Another beautiful weekend has passed and another group of satisfied customers have had the time of their lives. The weather literally couldn’t be any better this season as the sun’s shinin’ and the trees are bloomin’.

This week is a truly exciting one as we’re welcoming back our full staff for the year. Brian Romano will be back from Florida in a few days. He says he ready to go full bore but we’ll see if the winter has made him too soft Just kidding Romano!

Skydive Jersey will be welcoming two new instructors to the crew this season. Brandon Jackson and Brad Ammons. While they’re new to us though, they’re seasoned professionals who are great fits to the already excellent staff of Skydive Jersey. If you see them around the drop zone this season make sure you give them a great big welcoming hello!

Check out photos from our NYC and NJ students from the weekend!

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Welcome the Sun

It’s so nice to finally have some beautiful Spring days smiling upon us. We’ve had a few great weeks under our belts and every student has been in agreement; it’s time to skydive. The weather is hitting it’s stride and staying in the 70′s during the day. To say that it’s prime skydiving time would be accurate.

We just completed our first “full” weekend. Meaning there were no delays for the entire Fri-Sat time frame. Believe me when I say that everyone here at the drop zone is feeling it! There’s nothing quite like the feeling of waking up sore after your first full weekend post winter layoff. Of course I mean that in a good way

Check out a few photos from the last two weeks:

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It’s in the air… Can you feel it?

Of course you can because yesterday was a beautiful sunny day and next week’s forecast is for temps in the mid 50’s! If that doesn’t herald a little bit of springtime then I don’t know what does. I even found myself in New York City yesterday enjoying the rays in Central Park. I couldn’t help but look up at that big blue sky and daydream of next month.

Why next month? Because that’s when we start skydiving again, BOOM, BOOYA, ETCicAWESOME! And let me tell you it’s not a moment too soon. I enjoy the frosty snow-flurry time of year as much as the next person but enough is enough. I prefer my cold and cloudy in small spurts and rather not in multi-month bouts. BRRRR!

I say → “Spring-ME!”

Of course, with the fast approaching skydive season we’re starting to be busy bee’s around the airport. Fresh coats of paint, landscaping, remodeling, you name it and we’ve now got less than one month to get it done. The pressure is on to get everything ready for another amazing season. Thankfully us members of the skydiving industry thrive on pressure.

We’re re-covering our shade area and painting it to match our picnic tables. This should provide a little more protection from the sun during the peak summer jumping months. Last year we had a few requests to “upgrade the shade” – and we listened.

The picnic tables are all getting a new shade of custom Skydive Jersey charcoal. We’re thinking the new charcoal on charcoal outdoor look is going to be SICK with our new landscaping. I certainly can’t wait to kick-it at the airport again

Last but certainly not least: The hangar interior is getting a complete overhaul. New wall coverings, new ceiling paint and some fresh life sized banners of your favorite tandem instructors! Make sure to get your photo with a life size tandem instructor next time you’re out. Your friends will definitely be jealous.

Stay tuned for upcoming changes here at Skydive Jersey. We have some pretty monumental stuff planned for the 2013 season! Especially for our NYC folks.

–Chuck

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Aviation, Flight and Skydiving Quotes

Perhaps no other act of being human better embodies our sense of wonder and our endeavor to explore than engineered flight. Since the time of the great philosophers, Plato and Socrates, men have looked to the winged creatures of this world with envy, their thoughts honed on the jealousies of avian flight that would one day reveal the secrets of the sky. Gradually and through much trial and error there were those among us who strove tirelessly and were rewarded with the much desired prize of human flight. Through artificial mechanisms of ingenious creation, man ushered himself into the sky, and so we now find ourselves in a world where human flight is far more than a midsummer’s daydream.

I often like to think back on the period where men were dreaming the impossible and doing their best to free their kind from terrestrial bonds via their flying contraptions. When thinking of these times it no doubt helps to set your thoughts in context by reading the echoes of these men’s minds. I’ve compiled a small list of quotes that I fancy pertinent to the contemplation of aviation’s history. I like to think that within the following quotes you will find not a few words whose poignancy were defining turning points in aviation history, but rather a collective of important observations through the halls of time that convey the true process behind human flight. For the magic of aviation lies not solely in the hands of the pioneers of the mechanics but also in the hands of the visionaries who dared utter what all around them held as impossible.

Here’s a collection of thoughts:

“All the calculations show it can’t work. There’s only one thing to do: make it work” -Pierre Georges Latécoère, early French aviation entrepreneur

“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” -Leonardo da Vinci

“The natural function of the wing is to soar upwards and carry that which is heavy up to the place where dwells the race of gods. More than any other thing that pertains to the body it partakes of the nature of the divine.” -Plato

“Man must rise above the Earth—to the top of the atmosphere and beyond—for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives” -Socrates

“More than anything else the sensation is one of perfect peace mingled with an excitement that strains every nerve to the utmost, if you can conceive of such a combination.” -Wilbur Wrigh

That does it for this week’s installment of great aviation quotes.

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Proposal at Skydive Jersey

We would like to congratulate Alan Fischetti and Kristy Voorhees on their recent engagement. Skydive Jersey was quite honored when Alan called up and requested that we be a part of this monumentally special occasion.

