Next Jump
Weather Permitting (i.e. no cloud cover), I will be going skydiving Just Call or E-mail.   If it's cloudy, I'll be going Sunday. If anyone would like to GO SKYDIVING, your options are listed below. I need to know as soon as you can let me so I can make the right number of reservations, it's first come, first jumped.

General Info
Temperature: Trust me, the last thing you will be thinking on the way down is, "Gee. It's a little bit chilly up here." I was jumping in December and January in Dallas and I wasn't the least bit cold. If there's ice on the ground, I wear jeans and T-shirt with a pair of long johns underneath, and I'm very warm.  I'm colder on the ground than I ever am in the air.

If you want to make friends up there, bring beer. More beer = more friends.

• "In a world in which we are all slaves to the laws of gravity, I'm proud to be counted as one of them freedom fighters. Skydive!"
• "You may never get rid of the butterflies, but you can teach them how to fly in formation....."

Skydiving Frequently Asked Questions:  http://www.afn.org/skydive/faq/faq.html
It answers questions such as: What's the top speed? (321 MPH)
Canopy Ground speed: (about)
   Student Rig: 15 MPH      Obviously you flare and slow down before
    Expert Rig: 30-40 MPH   you touch down...way down if you're using
   Suicide Rig: 60 MPH      a "fast" rig.

Lucky skydiver video:  He jumps out of the airplane, has malfunction, survives, crashes into power lines, survives again.

Why Jump Out Of A Perfectly Good Airplane?
1. If riding in an airplane is flying, then riding in a boat is swimming.
   If you want to experience the element, get out of the vehicle.
2. It's incredible fun.
3. Jumping will give you an adrenaline buzz that will have you grinning
   and talking loudly for hours afterward.
4. Traumatize your poor, gray-haired mother who is spending your
   inheritance at a horrendous rate.
5. The door was open.  (Whoops!  Not again!)
6. It's your birthday and you want to do something different and exciting.
7. There's no such thing as a perfectly good airplane. . .they just
   don't exist!
8. To fulfill your dreams. . .because you've always thought about
   doing this!
9. To share a great experience with a friend.
10. Because the worst thing in life is regretting what you never did!
11. To experience the ultimate, unforgettable adventure

All certified and have your own gear?
Just need a ride up to 12.5k? . . . . . . $ 17 per jump.

Tandem: This is the most recommended action for a first skydive.
        It's the cheapest way to see if you like it or not.
        You get free fall time (about 1 minute), you get to pull the
        cord, and you get to fly it in. The person strapped to your
        back is there to remind you if you forget to do something
        important. (Example: Pull the rip cord). If you completely
        forget, the tandem jumpmaster will pull it for you.
        Remember, they want to go home at the end of the day, too.
        Training:  Approx. 2 hours.
        Saturday or Sunday: $149
        Groups of 3 or more, or single person on Weekdays: $139
        Video:  $60

Advanced Static Line Progression
Advanced Static Line Progression is a great way to learn the sport of skydiving. You will start by learning the basics of exiting the aircraft, pulling the ripcord, emergency procedures, canopy flight, and how to have fun. You will be packing your own parachute through out the course with instructor supervision. You will have the added safety of dual AADs (Automatic Activation Devices) on your equipment. Advanced Static Line Progression allows the student to progress at their own rate in a supportive rather than stressful curriculum. This style of teaching caters to students of all ability levels by providing individualized attention. The environment enables each student to demonstrate sufficient and competent skills for freefall, canopy flight and packing through out the program.

Tandem Progression
Tandem is a dual harness system that connects the student to the instructor. Tandem Progression is a great method for learning to skydive. It will let you experience the thrill of skydiving while being tutored with one on one instruction. Tandem Progression takes you through five dual instruction skydives encountering the basics with hands on experience. Your skydive is made from 15'000 feet allowing you to enjoy approximately one minute and fifteen seconds of freefall before you deploy your parachute. You then have a delightful parachute flight that last approximately 5-8 minutes before you glide in for a precision landing. You then continue with Advanced Static Line.

Please Note: Weight Limit- 225 pounds, Age Limit - 18 years ==> Parental consent will not change the age limit.!

Tandem Progression Prices
Tandem 1-5..............$149.00 *Gift Certificate $125.00 purchase 2 weeks early.
Transition Class........$150.00 @ 1 jump (Weekday Training Only) 6-8 Hour
Low Altitude Jumps......$ 65.00 @ 2 jumps
High Altitude Jumps.....$ 95.00 @ 5 IOF
Solo Jumps..............$ 49.00 @ 7 jumps
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Total Cost for 20 Skydives:  $1843.00

Please Note: Solo jumps may take instructor for additional 1 on 1 training.  At High Altitude $95.00 price.
*Purchase five Gift Certificates early and save $120.00 (Must purchase 2 weeks in advanced, before using)

Advanced Static Line Progression Prices
Static Line 1...........$150.00
Static Line 2-5.........$ 65.00
Low Altitude Jumps......$ 65.00
High Altitude Jumps.....$ 95.00 @ 5 IOF charge.
Solo Jumps..............$ 49.00 @ 8
--------------------------------------------------
Total Cost for 20 Skydives:  $1407  Free video with 1st s/l jump.

