Christy West, Author at Skydive Spaceland Dallas

August 22, 2019August 22, 2019

Skydive Spaceland Skydiver Training Program: Dive Flow 10 Video

Welcome to Skydive Spaceland’s exclusive, innovative Skydiver Training Program! On your tenth “solo” skydive, wearing your own parachute system, you will float out, docked with your instructor, and work on tracking flatter and farther!!!!! Relax and have fun! Previous Dive: Dive Flow 9 Your freefall objectives for this skydive are: Compressed accordion exit Perpendicular heading …

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May 12, 2019

Skydive Spaceland Skydiver Training Program: Dive Flow 9 Video

Welcome to Skydive Spaceland’s exclusive, innovative Skydiver Training Program! On your ninth “solo” skydive, wearing your own parachute system, you will dive out docked with your instructor and start working on forward movement and backsliding!!!!! Relax and have fun! Previous Dive: Dive Flow 8 Your freefall objectives for this skydive are: Compressed accordion exit Delta …

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May 9, 2019May 12, 2019

Skydive Spaceland Skydiver Training Program: Dive Flow 8 Video

Welcome to Skydive Spaceland’s exclusive, innovative Skydiver Training Program! On your eighth “solo” skydive, wearing your own parachute system, you will dive out solo and practice front and back flips!!!!! Relax and have fun! Previous Dive: Dive Flow 7 Your freefall objectives for this skydive are: Diving exit Back flips and front flips Pre-deployment scan …

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April 23, 2019May 9, 2019

Skydive Spaceland Skydiver Training Program: Dive Flow 7 Video

Welcome to Skydive Spaceland’s exclusive, innovative Skydiver Training Program! On your seventh “solo” skydive, wearing your own parachute system, you will exit solo and practice barrel rolls. Relax and have fun! Previous Dive: Dive Flow 6 Your freefall objectives for this skydive are: Solo poised exit Barrel rolls Pre-deployment scan Deploy the main parachute at …

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June 28, 2018July 2, 2018

19 Things You Want to Know About Tandem Skydiving

You’re thinking about trying skydiving. Or maybe a friend/family member is. Or maybe you just need a few minutes’ break from work or your amazingly awful blind date, and this article sounded like the perfect activity to kill time while you’re hiding out in the bathroom. Let’s have some fun with this! These are the …

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June 15, 2018July 5, 2018

American Revolution Boogie 2018

Get ready for a whole lot of awesome skydiving July 6-8, 2018! Whether you’re a first-time jumper or you have thousands of jumps under your belt, you’ll have a blast at the annual American Revolution Boogie! We have extra aircraft (and we’re working on more), tons of organizers, a kick-butt fireworks show, and even trapeze …

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December 9, 2017January 11, 2019

Manifest General Reminders

If you find yourself at the dropzone, you will most likely be spending some time in the manifest office. With the rapid rate of growth that Skydive Spaceland has been experiencing, we want to spread the word on some general reminders and guides for manifesting and sharing the space of the office. Manifest Basics What …

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August 30, 2017November 30, 2017

Dallas Super Cup 2017 Scores

Done!! Videos are FINALLY being posted…click on team’s final score to view all 6 rounds Click here to see FaceBook Event Page 4-Way FS AA Class Team Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Total Average Babes On Our Bellies 9 10 8 9 11 13 60 10 Dallas InterSpeediate …

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May 18, 2017

Anthony Zerbonia Starts Spaceland Wingsuit Academy in Conjunction with Wicked Wingsuits

The popularity of wingsuiting continues to explode worldwide. Yet the discipline of wingsuiting is essentially in its infancy, with best practices for wingsuiting safety continuing to evolve. To increase the level of wingsuiting instruction and proficiency at Skydive Spaceland drop zones, Spaceland has teamed up with world-class wingsuit competitor Anthony Zerbonia of Wicked Wingsuits to …

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March 10, 2017April 23, 2019

Skydive Spaceland Skydiver Training Program: Dive Flow 6 Video

Welcome to Skydive Spaceland’s exclusive, innovative Skydiver Training Program! On your sixth “solo” skydive, wearing your own parachute system, you will practice turns, forward movement, and docking on your instructor. It’s getting real now! 🙂 Previous Dive: Dive Flow 5 Your freefall objectives for this skydive are: Team poised exit Maintaining altitude awareness 360° lower-body …

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March 9, 2017

Skydive Spaceland Skydiver Training Program: Dive Flow 5 Video

Welcome to Skydive Spaceland’s exclusive, innovative Skydiver Training Program! On your fifth “solo” skydive, wearing your own parachute system, you will practice turns, forward movement, and your instructor will dock on you. Previous Dive: Dive Flow 4 Your freefall objectives for this skydive are: Team poised exit Maintaining altitude awareness 360° turns Forward movement to …

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February 20, 2017

Skydive Spaceland Skydiver Training Program: Dive Flow 4 Video

Welcome to Skydive Spaceland’s exclusive, innovative Skydiver Training Program! On your fourth “solo” skydive, wearing your own parachute system, you will practice turns and forward movement. It’s time to start really flying! Previous Dive: Dive Flow 3 Your freefall objectives for this skydive are: Team poised exit Maintaining altitude awareness Arched body position Two 90° turns Forward movement/heading …

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February 20, 2017

Skydive Spaceland Skydiver Training Program: Dive Flow 3 Video

Welcome to Skydive Spaceland’s exclusive, innovative Skydiver Training Program! On your third “solo” skydive, wearing your own parachute system, you will practice deploying your parachute, stable freefall, and altitude awareness. Your goal is to fly smoothly and stable so you can earn your release from your instructor, truly skydiving solo for the first time! Previous …

