4j6

Hello, Packncathy here. AFFI -# indicates the AFF instructor rating is valid for that year. If you need anything just call! 912 322 7282

No one has landed in P50. Before you read the rest of this you do need to recognize that only in the United States of America could I write so openly and honestly and still expect to stay in business and keep my ratings. Thank you to all of those who have sacrificed on our behalf. Two skydivers did land on the Navy Base's recreational complex while the other 2 on the load made it back to the field. Sometimes we spot a little West to avoid the Prohibited Area North and East of the field. Until the current Airport Authority Board was put in place we had a very successful operation and a very good relationship with the Navy. They asked for Tandems to support their causes and I provided those Tandems. We do recognize that without a strong military the country is perceived as weak and open to attack. We also recognize that when the military allows itself to become a participant in local politics it is not working at what it needs to. The two skydivers that missed the field got out east of the spot, the two that made the field got out west of the spot. No, I was not flying. If you get your head wrapped around what really happened there it is a little confusing. The jump run was Westerly. Anyone wanting to call the DZO and ask about this. 912 322 7282-packncathy I am sure there is a lot of damage that a retired military guy and someone who is attempting to join the US Army can do in the middle of a baseball diamond. Those are the 2 guys who landed on the base. If skydivers with metal on their gear are a threat to the Navy what will happen when someone who really is nefarious flies at 3001' and drops someone into the Nuclear base that actually knows how to damage them. The prohibited area is really small. The altitude is 3000'. Planes overfly this field on their way to Jax all day long. Oddly the military is not thinking those airplanes are a threat. Look the Navy can defend itself just fine. The problem is that this is a political smoke screen. The military rules St. Marys and the people here are concerned that if the Navy leaves they will not be able to feed their children. This is something I had not witnessed before and I find the rule of the Navy here to be alarming. The military is downsizing. The government is in need of downsizing. To much weight at the top working to hard to rally the public behind a threat that is less of a threat and more of an ally than the Navy Base even realizes. No one on board our aircraft would harm this country. The majority of our guys are US Army Rangers who have fought to defend this country. Now the Navy tells them they cannot skydive into the free sky that these young men fought to protect. Once the Navy stops playing games with successful businesses and supporting the businesses that are not succeeding we can all get back to work and a balanced budget. The real problem here is this is Georgia. Most businesses stay as far away from towns like St. Marys as they can get. Sixty percent of the businesses here have left this location and closed because of the culture here that encourages nepotism. I thought Federal Funding could protect us from the nepotism. The Airport Authority Board Manager's name is Jay Jeffrey Stanford. So is the FBO who wants to close the field. Their family figures that they will get 2.2 million if the field is closed. Jay Jeffrey Stanford also works at the Nuclear Submarine base. GDOT is as entrenched as any other agency here and has just ruled that although I was the only operator being assessed a $400.00 a month permit fee that this was "fair and reasonable". Also that closing down skydiving at this field is acceptable. How can they continue to provide Federal Funding if no one except the AAB Manager's family is allowed to have a business on the field? Look the name Stanford's on the FAA web site for Airmen Certificates...the son is not even named Jr.! In S GA this son governing the field where his family is the only business allowed to rent to commercial operators is considered ethical! I did file a complaint with the ethics board. They said it was ethical. A girl has got to laugh. The problem is that if we permit the Navy to also rule the sky and the activities of people they would be protecting how are we different then the people in the middle east? The problem is our skydiving business has prospered and grown while the AAB manager's family has not. I chose to rent from the only person on the field not named Stanford who had a facility to rent. My contracts have been ignored. Now, the local government is stopping us from operating and using tax dollars to do this! No court order, no injunction, just the local police arresting people for skydiving onto a Federally Funded Airport. I had an option to rent land several miles away but given the lack of "due process" in this area chose to move to Statesboro GA instead. Vic's old DZ by GA Southern. 900 acres and the best Southern Hospitality you can imagine! Huge hangar for less than I was being billed for a garage in St. Marys. This place is going to rock! When I got here they actually said..."this is a good-"good 'ol boys network". New hangar, better facilities and while the fight with the Stanford's was going on in St. Marys I picked up a few more ratings. Now that I have a multiengine and IFR rating -I really should grow my DZ so that I need those ratings. How is it that the government that cannot control it's spending is using my tax dollars to shut me down? How is this effective use of Federal Funding? If the Navy wants the Airport they should buy it. The Airport was there long before the base was. Quote