Please Note: Solo jumps may take instructor for additional 1 on 1 training. At High Altitude $95.00 price.

Free fall Photography -------------------------------------------------------------------
o Video and still photography are available.
  First Format: . . . . $ 60.00
  Second Format:  . . . . 25.00

Movie Myths

1. Free fall conversation:  Talking in Free fall is virtually impossible. The wind is too loud. Even talking in the plane on the way up is difficult.
2. 5 minute free falls:  Without taking Oxygen on the plane with you, free fall time is limited to about 80 seconds on a single jump (That's about a 15k foot exit, 2.5k opening, flying slow)
3. First-jump free fall acrobatics:  Learning to fall stable and to fly while in free fall takes practice--it's not realistic to do this on your first jump.
4. Low-pull contests:  This virtually never happens. Everyone tends to deploy around 2000- 2500. (Chickens like Wayne pull higher). Skydivers fall at about 5.5 sec per thousand feet.
5. Diving out and catching someone without a parachute:  Stunts similar to this have been done simply to prove it could be done. With one group, after MANY attempts with experienced skydivers, they finally managed to do it ONCE. It is virtually impossible to hold onto someone during the opening shock of the parachute when at terminal velocity. Plus, it's just not safe.

Testimonials
More stuff to convince you: "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." -- Helen Keller

Kirsten Pflomm

I did my first skydive (which was also a tandem) on August 28, 1996, and I am going to do my second tandem in a couple of weeks. There were 9 of us friends that went to skydive for the first time (two of our group had never even been in a plane before). Well, I was the organizer of this little extreme party, so I insisted on going first. My friend Kris and I went up together in the little Cessna. When that door opened at 10,000 feet, it was such a rush, I can't even explain it. I can't really remember thinking anything specific (I actually tried not to think too much about what I was doing, for fear of freaking myself out). Anyway, we stepped out of the plane, onto the prop under the wing. My tandem master yelled, "READY, SET, GO" and we let go...[snip]... I can't wait to go again. And no one of our group chickened out, and everyone of us is going again in a couple of weeks. We really bonded that day, and we are all very close as a result of risking our lives together. The day after, at work, I had the biggest grin on my face all day, people thought I was in love or had gotten "lucky" the night before. It is such a high, such a life-affirming event. To try to explain it is very difficult because it is like nothing else there is. It is the pinnacle.

Shannon Carter
I am currently an A-licensed skydiver with 36 jumps, and my first two jumps were tandems. All but two of my jumps have been made at Skydive Arizona in Eloy, Arizona, including my tandems. That first one was an incredibly spontaneous event...[snip]... I had the greatest jumpmaster ever, and soon after arriving there I was suited up and on the plane, embarking on the most amazing event of my life. As we exited the plane from about 14,000 feet above the earth, I felt so incredible. Adrenaline was pumping through me like never before. It was also the sunset load for that day and the view of the sun setting behind the mountains in the distance of the Arizona desert is one that I will never forget. As we fell back to Earth I knew that I was never going to be the same

Skydiving Humor

Q. What's the difference between Golf & Skydiving ?
A. In Golf , they go WHACK... "Uh-oh !" In Skydiving, they go "Uh-oh ! "...WHACK !"

