Dutchboy

If you want some free/cheap coaching you might come see the folks at Atlanta Freeflight some time. I know Jon Pinyon (or was it pinhead?) has over 3000 hours of tunnel time and now flies on Team Wicked Liquid, and he and the rest of the team do coaching. There are also loads of freefliers to give you tips. Being as how the DZ was bought by some freefliers the emphasis on this discipline is stronger than ever. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Broken Eagle, Bird and I are all flying up together. We should be there Aug 7-10. We're actually flying into a closeby airport and then driving to Quincy since we aren't camping on the field. Don't know where is a good place to meeting. Perhaps we could have a standard time and place for dz.com people to meet each day (like 10am at the Muff Brothers tent or something). The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

The one in Rome is now know as Atlanta Air Sportz http://www.airsportz.com. The new owners have injected some new life into this DZ. I have to say that my brother-in-law did his first jump (tandem) there three weeks ago and he had the best experience of any of the ~20 friends I've convinced to try it. His video was awesome, made all the rest look like home movies. Thomaston is #1 in up-jumpers flown in the state. They've been know to fly over 1000 jumpers on a good summer weekend. If you want to do 10 jumps in a day, then this would be the place to do it. If you want to jump at a more relaxed pace or don't want to drive so far then you might like the level of attention you'll get at Air Sportz. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Better be carefuly, Emma. If you piss us off we might not come and save your puney little island next time there is a world war.

Best solution, buy a Z1 and keep the visor open until the door is open. I have anti-fog spray that I use on swimming goggles that would probably work if you don't follow the suggestion above. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

I was forced to actually leave them my credit card. I could see swiping the card first, but actually keeping your card? Reminds me of the car dealers that lose the keys to your trade-in so they can keep you there. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

If you want to hear some stories, come buy me a beer some day. Personally, I will never jump at ASC again (unless it were to change ownership). It is the closest DZ to my house, but I chose to jump at Atlanta Air Sportz in Rome, and Skydive Atlanta in Thomaston. I haven't made it to Monroe yet (perhaps on a cross-country flight someday?). My priorities in selecting a DZ are safety, atmosphere, and other jumpers. Facilities are part of the equation, but not the most important thing. Given these priorities I feel most comfortable at Rome and Thomaston. I think doing all 7 AFF's in one 3-day weekend is more realistic than trying to do it in two days. That is lots of jumps in a day for a student, and you are assuming you will pass every one. I think your chances of doing this at either Rome or Thomaston would be higher, because they are much more focused on up-jumpers and students and not just first time tandem passengers. I think you could realistically and safely accomplish this Friday-Sunday at either DZ. Rome would be somewhat cheaper because they will sell you the whole deal for $1099 and Thomaston will charge you $1150. I think Rome also throws in a free graduation jump. They are both good places. I don't know which one is closer for you. Either place you'll probably jump a Cessna 182 on Friday. Thomaston would be using the Super Otter the other two days and Rome would probably be using the Cessna. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

You definitely need to develop a technique to deal with the ZP. Folding everything up in a little stack and puting it in the bag is harder. The older they get the easier it is. I would get F111 just because it is easier to pack. They can be near the end of their useful life at around 500 jumps. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

I tried out my new skysurf suit by doing a sit in it a few weeks ago. The guy who was chasing me head down had a hard time keeping up. I was going over 200mph. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Just be careful about the claims you'll get from some people trying to sell you MCSE training. Yes, there is a demand. No, you aren't going to get much money if you don't have several years experience. With a fresh MCSE and no experience you'll have a hard time getting a job. Not trying to discourage you, just saying you should know what you're getting in to. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

I jump a Dolphin, as do several others I know. The real problem people seem to have with them is brand fixation and the fact they aren't fancy. People assume that inexpensive = cheap construction. The reality is that these are made by the guy who invented the Javelin, and if you pack the reserves a certain way you can hardly tell the difference. A Dolphin might not be the most stylish, but is definitely the best value around. As for safety issues, if you have an older Dolphin without the bridle cover and velcro near the BOC pouch or the old riser cover snaps you should let a rigger update the rig for you. I've done 200mph+ with my Dolphin 2000 (built 6-2000) without any issues. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Brian's book and video is Vertical Journey. I have these and would say that they are OK. Art of vRW is Pat Works. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

You are correct, they were on sale for a very brief period. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

I'm not 100% sure I can't make it, but don't think it likely. It's a very busy time for me at work (when isn't it?) and Saturday is my anniversary so I'm already pushing it to go skydiving then. We'll see, the wife is too busy with school to do anything on Saturday anyway, I may be able to postpone the anniversary stuff. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

My name is Phil Polstra. I write computer software (C++ mostly for the last 11 years). Currently I work for a company that writes software to manage bandwidth on broadband networks (i.e. cablemodems, DSL, wireless, etc.). My company has a skydiving team, consisting of myself and two others. We are trying to learn to freefly. I managed to get the company to buy us company logoed jumpsuits. I've gotten 35% of the company to skydive so far. Now if I could just get one more team member.... The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Little piece of trivia. The pool we were using was the Olympic diving pool from the 1996 games in Atlanta. I guess a pool is better in some ways. Of course, it wasn't any warmer than a lake would be. It is outside, but mostly covered. On the other hand, I doubt the lake would be very deep near the edge where you'd jump in. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Z1 is great for any type of flying. I think most freefliers just prefer to have the wind in their face. Me I like the quiet fall, and face protection (especially at FF speeds). The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Well I survived my water training. Kinda scary jumping into a 16ft pool with gear on when you don't know how to swim. They even made me go an extra time. At least I wasn't the only one who didn't know how to swim. My hat's off to this guy. He totally doesn't know how to swim at all. He even brought a life vest. About drowned poor Jen when she was trying to teach us how to tread water. I think everyone else was more scared than me when I got one of my hands caught in the harness and dove to get it out. Kinda like your first skydive. A bit scary at the time, but now I want to do it again. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

If you just have the pants then wear a baggie sweatshirt. The pants are just there to give you drag when you go head down. Actually, you might want to wear shorts or something tight so you don't have too much drag on your feet. It will make your life easier. Strange things is I did a sitfly in my skysurf suit just to try it out and it was weird for me because I was used to the drag on my feet. I was also going around 200mph and the guy chasing me head down had to work to keep up. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Is Mouth finally going to the dark side? The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Yo, need my happy hour fix. Maybe the HH is watching West Wing or something. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

If it is your land and not underneath controlled airspace then it is pretty much up to you. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Will you only be there Friday or Saturday as well? The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

Too bad, JT. Doug Glover is doing coaching and organizing on the 21st. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra

I honestly think that they taught me skydiving was stupid as as student pilot. Some of the ignorant answers to these questions are really sad. It's amazing how little some of these guys know and how many of them think they own the air. The Dutchboy http://www.geocities.com/ppolstra