OrangeJumper

I guess everything is bigger and better in TX. My home drop zone is in Virginia, Skydive Orange. I flew to OKC for Christmas and thought I would check out Skydive Dallas during my visit. I must say, I am very, very impressed. The facilities are unbelievable. They have a huge packing area and I must say it is very well kept. They have a nice cafe with awesome food and the cook is a super cool guy. The landing area is enormous and free from obstacles. They have wonder planes and the staff/experienced jumpers are so friendly it's almost scary. I am a newly licensed jumper (only have 37 jumps) and the most experienced jumper on the DZ practically made me jump with them. Hell, as soon as I checked in, one of the staff members started introducing me to all of the belly flyers so I wouldn't have to jump alone. One of the experienced jumpers/AFF Instructors that asked me to jump, I think his name was Rick, had something like 15,000 jumps! He gave me a little coaching before we jumped and we planned on doing sequential accordians the entire time. I wasn't as optimistic as he was considering I only had 36 jumps. I am happy to say, thanks to his coaching, we turned 27 freaking points!!!

Even the riggers were very friendly and went out of their way to give you pointers. My canopy is F-111 and has a tendency to open hard. One of the riggers sat with me for 30 minutes showing me different tricks to slow the openings. While he was doing this, there were rigs laying all over the place waiting to be packed.

Needless to say, I had a great time at Skydive Dallas. I highly recommend this drop zone to anyone, even if you're not from the area. My only regret is that I live so far away. It's safe to say that I will visit SDD anytime I am back in OKC.

What can I say, Orange rocks. Despite the fact that Skydive Orange has very talented instructors, nice aircraft, take safety above and beyond, ect, the people are what make it such a success. There aren't cliques and anyone will jump with you as long as you are safe. All of the experienced jumpers will take the time to answer any of your questions or provide coaching. This is my first drop zone, so I have nothing to compare it to but I can't imagine to many other drop zones that have this type of atmosphere.

After hours....all I can say is damn! These people know how to party. I did my first AFF jump Aug 2004, during the Fabulous Annual Booie Over Orange. I don't know if it was the skydive or the parties that had me hooked. I have been to the drop zone every weekend since. No matter how hot or cold it is, or no matter if it rains or snows all day, you can always count on people being at the drop zone waiting for the beer light to turn green. Oh yeah, there happens to be a lot of hot naked chicks there to! It is safe to say that I have found my one and only drop zone!