Author: Skydive Spaceland San Marcos
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Skydive Spaceland Hosts Houston Firefighters’ Memorial Event
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On July 14, skydiver/Houston firefighter Chris Lee (HazMat/22-D shift) organized a memorial skydiving event at Skydive Spaceland for the fallen and injured firefighters and all others who battled a deadly hotel fire in Houston on May 31, 2013. The fire killed four Houston Fire Department (HFD) firefighters and injured 13 more, making it the deadliest…
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And Liberty and Pin Checks for All…
As skydivers, we like to do everything right so we can skydive again… and again… and… Lately we have been seeing a number of recent graduates, now unsupervised by instructors, neglecting their pin checks before exit. Perhaps it’s due to distraction when thinking about the upcoming jump, or perhaps you noticed an experienced jumper neglecting…
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Seat Belts in Jump Aircraft: Not Just for Show
I once had an instructor who refused to wear a seat belt in a car. He had managed to defy all odds in two separate car accidents by not wearing seat belts; both accidents threw him out of a car that would have crushed him had he remained inside. Unlike with cars, however, the last…
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Skydive Spaceland Raises More Than $2,500 for Oklahoma Tornado Victims
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Rosharon, Texas (June 13)—Over Memorial Day weekend, Houstonians and Skydive Spaceland joined forces to raise funds to help victims of the enormous tornado that swept Oklahoma City recently. More than 250 people made their first jump at Skydive Spaceland over the weekend, which donated $10 for each person to the American Red Cross for a…
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What Kind of Skydiving Helmet to Buy?
Welcome to the world of gear decisions, skydiver! You’ve been jumping an open-face helmet throughout the student program, but you’ve been seeing a bunch of the cool kids on the drop zone jumping full-face helmets of various styles. What’s right for you? Your preferences will, of course, drive your selection. Here are a few things…
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How to Open/Close a Super Otter/Supervan Skydiving Door
Have you had the chance to open the jump door on one of our Super Otters or SuperVans yet? No? Are you nervous about it? Fear not, we have the scoop! Whether you’ve operated the door yet or not, chances are great that you’ll learn a valuable tip or few from our latest YouTube video…
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Skydive Spaceland to Host Fundraiser for Oklahoma Tornado Victims
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NEWS RELEASE—FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 22, 2013 Contact (Skydive Spaceland): Christy West, Marketing/Communications Director, Skydive Spaceland 281-369-3337; Christy@SkydiveSpaceland.com Rosharon, Texas (May 22)—Skydive Spaceland has joined the large ranks of individuals and businesses stepping up to help victims of the enormous tornado that swept Oklahoma City Monday. This weekend (Saturday through Memorial Day Monday), Skydive Spaceland…
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Steve Boyd Celebrates 40 Years of Skydiving
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On April 28, Steve Boyd, owner of Skydive Spaceland just south of Houston, Texas, celebrated the 40th anniversary of his first skydive. With his entire family present at Skydive Spaceland, he chose to spend some time in the air with his two sons Eric and Stephen (who also help run the drop zone) and several…
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Skydive Spaceland Expands World-Class Skydiver Training Operations to South Florida Location
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For the last 13 years, Skydive Spaceland has been training skydivers to a world-class standard at its private airfield just south of Houston, Texas. Spaceland has recently entered into a partnership with a skydiving center in south Florida to provide the same top-flight level of skydiving operations to jumpers in the Miami/Palm Beach/Fort Lauderdale/Fort Myers/Naples…
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Head-Down Big-Way Camps
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On the weekend of August 31st/September 1st (Labor Day), Skydive Dallas will host a 2013 Texas Head-Down State Record camp to bust the previous 2010 record of 23. This year Skydive Spaceland is proud to host monthly head-down big-way camps in preparation for the event. Each month will be led by a different participant of…
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World Record Board-Breaking Skydiving Attempt Jan. 17, 2013
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(Rosharon, TX) December 12 –Best known for his role as Tommy Oliver in the long-running TV show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Jason David Frank is attempting to break a Guinness Book of World Records – to jump out of a plane at 14,000 feet and break (with a bare handed knuckle punch) as many one–inch pine boards…
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Skydiver Training Tip: Taking the Next Step
“Congratulations, you’ve just earned your skydiving A license!” “WooHOO! … “…now what?” When a skydiver graduates from our Skydiver Training Program, some hit the air flying hard and never look back. Often, however, a graduate will wonder a little bit about what to do next. Your skydives up until this point have been tightly structured,…
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Loading Area Etiquette
Getting ready to board an aircraft for skydiving is more than a little different than boarding a plane for commercial travel or getting in a car for a drive. There are concerns for personal safety, the safety of others in the plane (and the plane itself), and efficiency. Stay safe and efficient with these loading tips!…
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Skydiver Training Tip: Cool Weather Gear
We may be in southern Texas, but the weather is definitely cooling down! Skydiving in wintertime brings a few challenges we don’t have in summer, namely how do we stay warm while staying safe? The heavy winter clothes you need to avoid frostbite can bite you in other ways, especially those big, bulky hoodies we…
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Skydiver Tip: Weather Watching
“What’s the weather like today? Is it good for students? What about experienced jumpers?” If we had a dollar for every time we got that phone call, text, or Facebook message, we’d all be retired. 🙂 And as you know, the answer is usually a variety of “You can’t jump if you’re not here.” In…
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Skydiver Training Program Tip: How Many Dives in a Day?