Alan wanted to propose to Kristy in a way she would not soon forget, unbelievable fear, incredible adventure and ultimately, of course, unbridled happiness.  Alan called us up to get our opinion on his idea and of course, being partial to skydiving, we thought he had stumbled upon a genius idea.

Alan and Kristy showed up on a warm and beautifully-sunny Friday afternoon, Alan with more than the fear of a simple skydive and Kristy unwittingly a participant in Alans proposal plans. The air was ripe with anticipation from both the staff and the soon to be newly engaged.

After an amazing free fall and a two beautiful landings from instructors Robbie and Paul, the moment arrived. Alan took a knee and popped the question, to which Kristy responded with an excited YES!

Check out some photos from the big moment below!

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If it’s in the New York Post – It must be true… Mostly

Skydive Jersey is very proud to have been recommended by the New York Post as one of the four best ways to “Jump Start!” your summer. The following is an excerpt:

“Jump out of a plane – New York Post

-New Jersey 

Life in a rut?

Maybe you ought to just jump. Out of a plane. Safely, of course. Skydive Jersey offers you the rush of a lifetime – lunging headfirst out of a plane at 120 miles an hour – from their easily accessible corner of the Garden State, just a short hop from Manhattan. Their specialty is tandem skydiving – meaning you’re not on your own, you’re attached to an instructor – making it a must for the even scardiest of cats (skydivejersey.com)”

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As an emotional experience jumping from an airplane for the first time can evoke whole lot of emotions wrapped into one. In my ten years of skydiving I’ve witnessed terror melded with ecstasy, excitement bonded to the facial expression of dread and just about every conceivable emotional combination in between. And somehow, in the end, every expression of the moment still seems to settle into an introspective smile that says, ever so gently, “I just did that… whoa”

So why do we do it? We do it for the freefall. There is no sensation equivalent to precisely controlling your body and it’s movements while simultaneously experiencing the sensation of floating. When we’re in freefall, we are flying. Combine that flying sensation with the freedom of cruising around the sky with friends, and you’ve got the makings of an excellent skydive.

Freefall is unbelievably gratifying… but why?

It’s all thanks to wind resistance and the ability of the human body, with practice, to balance on just about anything.

But how does it work? How is it that humans can take charge of their freefalling bodies and change their direction of movement and speed relative to their friends falling beside them?

When a skydiver exits an aircraft, the force of gravity begins to accelerate the body  toward earth. This acceleration-force pulls the skydiver through the molecules in the air and forces the molecules to move around the falling body. In a perfect world the molecules would happily step aside and let the passing skydiver cruise on by. But we don’t live in a perfect world and it turns out that in order to move those air molecules they must be displaced, a process that takes time and creates a lot of drag. The air is resisting this rapid displacement and it’s an effect that’s referred to as wind resistance.

Since a skydiver is not in contact with an abrasive surface such as the ground and has very little friction to prevent the body from being moved while in freefall, they may manipulate their bodies by pushing against the wind resistance. Since every action produces a force equal and opposite that action, a skydiver literally pushes against the wind with a part of their body to have the wind “push back” and move them in a pre-calculated manner.

The same “push” against the wind resistance that a skydiver can use to move their body around can also be used to control their freefall speed.  By exposing more of their body to the wind resistance, extending their arms, extending their legs or making their torso flatter, a skydiver can literally slow down their freefall. Or by doing the opposite and decreasing the amount of surface area they’ve presented, a skydiver can speed themselves up.

It’s takes a bit of practice to get all of your limbs working in unison and creating balanced movements to push against the air and maintain stability. A beginning jumper can maintain basic stability, move forward and turn left and right within about seven skydives.

Becoming more advanced and taking real multi-axis control of your body in the sky takes substantially more time and effort. Top-level skydivers train for years and accrue thousands of skydives to reach skill levels that allow true precision movements in freefall. I’ve posted a video example of what can be achieved by the human body in freefall after years of dedication.

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This past Friday was SUWEET! We as well as some of our students were a little worried about the forecast as Friday approached. But thankfully the skies cleared and the sun smiled upon us.

More than a few of Fridays jumper had been rescheduled multiple times. And if there’s anything we dislike here at Skydive Jersey it’s rescheduling people for weather! So this made the atmosphere all the better when the plane started making it’s rounds.

We flew a total of twelve loads and broke in our new pilot, Andrew. We’re proud to say that he did quite a fine job, for a brit He even stayed after hours to share a drink and a few laughs with everyone.

New packer Dan, from Philadelphia, cut his teeth on week two of parachute compression. He’s working on a 100% success rate and we’re happy to see him continue on this streak. Good to luck to Dan…, er, the instructors, next week!

I took some photos of folks hanging out at the skydiving center and am throwing them in a gallery for your viewing pleasure.

~Chuck

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We’re very happy to announce that the construction of the new shade area is going well. The area will be gradually finished over the next two weeks and should be ready for everyones enjoyment by mid April.

The new shade area is attached to our hangar and extends further toward the landing area than our main doors. Customers will now be able to enjoy watching their friends and family land from the shaded hang out spot (of course you can still walk to the edge of the field if you wish).

The area will feature playground mulch and new picnic tables. Now, more than ever, Skydive Jersey is becoming a true get away. See you soon!

Check out some pictures of our progress.

P.S. – We would like to thank Linda and Bill of Alexandria Field for all the help they’ve extended to Skydive Jersey. Without them, none of this would be possible.

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