can afford toys that expensive then why aren't you doing AFF already? In January I met a skydiver in South Africa who had just turned 17 and had his C license - ALL paid for by packing. Man, I wish I had had $3 900 *spare* money when I was 16 (or now for that matter). Don't worry Omri, I'm just jealous that's all. /s

UPDATE! It has become apparent that June is not a good time for the Vegas BLitz. There are a nr. of reasons * it is the middle of season for dz.commers who work in skydiving *air-fares (and hotels) are at their most expensive - a big consideration for those of us flying in from Europe *a lot of you guys can't make it in June If we are going to do *The Blitz* lets do it properly. It would be great if Sangiro (and DZ.com) could join Zennie and myself in organizing it. But if his workload doesn't allow, then that is cool. Let me know what you guys think (and lets keep the idea alive!). Quincy is in August, so maybe late September or October? /s

HA HA I am always too lazy to put the side panel back on as well, because I just reckon before too long i will want to change/tweak something anyway (bad as far as cooling is concerned tho'). Most fun I had was a previous box I built - abit motherboard, dual processing with 2 celerons. Cheaper than buying a PIII at the time and pretty quick (had to run NT tho - multiprocessing blah blah). Thing was, you could fry an egg on it it got so hot.

Well, I've got a PIII 650, 384 Mb of RAM and 45 Gb HDD (30Gb Seagate Barracuda and 15Gb Maxtor). Infrared headphones, scanner, Logitech wheelman mouse, Rio 500 MP3 player, DVD rom (using genie for multiregion use), webcam, Palm III AND we have ADSL. My 2 flatmates and I have networked our flat (including the TV and fridge ) so we can share the ADSL and play quake. This might explain why I don't get out very often... (does getting pizza delivered count as *eating out*?). I work in IT, I am doing a degree in IT through correspondence, any other time is spent gaming or posting to this ng

Larry Quite a co-incidence, because I just had my *new* rig inspected by Action Air 2 weeks ago. The reserve pack was due anyway, they also installed an RSL and my cypres for me. I elected not to have them pack my main, simply because it costs $12 if they do it for you. Action Air are a really nice bunch of guys and I am very happy with the service I received. /s

And I know how to 'right-click' and 'save as'....woooo hoooo

Larry, I took a little 7 year break between jumps (with all the usual crap excuses). The fact that you haven't jumped since '78 doesn't matter, the fact that you just *got back in the saddle* is the only thing that does. As my AFF instructor wrote in my logbook (he was also my SL FTJ instructor in '93) - Welcome back to the sky!!! Excellent dude!

Lisa, welcome to the dark side! Don't you think this should have been posted to the geek thread??? You keep talking techno like that and you will have more admirers than Marissa/Skyler can shake a stick at! /s PS RAM is soooo cheap now, you REALLY want to spend a little more $$$ on some extra memory, I just picked up a 256 Mb module for just over $100 - you WILL notice the difference in performance (esp with CD writer). Cool, if you have a DVD drive you can join our little divx circle of rippers...

I don't know how you guys do it... I am on 33 jumps (21 in South Africa and 12 in the States). Between the weather here, the cattle disease and the BPA, I don't think I will ever be skydiving in the UK! I'm hoping to go skydiving in Germany next month and then hopefully back to Skydance for their boogie. Maybe I can get a license somewhere abroad... /s PS for the record I am a member of the BPA until end March and have been in contact with them. I have even offered to scan my logbook and mail it to them. How did you guys get your A license in this country???

Sorry skyhawk, I was getting your beer and your women confused again... Oooooooh, now I'm quivering with fear... /s

Now if only you'd give me a chance to do the same for you Froggy... waahahahahhahahhaha /s

Dude, no way, one day I want to be a SKYGEEK! Like a skygod, only with less attitude and more acne! hahahahhafuckinhahahahhaha i just got back from the pub and i'm pissed hahahahhahahaha /s PS Lisa, you're one of us now - bring your asthma pump and retainer on over to our huddle! Froggy, you too - but only cause us geeks are too scared to stop you from joining our gang.

So what was Don Bradman's test average again? Oh yes, 99.9999999 - hahahhahahaha all because he went out for 4 in his last innings! hahahahahhahaha /s

Well then, Marissa, how come your profile says Skyler Turner? I think you are too chicken shit to post any real pics! And there are 3 other guys here on dz.com who agree with me...

Dan, if you can build your own box, then you already know more than 75% of the so-called *professionals* in IT. If you are looking for work, you should get a couple of industry certs (A+, MPC etc.) and start contracting - there's good $$$$ to be made. I've got loads of useful *stuff* if you are looking for a new career, mail me at [email protected] if you need help/advice. /s

OK OK here it is. But please be warned it is REALLY cold here and I was suffering from performance anxiety and my webcam doesn't have a zoom lens, aaah hell - here it is (with my flaps showing...) nekid skreamer /s PS guys 4 chicks 0 Freaksis, you're all talk...

Yeah, you're in - my first job was 1st line helpdesk for an ISP - dealing with idiots with IQs lower than room temperature. For the record : disposable income = the amount you spend on skydiving, ie if you skydive you won't have any. /s

Congrats, what is it and how much did you pay? Cypres? RSL? canopy colours? Details please (you know you want to tell us ALL about it...) I jumped MY rig for the first time 2 weeks ago, man it is such an awesome feeling! I keep it next to my bed, so when I wake up in the morning I can just roll over and look at it for a while...

Yep, you're in, bring your abacus and chess set over - let's rumble! /s