ripcords

Welcome to our World!

Welcome to our sport. Enjoy.

Don Kellner has over 37000 skydives verified by the United States Parachute Association, and has maintained the Guinness World Record for the Career Total - Sport Parachute Descents since 1991. Prior to that it was Roch Charmet.

I don't know if they give an address, but I do know that they specifically told a customer that our dz accepts their certificates, and we NEVER have!

Don't mistakenly think that 1800skyride, thrill planet, or whatever name they are going under are doing any favors by sending customers to non-participating dz's. The customer starts off pissed off and generally takes it out on the dz that they are at, and now does not trust anyone. In this industry, trust is vitally important and skyride has eroded that.

Thanks, but I really didn't want to use my computer and was hoping for some advice on stand alone units that work well for this application. It seems that with the advent of OTG, these stand alone CD/DVD burners are becoming a thing of the past.

I was looking at the threads for stand alone burners, but most of them are old and you know how electronics evolve. So I would like to ask for current opinions. I would like to get a stand alone CD burner to burn my digital pictures to CD for customers. I would prefer one with a view screen, so that you have more controls as to what gets burned, but that is not vital. Ease of use and speed of burning is important. So far I have found: EZDigiMagic™DM220-D08 DVD Burner, Apacer CP300, Addonics MFR, Delkin DVD BurnAway, Sony DVDirect-MC3, Alera Digital Photo Copy Cruiser, and dz.com mentioned the Roadstor. What are you using to supply your customer with their photos? How easy is it to use? How fast is it? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

Good idea. I know of several adventure outfitters that are outraged by Thrill Planet. They even have disclaimers on their websites warning people about them. Ballooning, whitewater rafting, warbirds, and stock car racing companies alike are warning people about Thrill Planet and Thrill Planet Bikini Team.

It was a once in a lifetime family trip, so I really couldn't impose on the family schedule and was happy that they were willing to stop at the dz for me. They wanted to visit the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial, so Nettuna was only a stones through away. If you get to the US, stop and visit me at the Above the Poconos Skydivers. Ciao.

Buon giorno! I stopped by with my family on Sunday at Nettuno. Unfortunately it was raining so no one was there, but we ate at the restaurant and they had really good food! Thanks for all of the input. I am back stateside now, but it was an awesome trip anyway. I got to see were my grandparents were born and meet a relation that still lives there, besides seeing the normal tourist stuff. P.S.- For those of you that suggested that I check out the websites, my limited knowledge of the beautiful Italian language made that difficult information to use. I guess I need to learn to use one of the translating programs. Grazie for everyone's help.

I saw on dz.com that there are many places to jump in Italy. Does anyone know if any of them are open during the week this time of year. I am going to Rome, Capri, Pompeii and Modena and would absolutely love to get a skydive in while I am there. I would need to rent gear, since I don't want to hassle with bringing mine along. Thanks for any input.

Our main landing area at the Above the Poconos Skydivers in Hazleton, PA is about a mile long. We also have two extra landing areas, one over 50 acres and a smaller one surrounded by farms that features a beautiful pond with a three tiered fountain. These auxiliary landing areas are about 500 ft lower in elevation than our normal airport.

Hi Dawn, It's Darlene. Do you still have that silver and lavender infinity container? I love tunnel flying, and have not really logged my time, so I am going to try to remember. (unlike my skydives which I log meticulously) I made my first tunnel flight at Action Park in Vernon NJ and went there twice. (4 minutes) I went out to Las Vegas and did Flyaway on two separate occasions. (4 minutes) I have gone to Skyventure Orlando once a year almost every year since they opened, but generally only get about five minutes each time. (Just got back from a session on Wednesday) (about 50 minutes total) I introduced about 50 teachers, who were at a Kennedy Space Center NASA conference for the Network of Educator Astronaut Teachers, to Wind Tunnel flying last June, so hopefully that will spread the word in the schools across our nation. And I am planning a trip up to Skyventure New Hampshire for this winter for our dz. I enjoy just playing in the tunnel and working on freeflying. So I would guestimate that I have only about an hour or so of tunnel time. Not nearly enough MUST HAVE MORE!

