Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Big adventure to be found in small Texas town of Whitewright

By Scott Guthrie

DALLAS — Skydive Dallas’ Chief Instructor Ernie Long walks a group of eight customers up a narrow stairwell and into a small room. The individuals nervously take a seat one at a time and direct their attention toward Long, who now stands at the front of the room. Nobody says a word. They are paying careful attention to Long's advice before getting ready to jump out of a moving plane at 13,500 feet for the first time.

Source: David Little of Skydive Dallas

Looking down 13,500 feet.

Long begins explaining the schedule of events for the day, but stops early in his speech after his words are met by eight blank stares.

“Lighten up people. You’re getting ready to go skydiving, not to a funeral,” Long says, lightening the mood of the crowd and setting an easygoing atmosphere for the remainder of the day.

Skydive Dallas, located about an hour north of Dallas in Whitewright, TX, has over ten years of experience and has established itself as one of the top skydive facilities in the Southwest.

Skydive Dallas is open year-round and truly had the customer in mind when creating the facility. Customers can enjoy watching other skydivers from the observation deck, stay cool in the air conditioned lobby and classrooms, and even use the facility's clean indoor bathrooms.

More important than all of these things, however, is the actual skydive experience. Skydive Dallas puts the patron’s safety first, regardless of how many times a person has been skydiving.

Skydive Dallas only uses commercial aircrafts when taking customers into the air. The equipment is also checked rigorously before and after every jump. There is a staff rigger that works only with the parachutes. The company also employs packers, who work only with packing the parachutes properly. The instructor also checks the jumper’s gear three times before he or she jumps.

“If we’re interrupted while checking gear, we stop and start over from scratch. Every member of our team knows how to check gear,” Long said.

Long, who has his A (novice) and D (master parachute instructor) skydiving licenses, is also qualified to perform tandem jumps, which most people do for their first jump.

Source: David Little of Skydive Dallas

Free falling with instructor California Dave.

A tandem jump is when the instructor is attached to the jumper’s back and the two perform the jump together. To be able to perform these types of jumps, the instructor must take a 2-3 day class, have performed over 500 jumps, and have three years experience.

During the course, the instructor must complete a minimum of 10 jumps. Five of these jumps are supervised and he or she must receive a rating from their coach. Even being strapped to an instructor can make first time divers nervous though.

“Students read body language,” Long said. He went on to admit that it is up to him and the other staff members to be confident but at the same time relaxed in order to help calm the nerves of divers. It is easy for the staff to be relaxed because they are so close.

“We work together here. We are all family. We check each other and then double check. It makes you feel confident,” Long said.

Skydive Dallas Chief Videographer David Little also recommends a tandem jump for someone’s first jump.

“In a tandem jump, you can forget everything and still have the instructor right behind you,” Little said.

But the instructor won’t let the diver forget anything. They continue to go over the method with the student until the moment they jump from the plane. After freefalling for a minute at 120 mph, the instructor releases the parachute, and after pointing out a few landmarks, immediately starts going over and practicing the landing technique.

Source: David Little of Skydive Dallas

Flying through the air.

Little, who has been skydiving for 13 years and has logged over 5,600 video jumps, is a key part of Skydive Dallas’ success. The basic package for a tandem jump runs at $229. For an extra $100 Little, or another videogrpaher, will jump simultaneously with the tandem pair and record the jump while also taking still pictures. Following the jump, the jumper will receive a disc of the pictures and a DVD or VHS recording before leaving the grounds. Skydive Dallas will also put your video on their Web site.

Long and Little both believe that everyone needs to experience at least one jump during their lifetime.

“It’s the experience of a lifetime,” Little said. “When was the last time you didn’t touch anything for 60 seconds? It feels like flying, not falling. Everyone wants to fly.”

Long, who has logged over 12,300 jumps and is 52-years-old, feels the same way.

“Everyone should try skydiving, even though skydiving isn’t for everyone,” Long said.

And Skydive Dallas makes it easy for anyone to jump. There are only two rules. You must be over 18-years-old and must weigh less than 210 lbs.

Source: David Little of Skydive Dallas

California Dave and I celebrating a successful dive.

Jumpers don’t have to go tandem for their first jump, but they should expect to invest more time and money to jump solo right from the start. A student opting to go solo on a first jump will have to endure a 4-6 hour training course, which covers ground preparation, body positioning training, exit drills, freefall techniques, general emergency procedures, canopy control, and landing. Two instructors will jump with the student but will not be attached to him or her. The most basic solo first jump package will cost $329.

And if a person enjoys their jump so much he or she wants to go again, Skydive Dallas gives divers a chance to purchase future jumps for a highly discounted price before leaving the facility.

The staff at Skydive Dallas is just as happy as (if not happier than) you when your feet finally touch down. Divers immediately receive high fives and hugs among lots of cheering and yelling.

“I love seeing people jump for the first time and the excitement in their faces,” Little said.

Related stories

• Attack Dallas by land, air and sea (July 11, 2008)
• Pegasus News Week in View: m.pegnews.com edition (July 10, 2008)

See more stories in:

• Lifestyle
• Sports

Comments

Tracy Yost Verified

Awesome ! Tracy Yost, D-9112

4 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Scott Doyle Verified

Does that mean there were 9,111 people with that license before you?

4 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )