Dutchboy

As promised, here is a little bit on my trip to the Irish Parachute Club. I was travelling to Dublin on business, so naturally I had to get some skydiving in while I was overseas. I sent an e-mail asking a few questions which was promptly answered. I even had several offers for a lift from Dublin. I was hoping to get to the DZ on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, I was done at 11am, but had to wait on my co-workers so by the time we got back to Dublin it was after 7pm. I caught a ride to the airport Saturday morning and then rented a car from there. Then the adventure began. The drive to IPC was interesting. I had a not-very-detailed map to find the town it was in and a map from their website showing where the club was once you got to the town. The Irish seem to have something against signs, because there weren't many along the way. I would drive through a town and then take my best guess as to which way to go. I'd drive about 5 miles to the next town and then find out if I was right. It took me a bit longer than most with a couple of wrong turns along the way. I'm glad I didn't try this drive in the dark. No big deal, just a part of the whole adventure. I eventually found the town and then the DZ. I walked up to manifest and showed them my USPA license, logbook, and gear. No pesky waivers to sign, or any of that. They set me up with one of their regulars (instructor?) who gave me a tour and then tried to find the air photo of the DZ. Someone else eventually found the photo and pointed out the obstructions (not many), etc. Then I was manifested on a load. Next thing I knew the Cessna 206 had landed on the grass strip and was turning around. Four jumpers were running after the plane and I was running after them. I hopped in and sat where I was told. I immediately noticed that there were no seatbelts in the plane. Not a requirement in Ireland. The 206 has a canvas door that just hangs down and somebody sits on the bottom to keep it in place. In no time were turned around and were off the grass strip and climbing at a good rate. They limit the 206 to 5 jumpers, and I was easily the biggest at 205lbs (240lbs with gear). As I found out later I got the privelage of the "cold seat". Since the door wasn't well sealed the wind whipped around the back of the plane and hit me full force. It was very cold in that plane. I could see my breath inside. Of course, it is all about what you are used to. Most of them didn't have helmets or gloves. When we hit 7k we were in the cloads so they decided on a GPS spot. We were still in the clouds at 10k when we exited. When the pilot called door, the door was rolled up and velcroed to the top. I thought I was to be 2nd from the last to jump, but Erica hopped out and then Oie motioned for me to get out. I've never jumped a 206 before, in fact, I only have one jump from a 182. I didn't know how to exit from this thing so I just rolled the 18" from my side of the plane to the door and tumbled out. I had originally planned on doing a sitfly jump, but I didn't want to get going too fast if I was going to be breaking out of the clouds over unfamilar teritory. So I opted for some belly flying. Just did a couple of flips and such. I don't have my IFR skydving rating and being in the clouds for so long was cool and strange at the same time. There was also some small hail in there. I punched through the bottom around 6.5k. I immediately started to turn and look for the DZ. I did one full revolution without seeing it. Everything around there is either green or brown, and it all looks about the same. Then on the 2nd revolution I looked a little further out. I saw the yellow X that marked the landing area and started tracking for that. I pulled a little high (4k) and started flying for the DZ. This DZ boasts the only sheep in the world that look up, because they have to. There are sheep in the landing area. Watching them scatter as you land is hilarious. I experienced first hand how slippery sheep shit is when I landed. Managed to catch a pile with one foot and get knocked to my knees. Luckily I didn't actually land it it! I picked up my gear and walked back to the hangar. I very casually packed my rig and talked to a few folks. A front was coming in and the ceiling dropped rapidly. It also started to rain. So I ended up making only one jump that day. They were offering hop and pops, but I wasn't too keen on getting my gear wet in the rain when I was flying home the next day. I hung out at the hangar for a while. I got someone on my load to sign my logbook. He suggested that I also get manifest to stamp it with their official stamp. We hung around till about 4:30pm before finally giving up on the weather. Then we were off to the local pub. They arranged a room at a local B&B (IEP 15/night) and I hung out at the pub till about 1am. Had some serious fun getting to know these guys (and gals) a bit better. They had talked me into staying another day, as the weather forecast for Sunday was beautiful. They thought that after all my company put me through they owed me another day in Ireland. Unfortunately, I found out about something at work that prevented me from staying the extra day shortly after leaving the pub. I ended up driving back to Dublin in the dark. That was a serious adventure made even more so by the rain. I didn't want to chance driving back in the morning since there is only one flight to Atlanta a day. I'm glad for them that the forecast actually seemed right, and Sunday was beautiful. They don't get many days like that in Ireland, especially on the weekend. I've never seen people with such a good attitude about the weather. I don't know if they have the worst weather in the world, but it certainly rains there often. Many of their members have lots of jumps, but not a lot of freefall time because they often do hop-n-pops from 2-4k. They tried to talk me into a hop-n-pop from 2k, but I didn't want to do it especially in the rain. It was loads of fun, and I definitely felt welcome at IPC. I will be back, even I don't go back on business I'll have to do some vacation there. If you are ever in Ireland on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday you owe it to yourself to drop by.