I am going to be down in the area this weekend and wondered if they are still operating?

Check out this article that mentions skyrides in the Chicago tribune http://www.suntimes.com/news/zimmermann/134169,CST-NWS-fixer13.article

In google, you set a daily budget, so you can not send their costs through the roof. By clicking on the skyrides ads, you are helping to improve their ranking which will help their ad placement. I don't think that you are out to help them. I see that they have expanded to scam adventurers everywhere. Check out the warning on the home page of this stock car racing experience web site. "Thrill planet" is another business of the same entity that controls skyrides. http://www.877stockcar.com/ They will not go away when all of the dz's stop accepting their certificates, but it certainly would help. I believe that they will just open up more dz's until the only place that you can skydive is a skyride owned dz. For some reason I suspect that won't be a good thing.

That is super! Here's to many more.

Got AFF certified in '86 and have been very active in AFF style instruction ever since.

I am still having the same problem, despite following all of the advice in the help section. When I click on the "Add Event" from anywhere on the site, it brings me back to my Account home page. I can modify my dz without a problem, but I still can't add an event. What am I doing wrong?

Congratulations on your accomplishments and on getting your own stuff!

I am running into the same problem. I have access to modify my dz, but can not add an event.

*** The only way to truly meet skyride on their turf, is to lie to customers, steal photos, websites and phone numbers. Be basically dishonest with websites that mislead the customer into thinking that they are going to the closest place, just to find out after many hours driving that the actual dz is no where near them. How about being a customer that made over a four hour drive after being told to come out, the weather was beautiful. Arrive at an empty skyride dz even though the weather was indeed beautiful, but the people that told them to come were in Atlanta. No one was at their Pennsylvania satellite location. Yes, we spend more on web advertising now, but it does not stop people from buying from the scam artists and getting a bad taste in their mouth about our sport in general. BTW - How do you know that it has eliminated the Skyride presence in Kansas? How can you possibly know the customers that aren't coming to you? You probably should have even more customers. If there are enough gift certificate sales in Kansas, expect a satellite location near you. Or is Atlanta just a short drive from Kansas?

Congratulations to rsmn17 for getting back in the air after a winter layoff of five months! You did two terrific AFF jumps with nice soft landings. So much for those naysayers. Welcome back to the sky.

My friend Steve passed away this week of natural causes. He was an amazing man and his nickname was "Tandem Man" or "Tandem Steve". I just wanted to share a small snippet of his life with a group that would appreciate someone that knew how to live life to its fullest. Steve was born in 1924 . While in the armed forces from March 1943 through February 1946, he watched paratroopers jumping into enemy lines. At that time he thought that he would like to take at least one parachute jump before he passed from the face of the earth. Life just kept getting in the way though. So on August 10th, 1986 he reached the age of 62, and he thought that he’d better do it now before he gets too old. He went with a group of friends to the Hazleton Municipal Airport and made his first tandem skydive from 12,000 feet with instructor Rick Eckrote at the Above the Poconos Skydivers. That was it! He was hooked. He even went on to make solo jumps, but age, wisdom and medical conditions made him decide to stick with tandem skydives. On August 18, 2001 at the ripe young age of 77, he celebrated his 100th skydive with an official presentation of his own honorary jumpsuit and helmet from the Above the Poconos Skydivers staff. Family and friends gathered for the momentous occasion and two freefall photographers captured the moment on both video and still pictures. He was accompanied on this skydive by Guinness Record Holding Skydiving Instructor, Don Kellner. Upon landing, his wife firmly stated “That’s it, have you had enough?” With a twinkle in his eye, he said “Sorry love, but I intend to keep skydiving as long as the lord and my body is willing to let me.” He celebrated his 80th birthday by skydiving once again. Steve has represented the spirit of the sport so much that the Above the Poconos Skydivers voted him their Skydiver of the Year! Steve "Tandem Man" may you always feel the freedom of flight. Geronimo!!!! You truly know why birds sing!

If you are applying for a job as an astronaut, it is a good idea to mention it on your resume. At least that is what the NASA people tell me.