Is it summer already?????? The last weekend made it feel that way. People, planes, parachutes and plenty of skydiving. Skydive Chicago opened it doors again to IIT and Mad City with well over 110 tandems on Saturday. With everything running smoothly from check-in in the auditorium, getting the students through the class and giving everyone an enjoyable experience in the sky. All we saw on Saturday was happy smiling “skydiving” faces. “CLUB D” was in full swing on Saturday night, always putting on a good show. Thanks to everyone that made this weekend such a success…..instructors, manifest, videographers, packers, pilots and SDC locals for the friendly atmosphere. It was great to see Kirk behind the wheel of the Otter again. The AFP Refresher class and an AFP First Jump Class also took place and we saw new and returning students eagerly wanting to get back in the sky and graduate. Welcome to all the new students and welcome back to any students returning from last year. Sunday turned out to be a tad windy. We did send a few loads and saw some more happy tandem customers, but towards the end of the morning the wind Gods felt we should be sitting on the ground for the afternoon. The first Swoop Club took place on Sunday morning and we saw all competitors get “their swoop on”. Always an entertaining event. - Troy Church finished 1st
- Whitney 2nd
- John Zagota 3rd.
The coach’s course, AFF and Tandem Certification course were completed during the week and the Examination jumps on the weekend. Thanks Bram and Ely for visiting Skydive Chicago and spreading your knowledge and skills through our sport. We saw a few loads during the week before the rain set in. Brian, our friendly ground crew support, has been taking the Tandem Certification course. It’s great to see new instructors with the urge and motivation to “Spread the Love” and be involved with first time jumpers.
Skydive Chicago is always moving forward and expanding. Renovations have taken place in the basement for those of you who don’t venture “underground”. Reason being, the loft is also expanding and Kirk and his crew need more working space in their loft and Genie’s Café also needs more storage space. So part of our basement has been converted into more loft space/storage to cover these expansions. This weekend……more of the same. Tandems, AFP, 4-way training, load organizing and great food are just another typical weekend at Skydive Chicago. This weekend we are organizing night jumps. If you are going to be applying for your “D” license this season, you will need to do some night jumps first to qualify. From past experience night jumps are sometimes difficult to organize and get enough people together to send a load. So if you are coming close to getting a “D” license, sign up in manifest for night jumps ASAP. As the summer approaches we slowly see some of the older faces returning and also some new faces. You may have noticed a new face in the airplane this weekend. We would like to welcome Chip to the team. Chip will be flying (and jumping) with us for the season. As we all know, this season will be one of the biggest “event” seasons we have had. Almost every weekend we have something going on. Just to list a few: - Team Funnel Boogie - Project Horizon - VRW Camps - New Wave Boogie - High Altitude - Iron Man - POPS Record - Money Meets - SUMMERFEST (its going to be HUGE) - and of course the US Nationals. Check out the Calendar of Events on the website for more info. With all these events happening, it is creating a great atmosphere here at Skydive Chicago. There is a vibe in the air, kind of an anticipation that something great is about to happen…….and it is. So let’s make it a fun, busy and most importantly safe season. See you all this weekend. Rook |