I have been the pilot at Skydive Space Center for about 1½ years now and I really enjoy flying here, so it saddens me to see that some people say they had a bad experience here. I know that some of the bad reviews here have been written by the same person, who for a long time has not been welcome here for many reasons. I will let it be up to other readers to decide if they think the reviews are genuine or if some bad ones have been made up to give a great DZ a bad reputation.
With regards to a comment made about offensive remarks towards somebody talking with an accent, I find that very hard to believe. Most of the people here have quite a bit of an accent and we all sound funny, including me.
Here are some facts about our DZ:
We have 2 King Air Taurus 90. These planes have been modified with PT6A-135 engines. This gives you an airplane with 1,500 horsepower. This is enough to take 15 people to 15,000 feet in 7 minutes or 18,000 feet in 9 minutes. If your have 2 rigs and a fast packer you can do 4 skydives from 18,000 feet in an hour. There are not many places in the world where this is possible. On most rides to altitude we fly right next to the Kennedy Space Center, and on clear days you can see straight across Florida all the way to Tampa.
As the pilot here, I do my best to give all of you a safe and comfortable ride to altitude, with a green light for exit at the right spot, by combining both GPS and visual check. If people are slow at exiting and you or I feel that we are too far out, we will just do a 180 and fly back so you can exit at a comfortable distance from the airport.
Nobody wants people to land out, including us. So if anyone has comments/corrections with regards to the jump-run, please feel free to talk to me, instructors or the organizers. After all, you are the one feeling the drift in freefall & under canopy not me.
I find it hard to believe that anyone would have difficulty finding a packer here. Normally that is not a problem. I will even pack to help people get on the load, unless I’m flying of course.
We have a full rigging service by Griffon Rigging, the bathrooms are cleaned every day, and on weekends Mali is normally making lunch in the kitchen.
If you want to stay here for a while, we have a free bunk house for those who are here to skydive. This is a real house, with washer, dryer, dishwasher, stove, microwave, coffee maker, TV, 2 baths and AC. Only request is that you skydive and clean up after yourself since you have to share the house with others.
As anywhere in the world, now and then you find some people that you dislike. However, overall I feel that we are a great bunch of people here, both staff and regular fun jumpers. We have people here of all skill levels, from just off student status to 13,000 + jumps. If you want to jump with someone, be it freefly or belly, you can find somebody to do that with. I have yet to see anybody be bumped off a jump because of their skill level. The organizer will find a safe position for you in the formation. Don’t be surprised if you are invited to join someone on their jump.
If you love to Skydive either with your team or by yourself, Come and visit us here at Skydive Space Center.
Blue skies,
Snorre
