Great. So I started to go over the details about making a tandem jump followed by the AFF Skydiving classes.

Lee stopped me and said he’d done a lot of research and already knew a little bit about the skydiving process, he just wanted to make arrangements to come out to our facility to do the first tandem and then the AFF course.

“Awesome,” I thought. This guy had already done some homework. “So where are you going to be coming out from?” I asked.

“Alabama,” he said.

“Whoa! What? You mean you’re going to travel all the way to Northern California from Alabama to learn to skydive here?”

Lee said, “Yeah man. I found you on the internet, did some research, and I’ve decided to learn with you guys.”

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh, okay. Sure that will be awesome. Let’s make a reservation for you to come out.”

I thought this had to be a joke and that I’d never hear from him again. Although he asked which airport to fly into and which hotel to stay in while in Cloverdale. Pretty detailed joke, but I’ve NEVER heard of anything like this before!

Well to make a long story short….Lee flew in to SFO, arrived in Cloverdale in his rental car at about 10:00 pm, and stayed at the local Super 8. The next morning he arrived at the Drop Zone right on time for his appointment!

Lee and I made a FANTASTIC tandem jump, and then he hopped in his car and headed back to SFO to make a 4:00 pm flight back to Alabama. He’s scheduled to come back to start his AFF training in mid January, and you know what? I definitely believe him!!!!!

While Lee was here for those few short hours, I asked him why he hadn’t chosen to jump at one of his local Drop Zones in Alabama?

His answer: “I did my research and I want to learn from the best.”

Right on Lee! We’re looking forward to seeing you again in January!!!!!

By the way, this was Lee’s first trip to Northern California! He saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time while jumping here at NorCal Skydiving. WOW!!!!!!

But it’s not over yet. NorCal is ending the ‘09 season with bang! Actually with a BOOGIE.

The weekend of September 25th, 6th, and 7th is gonna be AWESOME!

We’ll be flying two Cessna Turbo 206’s and one 182 all weekend…can you say “formation load?” Also we are bringing in a helicopter on Saturday, so you know you wanna show up for that!

And that’s not all. Clair is gonna turn 21 at midnight on Saturday, so we are throwing her a birthday party in the main hangar, shhhhhhh don’t tell her!

Clair is pictured here wearing her new freefly suit designed by Mystik Revolution.

The Clair Bear getting ready for a jump.

The Clair Bear head down.

Check out the revolution at mystik-revolution.com

The Open House was well attended by residents of Cloverdale and Sonoma County, private pilots from hundreds of miles away, and aviation enthusiasts of all ages.

EAA Young Eagles offered free airplane rides to children ages 7-17. The Young Eagles had seven aircraft dedicated for rides and they were flying from 9:00 a.m. till 1:00 p.m. Almost 50 children got to experience the wonder and excitement of flying above this scenic location.

The highlight of the day for NorCal was taking Vice Mayor Carol Russell for her first Tandem Skydive. I must say that it was one of the most memorable jumps of my career. Carol and I had a successful jump and landed softly to the delight of hundreds of spectators. The Vice Mayor was quoted in the local paper saying, “It was love at first Flight.”

All in all, the event was very successful, and NorCal looks forward to participating in many Airport Open House events in the coming years.

As everybody knows, the Russian River runs directly next to the airport here at NorCal, and ever since my first jump at this location, I have wanted to swoop my canopy through the river.  Well, a couple of weeks ago I finally got the chance.  

Hello NorCal Skydivers past present and future!

This is the first NorCal Skydiving entry, and we will be doing our best to post regular updates to let everybody know what’s going on at the most beautiful Drop Zone in Northern California.

I’ll start by introducing myself:  Jimmy Halliday, President and Cheif Jump Master here at NorCal.  I’ve been skydiving since 1989 when my father and I made tandem jumps to celebrate Father’s Day together.  In the Summer of ‘96 I began jumping professionally part-time while I was going to school.  After graduating with a degree in English in ‘99, I thought about entering the job market for about as long as it takes to fly to 13,000 (20 minutes or so), and shortly after jumping I figured my best bet was to turn my part-time college job into a full-time career.

Out of school and on my own working as a skydiving videographer/tandem instructor, I found myself jumping all over California, the East Coast, and Hawaii.  Now, 9 years after making skydiving my full-time job, I am fortunate enough to be partnered with a great team focussed on developing a new drop zone in the best location I have ever had the pleasure of jumping at:  the scenic airport in Cloverdale, California.

To see some of my Skydiving Photography, please check out my personal website at www.jimmyhalliday.com.

And don’t forget to check us out at www.norcalskydiving.com.