You know you're a skydiver when:
o BOC goes from meaning "Blue Oyster Cult" to meaning "Bottom of Container."
o You're making love to your partner and they whisper "I've never done this
  before" and you yell out "THAT'S a case of beer!".
o Whenever leaving an establishment you yell "DOOR" to all the patrons before
  opening the door.
o You allow a maximum 55 seconds of "working time" when making love.
o Every time someone's beeper goes off you look at your watch to see if it's
  break-off altitude.
o You don't remember your anniversary or your mother's birthday, but you
  know down to the second how much accumulated free fall time you have.
o You analyze sessions of love-making in terms of "points turned".
o You refer to your recent break-up as an "intentional cut-away".
o You can't mention the word "first" in casual conversation, at work, or ever
  in reference to yourself.
o Anytime you have sex with someone for the first time you think "Beer!"
o You've kissed more people in free fall than you have on the ground.
o Your whuffo friends just don't understand why you would want to "do" a
  horny gorilla.
o You forget to lower your voice when talking to your jumper friends in a
  restaurant about the weekend's lost dildos, loose legstraps and lack of
  penetration
o You refer to Weddings, Funerals, Birthdays, etc. as 'Relative Work'
o When you buy anything you calculate how many skydives it will cost.
o When you wake up with a mean hangover in a tent, the first thing you check
  is your rig. Then the person sleeping next to you.
o You wake up in the morning feeling like death warmed over, after having a
  few too many beers the night before, and your solution to this consists of
  riding in an extremely loud vehicle for about twenty minutes, throwing
  yourself out the door and NOT! killing yourself.
o You can't think of a better way to relax other than falling 10,000 feet.
o You see an incredibly beautiful woman and you think, "hmm, I wonder if I
  can talk her into......skydiving!".
o Your girlfriend holds out her left hand and says the word diamond.  You
  picture a four-way formation, look at your girlfriend's hand, realize the
  diamond she's talking about is going to cost over 200 jumps, and then,
  with a smile, picture your girlfriends suitcases on the front porch.
o Your friends think it's funny to, when you are sleeping, blow a fan in
  your face and set a beeper off near your ear.  (For whuffo's, that's a
  reference to the "Low Altitude--Pull Now Or Die!" beeper many skydivers wear).
o On cloudy/windy days you go to the drop zone anyway and bitch about
  the weather.
o On cloudy/windy days you pull out your parachute and pack it just to
  say that you've done something skydiving-related.
o You "dirt-dive", "post-dive" and critique your love-making sessions.
o The smell of bug spray makes you think of skydiving.
o Whenever a passenger in a fast-moving car, you stick your head out
  the window and yell "FIVE LEFT" to the driver.
o You don't own any clothing that you didn't get at a boogie.
o Every single one of your whuffo friends is to the point of wanting
  to kill you every time you mention skydiving.
o You think of Jack Jeffries, Tamara Koyn and Norm Kent as "famous".
o You analyze every flag you see in terms of it's too windy/not too windy to jump.
o You analyze every flag you see in terms of which direction you'd face to land.
o It's a dark sky with low clouds and you're thinking "Hop -n- Pops!".
o It's so windy that trees are bending over and you're thinking, "Cross country!"
o You can't think of a good reason to pick up your mail for three weeks after
  your issues of "Skydiving" and "Parachutist" arrive.
o You feel naked without at least one jump ticket in your wallet.
o You sign your checks with your name and USPA number.
o You know to the tenth of a mile how far it is from your driveway to the
  drop zone's driveway.
o You can't remember the true meanings of the words "Stilletto," "Javelin,"
  "Talon," "Racer" .....
o You walk everywhere watching the sky.
o You show up at the DZ even on the worst-weather days because at least
  you can sit around drinking beer.
o You have your paycheck direct-deposited into the DZ account.
o You plan your vacations around skydiving boogies.
o On a full moon night, you look up and think "Night jumps!"
o You know the DZ phone number while you don't even know your own.
o You drive a beaten-up car because you really need that new canopy more.
o You have no idea what is happening on the weekends in your town.
o You have more pairs of Tevas than you do sneakers.
o You catch yourself flaking the bed instead of making it
o The term "PC" makes you think of pilot chutes, not personal computers
o You name your dog "Toggles"
o You wonder what whuffos _DO_ with themselves on gorgeous summer weekends
o You look at your VCR and think, "Hmm, that's gotta be worth a few jumps."
o You wish for wind, rain, snow, earthquakes, locusts, tornadoes, etc. on
  days you have to work or have other 'Relative Work' to do.
o You can't imagine how anyone can go on vacation without a parachute.
o Your rig costs more than your trailer.
o You love the smell of 'Jet A' in the morning!
o Losing your job is a reason for celebration!
o Your 'work' clothes have grippers.
o You wear a Skydiving T-shirt and bring a six pack to a job interview.
o You try to convince the State Trooper that your "D" license allows you
  to do ANYTHING!
o Your log book is thicker than any book you've ever read.
o You stop by the New River Bridge and take a look. All the others are saying
  'Damn, look how high it is' and you're saying 'Damn, look how low it is.'
o When you wear your rig on commercial passenger flights, just in case.
o When seeing seats in a twin otter gives you the willies.
o When you go to divorce court and give your ex- everything as long as you
  can keep all your skydiving gear.
o When buying a house seems like a terrible waste of jump money.
o When you own three rigs, three altimeters, three dytters....
o When you log a jump on December 25 and the fact it is Christmas doesn't
  enter your mind.
o Your six year old son can teach the first jump course.
o You put your arms down and back in a full track when running down stairs.
o You estimate your chances of pulling off a hard front riser turn when
  looking out any window above four stories.
o You find yourself mentally telling the pilot when to flare while landing
  on a commercial flight.
o Your Christmas tree has more skydivers on it that an Otter can carry.
o Your thinking about taking all the but the driver's seats out of your car.
o Every time you get pulled over for speeding you tell the cop you just made
  your first skydive in the hopes that he will let you go.
o Your favorite movie in the world is just over sixty seconds long.
o Your whuffo friends only call if the weather man says the weekend will
  be cruddy.
o Your friends look at the sky and say, "look at all those clouds", and
  you say, "look at all those holes!"
o You fill out your packing data card in Braille and try to convince the
  drop zone owner it's legal.
o You consider sleeping in a slanted plane as comfortable.
o Your friend says "let's go to the beach", and you grab your rig.
o You try to convince the flight attendant on a commercial flight that
  you really! would be much more comfortable sitting on the floor.
o When someone asks you where you're from, you reply with the name of
  your DZ, not your hometown.