voltage 0 #1 April 8, 2007 Recently I vistited Florida for a skydiving trip and wanted to share my experience here because I took some good advice from these forums. I travelled with 2 fellow jumpers from my home DZ and we had in mind to do some dedicated RW jumping. I also ordered a rig from Rigs'n'Things in Cape Coral, and everything worked like a charm, I can recommend their shop. The first DZ we went to was Lake Wales. After we arrived we noticed so many old guys hanging around, ah we just joined a POPS meet. But it was very cool, and not only because a CASA was there but so many real nice people around. Actually one of our group qualified for POPS (he is 41, the rest of us two are in our twenties) but he cannot speak more than 10 words english so he wasn't able to apply So I have only good things to say about Lake Wales. The staff there is great, they got a nice big indoor place for packing and hanging out, relaxed atmosphere, ... I think I will be back next time. Then we moved on to Z-Hills. It was the first day of the 200-way camp and just minutes before we arrived there had been a serious accident and later that day, the winds went pretty strange, too. So we decided not to jump. Maybe next time. Instead we went on to Deland. The rest of our trip we spent in Deland. The DZ is very busy even on weekdays, with all the teams training there. On our first jump there we discovered how important it is to check the spot, because only 2 of us made it back, and sadly our friend Markus made a not so good decision to try to make it back and impacted while recovering from a low turn, but beside some hours in the hospital for some stichting and a week or so of pain he was lucky. No more Florida jumping for him, though. The long spot thing happened to me three times while jumping in Deland. This is defintely a thing to consider when coming from a small (abroad) DZ where things are a bit different and long spots almost never occur (in fact most low-timers from our DZ I spoke with have never bothered to check the spot for that). With our group now reduced to a 2-way, over the time of three days we did some very good dives turning some serious points. With all the professionel skydivers around and the amount of loads available Deland is imo really a good place to improve your skydiving if you are dedicated. One thing I disliked about Deland was packing space. Having to pack a brand new Spectre, the only way I could get that beast in the bag was with a side pack, and a side pack in a hot, windy and full of sand outdoor packing tent really sucked. The comfortable packing rooms inside are not available if you aren't staff or (professional) team packer. But aside that, I liked Deland, too. I'll be back there for sure. There even was some nice evening entertainment, Tiki party and live music one evening made the last slippery pack job of the day a bit easier. I'm seriously learning to pro-pack a slippery canopy right now, in fact today I have already (sort of) put it in bag 3 times and took it out again, soon I will be confident enough to even jump it Guess now I've got the Florida Blues. Anyway just wanted to share Blue Skies, Andi Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skymama 37 #2 April 8, 2007 I'm glad you enjoyed your time in FL, especially DeLand. I know what you mean about the packing area, I wish it was carpeted too! I'm surprised you had trouble with the spots though. I probably have 400 jumps there and have never had a problem making it back to the landing area. Save up your money and come back and visit us soon!She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man, because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
voltage 0 #3 April 8, 2007 I guess it depends when you get out. On a 5000' exit out of the Skyvan the pilot put the light on so far out that there was no chance to get back even if i had pulled right away. Having taken it down to 3500' I landed on the other side of the highway in a barb-wire fenced truck depot or something. It was fun ringing the bell from inside and holding my canopy into the security camera asking him to let me out The good thing is I didn't get hurt and learned how important it is to spot for the DZ. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marcandalysse 0 #4 April 8, 2007 Be sure to give ZHills another chance too. That wasn't the best day to try to skydive, with the winds and hectic activity with the bigways going on. Many of the POPS jumpers that you met in LW jump regularly at ZHills, so you will see them again. There are lots of organizers and coaches at ZHills, and the usual cast of characters are a fun bunch. Many DZ.com posters there too, say hello next time! Marc "The reason angels can fly is that they take themselves so lightly." --GK Chesterton Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