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February 20, 2017

Skydive Spaceland Skydiver Training Program: Dive Flow 2 Video

Welcome to Skydive Spaceland’s exclusive, innovative Skydiver Training Program! On your second “solo” skydive, wearing your own parachute system, you will practice deploying your parachute, stable freefall, team turns with your instructor, and altitude awareness. Watch the video to see how it’s done! Previous Dive Flows: Dive Flow 1 Your freefall objectives for this skydive …

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February 17, 2017

Skydive Spaceland Skydiver Training Program: Dive Flow 1 Video

Welcome to Skydive Spaceland’s exclusive, innovative Skydiver Training Program! On your first “solo” skydive, wearing your own parachute system, you will practice deploying your parachute, stable freefall, and altitude awareness. Your freefall objectives for this skydive are: Proper climbout and exit Maintaining altitude awareness Arched body position 2 practice handle throws Identify the dropzone Deploy …

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December 8, 2016

Scott Latinis Joins Skydive Spaceland Team as Organizing and Events Director

Skydive Spaceland is thrilled to announce the full-time addition of longtime competitive skydiver Scott Latinis to the Skydive Spaceland team as Organizing and Events Director. “My parents will be so thrilled that I got a real job,” Latinis jokes. “But seriously, it’s a really great thing to be able to work in and give back …

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May 10, 2016November 30, 2017

Turbulence and Skydiving: What You Don’t See Can Kill You

Air turbulence can partially or completely collapse a skydiver’s canopy, causing injury or worse. Avoid it at all costs!

February 3, 2016October 27, 2017

Super Caravan Seating

Airplanes are a lot like people–individual (sometimes ridiculously so) in their needs and tolerances. For example, you can safely get away with sitting far back in the cabin of the Super Otter, but not so much in the Super Caravan. This is the reason for a recent policy change in how we load the Super …

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November 17, 2015March 16, 2018

Skydive Spaceland Announces Military Transition Program

At Skydive Spaceland, we love our active and retired military service men and women! We greatly appreciate your service to our country, and we’d like to announce our newly formalized training program to transition military-trained skydivers to the civilian skydiving world. This program is now available at all four Skydive Spaceland locations—Houston, Texas; Atlanta, Ga.; …

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September 22, 2015

Weekdays Rock for Skydiver Training (STP)!

Weekends are definitely the most popular days for our Skydiver Training Program–of course, because that’s when most people are off work! However, as you might know we are open 7 days a week. If you have any availability to jump on weekdays, you might enjoy weekday skydiving training even more! Why? Overall slower pace of …

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September 21, 2015October 27, 2017

Breakoff Series Part 3: Video Takes the Center, High

It’s a super cool shot to get when you’re flying outside video above a skydiving formation–that shot when the outside camera flyer (who is filming the jump without being a part of the formation) drops into the center as the formation breaks away, probably turning in place to watch everyone track far and fast before deploying. …

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August 27, 2015

Breakoff Series Part 2: Flat Tracking

Tracking away from other skydivers well is one of the most vital survival skills a skydiver can have. No matter what kind of freefall skydive you do, unless it’s a Mr. Bill or a solo, you will be tracking to achieve horizontal separation from the other people you are skydiving with before deploying your parachute. …

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August 13, 2015

Breakoff Safety Series

As skydivers who want to skydive again (and again, and again…), we tend to pay attention to the highest risk areas for our skydives to make them as safe as possible. We learn as students how to fly and land our parachutes safely, and we take canopy courses to get even better at it. We …

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August 13, 2015

Breakoff Series Part 1: Planning Breakoff and Tracking

Revised August 2015 Before you hop in the plane for your next jump, here’s some food for thought on safety: Plan your breakoff and tracking just as carefully as you plan the freefall part of your jump. This part of the jump is often neglected because it comes after “the good stuff,” but it is …

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July 28, 2015October 27, 2017

Red Light, Green Light, No Light?

Quick! What do you do if you are on jump run, the green light has been turned on, and then the green light goes out (either the red light comes back on or the green light simply turns off)? Assume the light is broken and proceed with your climbout and skydive. Flip the spotting switch …

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July 17, 2015October 27, 2017

Skydiver Training Tip: That First Hop and Pop

Is it about time for your first hop and pop (low-altitude emergency exit simulation) in our Skydiver Training Program? If you’re like most skydiving students, chances are you are more nervous about this jump than most of your full-altitude skydives! The lower exit altitude combined with the 5-second maximum deployment time, and possibly your first …

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June 30, 2015

Skydiver Training Tip: Finding Your Match

When you get ready to skydive for the first time, you put the ultimate trust in your instructor. You trust that person to gear you up, give you the freefalling time of your life, and deliver you softly back to the real world on the ground. The relationship between first-time student and instructor is an …

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May 29, 2015October 27, 2017

Canopy Traffic: Find Your Place in the Sky

Traffic is a bad word, especially for those of us living in the Houston area! And while we think we can get away from it when we’re flying, the reality is that at any dropzone, and particularly at a busy one like Spaceland, the traffic can resemble downtown Houston rush at its worst. The difference …

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May 8, 2015October 27, 2017

Skydiving? Take Your Phone!

These days, most of us are almost never without our mobile phones. Some even seem to have separation anxiety if they misplace their phones for even a few minutes! 🙂 This week’s tip is good news for the phone-bonded among us, because it’s a recommendation to take your phone with you whenever you skydive. Why, …

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April 8, 2015

Altitude Awareness: Do You Have It?

What’s the first thing your skydiving instructor has you do after you leave the plane? Check your altitude. Before and after maneuvers, check your altitude. If you don’t have altitude awareness, PULL! Awareness of your altitude is of paramount importance to our survival in skydiving, and we all know it. And yet we sometimes forget …

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