It’s one of the most common questions we get about the Skydiver Training Program (other than price): How many training jumps can I do in a day? How many SHOULD I do in a day? While the ideal number of jumps in a day will of course vary with the student’s fitness, goals, and budget,…
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Skydivers Raise More than $14,000 to Fight Breast Cancer
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With the same fighting spirit that helped her successfully fight off breast cancer, Marian Sparks and her fundraising organization Jump for the Rose recently set a new record for their fundraising efforts. This effort was especially notable since it was set despite rotten weather that limited attendance at the organization’s annual main event at Skydive…
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Freefly Coaching by Heath Richardson
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Kickstart your freefly education with one of the world’s best! Freeflying ladies and germs, we have a great opportunity here! Heath Richardson, veteran of 8,000 jumps and 7 years with two of the country’s top freefly teams in the early 2000s, as well as a 3-year member of the Performance Designs Factory Team, has rejoined…
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Skydiver Training Tip: Your First Skydiving Gear Purchase
When you’re about to graduate from our Skydiver Training Program, it’s time to start thinking about getting your own gear, and the accessories (helmet, goggles, altimeter) are the best place to start. We provide everything you need during the program, but afterwards you will need to rent our gear or buy your own. It’s a…
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Skydiver Training Tip: Call Ahead to Reduce Your Wait
No one likes to wait for anything—doctors, prescriptions, someone to get the right size of shoes out of the stockroom, or even the 60 seconds you’re supposed to wait before spitting out your mouthwash. While they say all good things come to those who wait, some good things can come without waiting, especially if you…
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Top 11 Things to Know About Movement Jump Safety
How often have you heard this at the drop zone? “Hey, let’s go track!” or “Hey, let’s go do some angles!” Movement jumps are extremely popular at most any drop zone in the world, and with good reason: They’re a ton of fun! But they are most definitely not just another skydive. Key Point: It’s…
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Skydivers Aim to Set Records and Battle Breast Cancer (Jump for the Rose 2012)
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NEWS RELEASE—FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact (Jump for the Rose): Marian Sparks, Marian@JumpfortheRose.org Contact (Skydive Spaceland): Christy West, Marketing/Communications Director, Skydive Spaceland 281-369-3337; Christy@SkydiveSpaceland.com In one of the most exciting fundraisers possible for fighting breast cancer, Jump for the Rose (a 501(c)3 organization) aims to set a new women’s Texas State Skydiving Record while raising funds…
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Skydiver Training Tip: Paperwork is Homework
Are you ready to skydive? If you show up for a Skydiver Training Program jump without having completing your paperwork (dive flow quiz) for each jump you intend to make that day, the answer, sadly, is “not yet.” Why is this quiz important? It tells us that you have studied your student manual and that…
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Skydiver Training Program: Early Birds Get the Jumps!
Birds and worms aside, the Skydiver Training Program student who checks in early definitely gets the jumps. Aside from just having more time in the day to skydive, there are a number of other benefits to early morning check-ins: Winds are usually lower. Wind conditions are usually less turbulent. Temperatures are cooler. You get on…
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Skydiver Training Program Tip: Study for more fun!
The Skydiver Training Program at Skydive Spaceland gives you a lot of detailed information to help you become the best skydiver you can be. You can increase your success and fun on each skydive by studying the dive flows before you come out to the drop zone. Study as many dive flows as you plan…
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Throw Pepper From a Plane
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Skydiving + free car giveaway = a very fun Saturday, Sept. 1 at Skydive Spaceland! Sarah Pepper from Hot 95.7 FM will be doing her first skydive around lunchtime onto a grid of 126 five-foot squares, and whoever has the square she lands on wins a brand new Mazda 3! Drop zone manager Jason will…
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Skydiving to Fight Cancer with Alana Wilson of Jumps for Hope (8/31/12)
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NEWS RELEASE—FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 16, 2012 Contact (Jumps for Hope): Alana Wilson, 507-458-7905, jumpsforhope@yahoo.com Contact (Skydive Spaceland): Christy West, Marketing/Communications Director, Skydive Spaceland 281-369-3337; Christy@SkydiveSpaceland.com Rosharon, Texas (Aug. 16)—Have you or any of your family/friends been affected by cancer? Fight back with freefall! On August 31, 2012, first-time skydivers at Skydive Spaceland (just south…
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Skydive Spaceland Welcomes the Supervan 900!
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It’s back, bigger, better, faster, and with another blade on the prop! Our Cessna Grand Caravan recently returned from its Supervan 900 conversion and we are LOVING IT!!!! It’s not every drop zone that can call its Caravan the “fast plane” with everything else we have on the field. The Supervan is hauling jumpers to…
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Exit Order and Aircraft Boarding
If there is anything consistent among a group of skydivers, it’s the fact that we all want to make more skydives! Often what stops us is money or time, but other times it’s just plain running out of daylight. We can’t hold the sun up in the sky to get more time, but every skydiver…
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Landing Area: New Reference Line
Have you ever landed your parachute just a little closer to an obstacle than you would have liked? Of course you have. All of us do as we begin to learn how to skydive and fly parachutes. So how do we NOT land too close to or on top of obstacles? We need to understand…