Skydive Finger Lakes

[Bigfalls 111]

Skydive Finger Lakes has not been jumping this season at the Ovid Airport in Ovid, N.Y. and will not be jumping there in the future, their lease has expired.

There may be skydiving at the Ovid Airport with a different operator some time in the future.

[wmw999 2,447]

Aw nuts.

Wendy P. 

[jimmytavino 16]

The  folks  who  had  been "operators"  of  the  DZ  are  no  longer in  the  picture .
However  LONG  Time  airport  OWNER  and  Original   DZO   John  King,  Still  owns  the  place,  Still  calls  the  shots,  Still  has  a  dedicated  following  of  certain  staff  members  and  Fun  Jumpers.  The  airport  has  always  Been  and  Still  IS  a  DZ..
  J.King simply stayed  busy  with  Other  things,   and  "subbed  Out"  the  Running  of  the  skydiving  part to  others...  
   Word  through  the  grapevine    IS  of  the  Likelihood  that  a  C206    will  soon  offer  the  opportunity  once  again ,   for  jumpers  to  Enjoy  the  Great  views  and  Good  Vibes  of  a  Skydiving  Venue  with 40+   years  of  Parachuting   History.  
So  No  worries,  wmw999      jimmytavino  in  Rochester.  :-)  

Edited July 22, 2022 by jimmytavino

[Bigfalls 111]

I found the following posted on Skydive Finger Lakes Facebook, link below.

The legal dispute with the owner of the Ovid Airport is over.  The judge ruled in favor of the Airport owner and against the owners of Skydive Finger Lakes.  Their statement "Our legal team is still confident that we will prevail in the end;"  is misleading since the ruling has already been made against them.  

 

Announcement! We are temporarily closed for the 2022 season.

As you may know already, we're currently engaged in a legal dispute against the owner of the Ovid Airport. For long months we were under instructions to operate like normal and expect to open any day, but that any day has dragged on for what feels like forever. Our legal team is still confident that we will prevail in the end; however, it's late enough in the season that we can't realistically start jumping this year.

Continuing the life and culture of this historic DZ is incredibly important to Jeff and I; we want nothing more than to keep skydiving alive at the Ovid Airport for all of our amazing tandem and AFF students. Unfortunately, we have simply been left with no good choices in this situation.

I apologize for not posting this update to Facebook sooner- between ADHD and these very trying times, my best is not cutting it. All of our current appointments were notified and canceled two weeks ago, as well as their deposits refunded to their place of origin. Gift certificates are valid for an additional 3 years past the printed date, and we can't wait to go above and beyond for our incredibly patient gift certificate holders and tandem students in 2023!

 

https://www.facebook.com/FingerLakesSkydivers/

 

 

 

[UpstateBonehead 0]

Sounds like people with gift certificates should be looking to get their $$ back especially because the Skydive Finger Lakes operation (if it can be called an operation) has no right or ability to use the Ovid Airport either now or in the future.  As evidence of that, there are actually jump loads flying today from the Ovid Airport that have nothing to do with the Skydive Finger Lakes operation.  Saying that “it’s too late in the season to start jumping” must be code for “we no longer have a place to operate.”

[Deisel 38]

Does anyone know what happened with their lease? I jumped here once on a road trip. Good peeps all around and stellar views from altitude. 

[sfzombie13 324]

21 hours ago, Bigfalls said:

The judge ruled in favor of the Airport owner and against the owners of Skydive Finger Lakes.  Their statement "Our legal team is still confident that we will prevail in the end;"  is misleading since the ruling has already been made against them.  

 

 

 

 

probably talking about the appeal process.  the ruling is not the end of the case, unless it's a ruling by scotus.  they can have from 2 to 4 appeals, depending on the court they started in.

[UpstateBonehead 0]

It’s a Commercial Claim in State Supreme Court.  Any appeal would be in the NY State Courts (not the SCOTUS) as there is no federal question at issue.  And the decision was pretty straightforward and clear cut.  As of this date (and indeed since the date the judge declined to issue an initial TRO in early June) they don’t  have access to or use of the Ovid Airport for their operations.  But they continued to take deposits for jumps even though they knew they couldn’t honor the bookings.

