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Brannan,
I just wanted to let you know I was really pleased with this last tunnel camp. You were absolutely right. The one on one with Joe was excellent. He is a terrific coach. He explains the "Why's". I learned and understood more from him in those 2 days than I have from anyone else. My expectations were not only met , they were exceeded. I will recommend the camp, especially to novices, when I get back out in Chester.
I would like to do another camp sometime around the end of May. It would be great to get Joe again to help me build on what he has shown me. I don't know if that would be possible for you, but I will email you when I'm ready to schedule.
I understand you would like constructive feedback to help improve the camps. From my position I was very satisfied and do not have anything to add to that. The only thing I would like to have had was a "dummy rig". I have seen the Golden Knights and a few students using them and I would like to have tried rolling off my back with one on. That may not be feasible for you or much in demand. We all have our unique issues. I will try to get hooked up with something from my drop zone before my next camp.
It was terrific. Give Joe another big thanks from me and I will see you again soon.
Nancy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mr. Johnson,
On rare occasions we are fortunate enough that our lives cross paths with people who are so wonderfully gifted and talented. For me this is so true with the start of the New School Flight Camp (30 Jan 04 thru 01 Feb 04). Steven Blincoe and Sean McCormick are instructors/coaches who demonstrated a level of professionalism rarely seen today. Steve quickly understood what my needs were and adjusted each tunnel session accordingly.
Having just one jump coming into the camp, I was a bit nervous about whether I would hold others back. At no time did Steve ever act as if I was less for where I was at in my learning process. His reinforcement of my first AFF class in Oklahoma reassured me that I was in capable, knowledgeable hands. Steve's communication skills and coaching always gave me the confidence to know I could fly. Steve and Sean weren't just easy to work with, they both gave 100% so that our camp was well worth the money and time I invested. Over the duration of my three days at SkyVenture, I have met new friends from all over the globe and I have a solid foundation of which to be a better and safer skydiver.
It's good to find yourself, no matter your age, and what I find about being in the air is that I don't just exist but I am alive. I look forward to many more trips to the tunnel and to learning what so many before me have already discovered.
Thanks So Much!
Judy Jarnigan
P.S. Thanks to all your staff as well who kept me safe and the air moving. And especially to Jason, who understood that success means pushing even small limits. :)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Where (or better yet, how) can you train in freefall with a coach standing stationary at your side? If I had known the answer to this two years ago I would have spent a day "at camp" before jumping out of a plane at 13K.
I have spent thousands of dollars floundering in the sky becoming only a novice at basic RW. Most of the times when I lost a grip either the other jumper(s) or myself have darted off into the wild blue yonder…skydive over. Even in-flight coaching allowed only 30 – 40 seconds of tense instruction. Lots of time wasted between getting stable and getting ready to pull.
I learned so much at camp; in what I now realize is a very cost-effective environment. I passed up an opportunity early in 2003 to attend camp with others from my home DZ thinking it was too expensive. Big mistake, but a lesson learned.
Another of my skydiving goals is to become a freefall photographer. I now know that step #1 will be back flying and sit fly training in the tunnel. I won’t make another mistake of blowing $$ into the wind trying to learn back/sit flying from 13K.
Nice job by Olaf (sp). He’s a patient guy that communicates effectively both inside and outside the tunnel, and made the whole experience fun.
The flow of the day’s events is well timed to allow just enough rest and avoid boredom.
Hats off to the facility management for a clean and well maintained learning environment.
This was a great experience that I am sure to share with other newbies.
To quote a famous California Governor…" I’ll be back"
Rick
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Brannan,
I wanted to drop you a note about my experiences at the Thanksgiving Tunnel Camp that I
attended at SkyVenture's Wind Tunnel in Orlando last week. The instructors were members
of Arizona Airspeed and the 8 students attending had experience ranging from 2 students on
AFF status with 6 and 7 jumps respectively, the next most experienced having 240 jumps and
the most experienced with something like 500 jumps.
I was one of the AFF students, having 7 jumps and before the camp, still trying to pass Level
3 due to a slow left turn that I was unable to correct in my 2 attempts at unassisted tracking.
After my 2nd unsuccessful attempt at Level 3, one of my jumpmasters mentioned your facilities
and said it might be worthwhile to check out your program. Not only worthwhile, but probably
the best 3 days I've ever devoted to myself.
As you know from our phone conversations prior to the camp, I was somewhat reluctant to
attend due to my minimal skydiving experience and not wanting to "slow down" everyone else's
learning experiences, nor be overwhelmed with my lack of skills required for more complicated
manuevers. Those fears were put to rest the first morning when each of the Airspeed instructors
and the 8 students introduced themselves, our skydiving experience level and what we were
hoping to learn/accomplish during the camp.
Kirk explained we would each receive one on one instruction and each would receive instruction
corresponding to their skill level. That theme was consistent during the entire camp and each of
us were, I believe, challenged appropiately.
Looking back, I'm still struck by the teaching/coaching skills of each of the Airspeed instructors
that I had the pleasure of working with. It's natural to expect the world's best skydivers to be able
to perform at the level of world champions, it's another thing to have them each be able to teach
more effectively than I was even willing to hope for.
What did I learn? The value of visualizing the "jump" before hand. Body position awareness, the
importance of eye contact, how to relax and what the air feels like as I change body positions.
And, yes, I corrected that slow left turn, learned new skills that I won't say, but plan to demonstrate
as I finish my AFF work and work toward my Class A license. I'm scheduled to jump this weekend
and I'll let you know how it goes, but I plan on the jump after that being a Level 4 jump.
One last thing. It continues to amaze me what a great group of individuals skydivers are. Everyone
wanting to help others when they can in a fun relaxed atmosphere. If I have any regrets it would be
that I didn't start skydiving sooner.
To all of the Arizona Airspeed instructors and the other "Turkey Weekend" students...........
THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was special, I'll be back.
Jim Lawler
jumping at Mile-Hi Skydiving
Longmont, Colorado
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Brannan,
I loved the wind tunnel in Orlando. It was my first time, and I learned so much from my instructors. Personally, I was very, very happy with the camp that I chose, but any camp or time spent in the tunnel is better than none. Also, it is sooo much fun!
I need to give a special thanks to my Airspeed Instructors and to Skyventure for making my visit so wonderful and productive. I had all the instructors that were present for my camp...Todd, Mark, Craig, Eliana, Kirk and Neal work with me individually at a time. They do this for everyone...rotate the instructors.
I think that I can even see in the pictures, with the expressions on my face, how much I have progressed. The following pictures are with Craig when I was just beginning to understand and do the exercises. Craig, like the others, was very fun and inspiring! (Hmmm...I look like a tiny midget in the pics with him....he's taaaaall.)
Thank you again!
Rosa
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Brannan - The Hislops and I are back safe in the snow after a successful weekend.
You have a class act and the website and the business concept are a great way to run the thing.
Shannon and Rusty have done a ton to improve the skills of all of us - I'm very impressed with Johanna and Aaron's progress in the camp. They should be very proud - With Aaron's center point turns as good as they are now, we will be adding POINTS to our average, not fractions of points!! Big thanks to Shannon for that one and for all of Johanna's breakthoughs as well.
As for myself, I worked with Rusty the entire time and consider myself very fortuneate. The man in PHENOMINAL and a top notch instructor and all around really decent guy. I can see the difference big time (even at 3 am) now in my skills thanks to his feedback and honest and direct style.
We'll definitely see you in April.
Thanks and warm regards.
Bill Rehm
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Brannan,
Tunnel camp was such an incredible experience for me. Returning to Mile-Hi for jumps felt really different. I felt like a different person.
Even though my exits were clumsy, as soon as I got stable I could fly my slot in the formation and execute our dive plan. I felt WAY more confident in freefall. AND I got asked to be on a 4-way player/coach rookie team with Courtney Frasch! I'm so excited!! She's had tons of tunnel time and lots of training with Airspeed and is a great coach and friend. My skydiving world has gotten so much bigger and richer since my camp. Thanks for putting it together, Brannan!
I can't wait for the tunnel in Denver to be up and running. Lots of skydivers here are chomping at the bit to have it done, too.
Blue skies,
Daena