I've had this nickname for a long time. Started when I was washing the car at a rapid pace one day long ago, and one of my friends said "wow look at that dutchboy go". It's sorta stuck since then. I don't know who he is , but in my youth there was a computer hacker that used to use this handle. He wrote some really cool stuff too. When I lived in West Michigan nobody called me this, for obvious reasons. After moving to Atlanta I've revived this nickname.

An interesting question. I really did want to fly some kiddies this weekend, but then again, I can do all of that after I finish my plane for only 10% of the cost. Doug is having another skills camp at Skydive Atlanta on Saturday, so I'm going to have to go with b) Skydive Atlanta.

Well I'm back from Ireland. Managed to make a jump at the IPC, and also got two more in at Thomaston after I landed this afternoon. I figure Hartsfield is midway between my house and the DZ, so why pass up the opportunity. I'll tell y'all more about it when it isn't 4am in the time zone I just left.

Wow, what a blast. I was travelling to Dublin on business, so naturally I had to get some skydiving in while I was overseas. I sent an e-mail asking a few questions which was promptly answered. I even had several offers for a lift from Dublin. This DZ boasts the only sheep in the world that look up, because they have to. There are sheep in the landing area. Watching them scatter as you land is hilarious. The members of this club are extremely friendly. I think I had as much fun just hanging out at the DZ and later the local pub as I did actually skydiving. The club has a 206 which takes 5 jumpers to 10k in a reasonable amount of time. They also have a 182 they use mostly for students. The view from altitude is quite beautiful. The landing area is sizeable. They have a store, and a canteen at the DZ. Camping and showers are available. There are several bed and breakfasts nearby for IEP 15/night. They have a ton of equipment for students/members and are happy to sort you out if you didn't bring all your own gear. They also seem to be very safety oriented. I would suggest that no visit to Ireland is complete without a stop at IPC.

Well, I'm off to Ireland. "See" y'all in 5 days. I just hope the weather allows me to do at least a couple jumps while I'm there.

OK, Skeeter, now I'm going to be curious my whole time in Ireland (leaving in 30 minutes). I may be there on the 28th, if I'm not giving little kiddies plane rides up in Rome that day. Otherwise, I probably won't be there till the 5th of May. BTW, Rachel V. says "Hey". She works at my company now.

How are you driving to get these drive times? Columbus to Thomaston is only 45 miles. This is a 45 minute drive for my friends who live there and jump in Thomaston. It is 100 miles (by air) to Monroe, and 110 miles (also by air) to Cedartown (which I won't go to even though it's only 30 miles from me). BTW, some time within the next couple weeks Skydive Atlanta is getting a Super Otter. Mike sold the Queen Air, because it was just sitting in the hangar unused.

Wow, I wash mine every week (if I jumped them, of course). I wash them in cold water on the delicate cycle with no detergent. I let them hang dry, which takes about 2 days. I might have a few grass stains, but I think trying to get these out would do too much harm to the suits.

Most places just have you sign a waiver, show USPA card and reserve repack card and that is it. I've not been to a DZ this anal before, but they are in California: the most populated state and also the state with the most legal activity.