[newt 0]

On 7/22/2022 at 12:02 PM, jimmytavino said:

The  folks  who  had  been "operators"  of  the  DZ  are  no  longer in  the  picture .
However  LONG  Time  airport  OWNER  and  Original   DZO   John  King,  Still  owns  the  place,  Still  calls  the  shots,  Still  has  a  dedicated  following  of  certain  staff  members  and  Fun  Jumpers.  The  airport  has  always  Been  and  Still  IS  a  DZ..
  J.King simply stayed  busy  with  Other  things,   and  "subbed  Out"  the  Running  of  the  skydiving  part to  others...  
   Word  through  the  grapevine    IS  of  the  Likelihood  that  a  C206    will  soon  offer  the  opportunity  once  again ,   for  jumpers  to  Enjoy  the  Great  views  and  Good  Vibes  of  a  Skydiving  Venue  with 40+   years  of  Parachuting   History.  
So  No  worries,  wmw999      jimmytavino  in  Rochester.  :-)  

All hail Kinger!! <3 

I was unbelievably sad to see that FLSD wasn't jumping this summer.  I'm back in NY a bit right now and wanted to swing through and see the family that taught me to fly.  I'm sure it'll be sorted for next season.  Miss you guys!

-Newt

[Bigfalls 111]

On 7/22/2022 at 2:02 PM, jimmytavino said:

The  folks  who  had  been "operators"  of  the  DZ  are  no  longer in  the  picture .
However  LONG  Time  airport  OWNER  and  Original   DZO   John  King,  Still  owns  the  place,  Still  calls  the  shots,  Still  has  a  dedicated  following  of  certain  staff  members  and  Fun  Jumpers.  The  airport  has  always  Been  and  Still  IS  a  DZ..
  J.King simply stayed  busy  with  Other  things,   and  "subbed  Out"  the  Running  of  the  skydiving  part to  others...  
   Word  through  the  grapevine    IS  of  the  Likelihood  that  a  C206    will  soon  offer  the  opportunity  once  again ,   for  jumpers  to  Enjoy  the  Great  views  and  Good  Vibes  of  a  Skydiving  Venue  with 40+   years  of  Parachuting   History.  
So  No  worries,  wmw999      jimmytavino  in  Rochester.  :-)  

I heard that there have been a few loads flown this fall to 13,000 feet out of a Cessna TU206.

[Bigfalls 111]

I noticed that Skydive Finger Lakes is not listed in the July Parachutist.  I checked their web site and it is no longer accessible.  I also heard that the owners sold their house.  I wonder if anyone had gift certificates or jump credit.

 

 

[johnhking1 96]

The Ovid Airport is available if someone wants to open a DZ for the 2024 season.

[Bigfalls 111]

I heard that full time skydiving will return to the Ovid Airport in May 2024.  This is a completely new operation with new owners, equipment and aircraft.  The only similarity is the location.  They will be operating a Cessna TU206 and Cessna 182.

I have also heard previous operators of Skydive Finger Lakes have moved out of the area.  I don't know if they are still in the skydiving business.

[johnhking1 96]

Skydiving first started at the Ovid Airport, D82, in August 1967.  The original Parachute Jumping Center License from the New York State Department of Commerce Bureau of Aviation is hanging on the wall at manifest. The DZ moved to Seneca Falls, N.Y. in April 1972.  I opened Finger Lakes Skydivers DZ in Ovid in May 1982 and operated until November 2015.  The business was sold and new operators began in April 2016 under the name Skydive Finger Lakes.  The business was sold again and the next operators took over in April 2018 and operated through October 2021.  They sold their aircraft and moved out of the area.  There was no skydiving business operation during the 2022 and 2023 skydiving season.  There was occasional skydiving by invitation only for experienced jumpers during those summers.  A completely new skydiving operation, Skydive Seneca Lake, skydivesenecalake.com, will begin on April 25, 2024 with a Cessna TU-206 and a C-182.  They are in no way associated with any of the past operations.  I purchased the Ovid Airport in 1989, it has a 2800 X 40 paved runway and 2200 X 60 turf runway, 20+ acres of landing area, heated and air conditioned clubhouse with kitchen, lounge, restrooms with showers, and indoor packing area.  It is locate in the center of the Finger Lakes Region of New York State.  You can see 7 of the finger lakes from jump altitude plus Lake Ontario and on a clear day you can see Canada.

John King