Going to Austin 4/13-4/22

[SkydiveUranus 0]

I am a pretty new skydiver. 92 Jumps as of now, B-License and I completed flight 1 and 2. I'm going to tracking/angle camp this Sunday at Elsinore (San Diego is my home DZ).

I understand there are quite a few dropzones near Austin, I think Spaceland Houston is the closest (I failed geography)?

I don't know how to freefly at all, I'm working on my RW skills and tracking skills. I have been fortunate to work with bigger group jumps than a lot of people with my (lack of) experience usually do. I'm hoping to find a friendly DZ that will have people I can fly with, opposed to dragging all my gear on the plane for just a few solos.

I probably won't be available the 14th through the 16th so that sucks. But, my cousin lives 10 minutes from the airport so which DZ should I check out and how far is the commute? Are there any events or particular days to go to certain places? I was hoping on jumping two days out of my trip. I don't leave until the night of the 22nd so I'm available that whole Saturday basically.

Sorry about the essay, but one more question...I'm flying a Sabre 2 190 right now, if I'm only jumping one or two days do you think it would be worth it for me to pack it on the plane? How are the landing areas at the dropzones? Dirty? Rocks? Etc

No farting on the plane!

[nolhtairt 0]

You could check with Skydive Temple and Skydive San Marcos. Both are a reasonable drive from Austin. Spaceland is a major DZ, its pretty busy. All in all, you've got plenty of choices.

[JohnyCrawford 0]

Spaceland is a 3 hour drive from Austin...

[SkydiveUranus 0]

Holy ballsack! Google maps wasnt very helpful with clarifying that.

No farting on the plane!

[nolhtairt 0]

There's a menu option at the top of the page titled "Dropzones", in between "News" and "Indoor". It should have all the DZs listed and where to find them.

[SkydiveUranus 0]

Yeah i saw that but didnt want to look up every address under the 17 or so texas dropzones to find out which ones were closest...I'm definitely not driving to spaceland and san marcos and temple didnt look very busy at all. I don't suppose I'll run into many fun jumpers on a random day. I'll probably take it easy and not jump till i get back home. Thanks

No farting on the plane!

[GoHuskers 0]

There are 3 local DZs. Temple, San Marcos, and Lonestar.

Temple is a 182 DZ from what I understand with a small DZ vibe and free shiner on tap. Big landing area and has a really strong CRW community.

San Marcos has a Grand Caravan with an engine upgrade. They have a pretty vibrant group of belly flyers and a couple of really cool mentors that organize for newer jumpers.

Lonestar flies an Otter until sometime in April then flies a King Air for the summer season. They have a good base of freefliers and some belly fliers and the staff is really fun.

All the landing areas in Central Texas are a heavy clay soil with grass. No issues with sand or rocks. Weather can be really unpredictable in Jan-May in Texas with clouds and wind.

[SkydiveUranus 0]

GoHuskers

There are 3 local DZs. Temple, San Marcos, and Lonestar.

Temple is a 182 DZ from what I understand with a small DZ vibe and free shiner on tap. Big landing area and has a really strong CRW community.

San Marcos has a Grand Caravan with an engine upgrade. They have a pretty vibrant group of belly flyers and a couple of really cool mentors that organize for newer jumpers.

Lonestar flies an Otter until sometime in April then flies a King Air for the summer season. They have a good base of freefliers and some belly fliers and the staff is really fun.

All the landing areas in Central Texas are a heavy clay soil with grass. No issues with sand or rocks. Weather can be really unpredictable in Jan-May in Texas with clouds and wind.

Thanks for the spread. Much appreciated

No farting on the plane!