I've been there, but haven't jumped there. The weather was crap when I was there. Things seem to be pretty quiet there during the week. Mostly just RW teams who have traveled from some place with crap weather (mostly Canada & Europe). These folks aren't at all social because they are too busy working with their team. Plan on spending forever getting processed before you can jump there. It took me something like 25 minutes to see the video of their lawyer rambling on about how nobody has ever successfully sued them, sign a waiver, get video of you saying you signed the waiver freely, and get your gear checked. I hope the weather is better next time I'm out that way. I strongly suspect that there is alot more social activity on the weekends as well.

Cessna 206 Cessna 210 Queen Air King Air I noticed that Skydive Hutchinson is selling some 206's at www.enclave.com.

Sounds like you guys (and gals) had fun. Nice little trip page too.

No, I had some issues with my flight up to GRR getting cancelled. They put me on a later (non-direct!) flight, but the plane had to return to ATL when the landing gear wouldn't retract. Instead of getting in at 11:30am on Friday I got in closer to 5pm and didn't have time to jump. It was actually a nice enough day too. Hopefully I can get some jumps in at IPC this weekend.

Just checked the forecast. It's supposed to rain the whole time I'm in Ireland later this week. Everyone get out the chickens to sacrifice to the sun gods. I've yet to actually jump out of the state, much less out the the country. Even when I was in So Cal the weather was crap! I'm excited at the idea of jumping with the folks at the Irish Parachute Club. Just from the e-mail correspondence I've had with them, they seem like a fun group of people.

Use an escrow service like iescrow.com. I did on a used rig I was looking at. I've very glad I did. It was totally not as advertised. He claimed 300 jumps, and my rigger said at least 1300, the canopy had been stored in a damp basement for a couple of years. Basically the thing was worth at most a couple hundred bucks, not the $1200 he wanted. My rigger said if I had jumped this rig I'd certainly be dead. It wasn't even packed correctly. I was very pissed about spending the money for shipping and the escrow fee, but glad I wasn't out $1200. I would check around locally first and see what you find. Most people are honest, but this guy (from California) didn't seem to care if he killed me or not.

Even if you don't live near Atlanta, it is still a great place I know people who drive from Southern GA, South Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee to Skydive Atlanta in Thomaston. That is one of the things I like about it, you get folks from Macon, Columbus, Atlanta, and all around. I haven't ever seen such a large group of freeflyers anywhere else, not even in Perris Valley when I was there. We've got some seriously talented RW guys too. You know, guys like Doug Glover with 24 years and 7000 jumps into the sport. Did you make the Easter Boogie? I was out of town.

Yes, I have heard that there is a small, Cessna only DZ there. Some of the normal jumpers at Skydive Atlanta in Thomaston jump there on occassion.

Most any decent sized DZ could help you out with this. My home DZ, Skydive Atlanta, is open every day except Mondays. A couple of my friends have gone through the entire training in only 3 days of jumping before. As somebody else said, there are lots of DZ's that could work for you. Figure out where you want to go in the US and go from there.

I would have been there, except I was in Michigan for my oldest brother's wedding. Was going to jump with him, but had problems with the flight up there so I landed too late to jump. I'll be in Ireland next weekend, but hope to be back at Skydvive Atanta the following weekend. If you ran into Marcus, Lisa, or Faye they are all .com-ers.

I think that depends on the DZ you go to. I don't feel that this is a problem at my home DZ. The other DZ I go to ocassionaly (half the distance away) is too small to have this problem. On a typical Saturday there may be 100-300 people at my DZ, but people are still really friendly. I do both RW and am trying to learn freeflying, so I hang with both of these groups. I've never seen any tension between these two groups either, other than some friendly ribbing. If you don't feel comfortable at a DZ, and there are alternatives nearby give them a try. Vote with your money.

What's up with the government. Why couldn't they get you before you went back to work!

I'll second the recommendation for Rigs and Things.

Dude, I think you are smart not to get sucked back into the credit trap. If you want to jump so bad why not do what some of my friends do who are strapped for cash: pack. I know that packing sucks, but you should easily be able to make enough money packing to pay for 1-2 AFF jumps a week at a busy DZ. At first I'm sure you'll be closer to 1, but you get the point. Once you graduate you can fund your jumps this way too. I know a few people at my DZ make $200-$400 a weekend and still manage to jump about 5 times too.

If you pay anything less than full price for a repeat you are lucky. Every place I've every seen charges the same price for repeats. After all, their cost is still the same.