Paradise Skydives in Vinton, IA

[chrisgr 0]

Vinton has a great Turbine Porter and was a nice place to jump.

Too bad the locals don't take too well to freefliers.

[lopullterri 0]

What happened?

~"I am not afraid. I was born to do this"~

[chrisgr 0]

There is a regular group of local jumpers (one group of 5?) who don’t pay attention to exit separation and the important differences in fall rates and drift of belly-fliers vs freefliers. The attitude of these guys appears to be that they already ‘know better’ and that their experience is more important than what is practiced and accepted in other places.

They also did not understand that the ground speed of the Porter was usually quite slow (45 MPH on Saturday) and that the slower speed required more time between groups. More than one local jumper simply counted to 10 (very quickly) and jumped.

They are fortunate that the Porter only holds 9 jumpers. I believe that the smaller number of jumpers in the plane has helped to minimize potential incidents caused by improper exit order / separation. It has also helped to minimize potential landing incidents.

When I watched this group land for the first time, I was very grateful to be on the ground. There was little or no discipline when approaching the landing area and at least one jumper choose to spiral down in front of other jumpers.

When I did get into the air, I tracked like there was no tomorrow after each jump to get away from the line of flight before opening. I then continued flying my canopy away from the line of flight on jump run and waited in brakes until I could verify that all of these guys were getting down on the ground.

This is too bad for few reasons. Jay (the DZO) seemed like a really good guy and he was busting his buns the whole time I was there. He was providing ground instructions for tandems and AFF students, packing various rigs, jumping tandems and AFF, debriefing, etc. He is also a rigger who does regular business with some of the locals.

The dropzone is on a nice, quiet municipal airport with plenty of room to land (thank goodness) and they have a great plane. I wish them the best, but would caution anyone who goes there to use extra care.