aubma

First off, thanks for the advice everyone. I think I will check out the people at Elsinore in the near future and get a better idea of that DZ. I understand the point of saving money not doing tandems. But I have 2 reasons for willing to delay doing AFF in favor of tandems. 1 - it is a social thing. Visiting friends in TX and doing something I enjoy is worth the cost. Particularly when it is with friends I only see once or twice a year. Also, I have done my 2 tandems alone, so I want to experience it with others as well. As for the Santa Barbara jump - that is trying to regenerate my social life, which took a huge hit for very stupid reasons recently (apparently half my "friends" thought I shouldn't be allowed to date anyone - and were willing to end a friendship over it). My 2nd reason is I am not completely sold on skydiving. When at home thinking about it, I get anxious. Once at the DZ, all fear vanishes and I have enjoyed the entire experience - even the 1-2 hours of waiting my turn to do a tandem. However, I want to get more comfortable with the sport before making plans to get my A license and buy a rig. And cost is only an issue right now because I just had to take my car to the shop and my mom does not like the idea of skydiving so she insists on me finishing paying a debt I owe her. So I can't afford AFF right now, but I can afford spacing out a couple of tandems before my xmas bonus, which should be able to pay for a significant portion of the AFF. And I did more detailed research on cost between the 2 DZs (still need to look into Jim Wallace). Perris is slightly more expensive ($10 more/jump without a package deal, $36 more with the cheapest package), so not really an amount worth worrying about to me. With all that said, I'll be checking out Elsinore and getting a feel for the people there. Thanks again for the advice!

First off, greetings all! This is my first post and here's to hoping I love AFF so not my last! I realize there are a few posts about this and have done the reading, but I am interested in a more personal answer. Some quick background - I have done 2 tandems at Perris. I liked everyone I spoke with - TMs/other employees/the general public. Everyone was extremely kind and pleasant. However, I have read more than once on here that Elsinore is more family-oriented, which is commonly what I seek out and prefer. I gladly opt for smaller but closer than bigger and more enabling (either from more loads, more instructors, or any other option). Because of this, I lean towards Elsinore for the AFF. I am going to Austin, TX in a couple of weeks to visit friends and family and planning a tandem in coupland (we were going to go to San Marcos but my mom's friends said that was not a good place to go - research as to why has come up with nothing - any words of experience?) with some friends there. Also, I am talking about doing a tandem jump in the Santa Barbara area with a coworker. I want to get an idea of other DZs before I sign up for the AFF, so I like doing more tandems to get a better idea of how DZs differ. Also, I plan on doing some wind tunell time at Perris before I do the AFFs (my last tandem, I tried to learn as much as I could from observation and I seemed to mess up stability - I rather go in with an idea of what to do so I can get the best experience possible). Cost is a factor too. Perris seems more expensive. However, it seems to be a difference of a few hundred bucks, but I am still factoring in everything (which websites don't always do), so it may actually be about the same price, give or take - I still have research to do. I will gladly pay more for the best training, but who doesn't want to save some cash where possible? As for distance, I live in the south bay. Perris and Elsinore are about equally far apart from my front door. To get to Perris, traffic is generally better. But if I am serious about this, I don't think an extra half hour or so of sitting in traffic is something to worry about. So distance/driving is not much of a factor. So, with all that background, here is my question. Which DZ in the LA area is best recommended? Considering that I have been to Perris and liked the people, it is definitely an option. How Elsinore is described, it seems to fit my personality more. I have also looked at Taft (my boss did a tandem there and described it in similar terms to how Elsinore has been depicted). I won't be able to do the AFF1 until December, at earliest (darn bills), so I still have plenty of time to research everything. I just wanted a more knowledgeable opinion given my situation. Happy landings one and all and I hope to meet you shortly! Thanks for your help! Peter