Skydive Spaceland Dallas, Author at Skydive Spaceland Dallas

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!

November 17, 2015January 28, 2022

Skydive Spaceland 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 welcome you to our training program to transition military-trained skydivers to the civilian skydiving world. This program is now available at all Skydive Spaceland locations—Houston, Texas; Atlanta, Ga.; Dallas/Fort …

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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, 2015July 27, 2023

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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March 31, 2015

Skydive Spaceland Brings World-Class Skydiving with Texas Hospitality to Atlanta on May 1

Rosharon, Texas (March 31, 2015)–Building on the strong success of two world-class skydiving centers near Houston, Texas, and Miami, Florida, Skydive Spaceland will open a third skydiving center near Atlanta on May 1. “This is such a beautiful farm property in the Appalachian foothills,” says owner Steve Boyd. “We’re super excited to bring our business …

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March 26, 2015October 27, 2017

What’s Your Wind Limit?

Gusty winds are common at Spaceland and many other dropzones. As an experienced jumper, I have thought a lot about what my personal wind limit is–in other words, when I will sit down even though the dropzone is not on a wind hold. Recently, I made the decision not to jump after watching other fun …

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March 18, 2015October 27, 2017

Splish-Splash: Landing in Wet Conditions

Ah spring… Green grass, warming temperatures, and RAIN! One of the most common questions we see in our social media news feeds this time of the year is, “How wet is the landing area?” If you have to ask, the answer is usually “underwater.” 😉 Since we’re not too interested in waiting days for perfectly …

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February 13, 2015

Keep Learning with Facebook!

As a current or former student in our Skydiver Training Program here at Spaceland, you have access to our skydiving students group on Facebook. This group is a ton of fun! You’ll find everything from freefall and canopy control questions to gear inquiries, discussions of who’s jumping on a particular day, Spaceland event announcements, and …

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January 28, 2015

Skydiving Currency: Use it or Lose It!

Ah, wintertime. We’re lucky enough here at Spaceland-Houston to have jumpable temperatures year-round, but cooler days and holidays often result in many of us taking a bit of a break from jumping this time of year. This break can result in a lack of currency, which is an additional risk factor for injury in skydiving. …

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January 8, 2015October 27, 2017

Rigs vs. Doors

Recently, one of our licensed jumpers took it upon himself to remind us all about keeping our rigs away from the edges of the aircraft door when rotating out to a floater exit. It’s a great reminder for all of us, because it’s far too easy to get too comfortable and complacent about safety aspects …

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December 10, 2014

Skydiver Training Tip: What If You Have to Repeat a Dive?

Let’s face it: Skydiving isn’t easy, especially when you’re just starting the sport. You may be a natural at freefall, but struggle with canopy patterns or landing, or vice versa. Or you may be nervous enough to have trouble getting out of the plane at all. The important thing to remember here is that many …

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November 12, 2014October 27, 2017

Skydiver Training Tip: Cheat Sheet!

Are you one of those people who knocks standardized tests out of the park without half trying, or do you tend to need some quality study time to ace them? Regardless of your test performance proclivities, keep one thing in mind regarding your skydiving training tests: These are definitely tests you don’t want to fail, …

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November 4, 2014October 27, 2017

Skydive Spaceland Owner Gives Back to our Military By Flying Wounded Veterans

Do you ever wonder what our pretty King Air with the in-flight door is up to? Spaceland’s owner Steve Boyd, Sr., has teamed with the Veterans Airlift Command (VAC) to provide free transportation in his King Air to our wounded veterans. So far, he has completed four missions including trips to North Carolina, Florida, and two …

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October 22, 2014

Right-Now Rigging

Oh no! You want to jump this weekend, but your reserve is out of date! Can this tragedy be averted so you can get some quality sky time? The answer is: Maybe! Our full-time rigging loft may very well be able to accommodate your right-now repack request, depending on their current workload. If you need …

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October 22, 2014

Special Dives: Low/High Pulls, Toy Dives, Pond Swooping

Low/High Pulls High openings and low passes must take into account the number of airplanes flying, other skydiving activities, and canopy descent rate. We cannot always accommodate low passes or high openings. We cannot guarantee that low-pass jumpers will land alone unless only one plane is flying. Ensure that the aircraft is configured for your …

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October 22, 2014

Landing/Canopy Safety

Canopy Safety Wind indicators: Landing direction arrow, flags, wind sock. The landing direction arrow is an air-traffic control device that sets the landing direction on the north side of the runway. Know the landing direction before takeoff, and check the landing direction indicator (LDI) north of the runway after you open and check canopy in case …

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