waterboy3412

So I was visiting friends in Indiana so we figured we should go skydiving. Skydive Greensburg was the closest option. When I got there we were greeted and welcomed even though it was our first time to the dz. The winds were high that day and the load organizer saw that I was new to the sport so he gave me a ton of advice on my landing approach. I was planning on doing a 2way with a buddy with both of us hanging outside the caravan on the floater bar however it was only big enough for one person to get a grip on it. It seems as though they really cater to tandems seeing as how my friend and I were the only two fun jumpers there. I thought it was weird they only took tandems and us (by default) to 9500 feet. They said they would go higher with fun jumpers but obviously there weren't enough to send a load.

The friendliness and new rental gear really sell this place. I'm just used to the huge skydive chicago dz so I had to adjust. If you are in the area it is worth checking out.

Okay I have made all 25 of my jumps at SDC and I love the place to death. They have a huge plot of land so if you don't make it to the holding area there aren't any power lines to hit, you'll just end up in the corn fields (but they'll send someone to get you). Their Tandems are great and they actually teach you to skydive. They give you an altimeter and actually want to you to pull the pilot chute.

I really want to review the AFP Program, so here it goes:

I recently completed AFP In A Week. It is a great program, it costs around 2600 bucks but if you can afford it you'll be better off. The Transistion course (what you take after your 2 tandems) is okay. As soon as I got there I felt as though I had no idea what the instructor was talking about. They would use terminology and not explain it in detail. However you do get hands on experience in the classroom, which is nice. You will need to take a test, but if you get questions wrong, it doesn't really matter because they go over it as a group and explain the answer. All in all the class is good but if they would explain parts of a parachute in more detail it would be easier for a beginner to understand.

I loved making my AFP jumps at SDC, the instructors are great, funny, knowledgeable, you name it. My problem with the jumps was the videos. They give them to you on tapes. I don't know how many of you have VCR's still but I don't. Plus if you want to post them on facebook or YouTube you will have to pay them 10 dollars to copy your videos to DVD. I heard they are switching over to flash drives but I don't know when thats going to happen. Another problem was that you don't jump with the same instructor everyday. So one instructor might have your videos on a flash drive, or there computer, or on your tape. They always seemed like it was never high on their priority list to get you your videos. Even when you did get them, getting them in order is next to impossible. My last problem with the videos was on my graduation jump (the most memorable and fun jump) my video was taken by a "pro" photographer on an HD camera. After I landed I saw the video on the big screen but when I asked for a copy he was unable to give me a working one. The file was corrupted. So I have no footage from my grad jump, but I'm over it. Also After you make your 20 instructor jumps and you are on your own, be prepared to buy your own goggles and altimeter. They stop providing you with those. So there went another 200 bucks. Anyway on to the positive stuff.

The staff is amazing, although new to the sport, the first night we were there we were invited to a BBQ with the staff and other jumpers. It is an amazing atmosphere. The DZO Rook is sweet, we talked for a good amount of time which I thought was cool. Also the jumpers there are always willing to give advice which is awesome. After I got my license the Manifest made an announcement over the loud speaker and everyone applauded, which made me feel good. I also learned a ton! Like i said before, I didn't know the difference between the risers and toggles but I feel like I have a great base of information to build on.

Final Thoughts:

I couldn't think of anywhere better to skydive, the view is better than you think it would be, the staff is great, the super otter is SWEEEEEEEET, and they have competitive prices. If they could organize their AFP a little more it would be perfect. If you have never been to SDC, I recommend it.