Chicagoland Skydiving Center
Home of Freefall University Skydiving School

Now that the season is picking up, we have moved to a 6 day a week schedule – closed on Tuesdays. This will be in place until Memorial Day, when we are open every day through the end of September. We do have an adjusted schedule this Saturday. We will opening at 10am, following a morning staff workshop with James La Barrie, one of skydiving’s most respected marketing and customer service experts. As we strive to create fun, safe, and exciting experiences for all our guests at CSC, we’re committed to starting the season on the same page as a team. Jumping will begin immediately following so we can enjoy the day.

Saturday around sunset, we will be celebrating Arbor Day by planting the Hinckley Tree on our grounds. We’ve come a long way in the past few years, and this is one way to honor our roots. We’ll have a short ceremony at 7:00pm as we put the tree in the ground and welcome jumpers who have been part of our family since we were located in Hinckley, IL.

Stick around for live music in the hangar with Hitman Rockband and our first monthly Beer Fine keg party. This season, jumpers who earn beer fines for “firsts”, milestones, licenses, and paying penance for fouls of the beer line will contribute $10 to manifest to be pooled together to purchase kegs for the whole dropzone.

A Canopy Safety Reminder from our S&TA

Let’s kick off the season by respecting the landing rules and maintaining a safe canopy environment. As always, only 90 degree turns in the main landing area during a regular load. Jumpers doing hop and pops may obtain permission to swoop in the main landing area if there will not be other canopies in the air on landing.

We do have a very large landing area to use, including the area west of the taxiway, so spread out if there is traffic! After last week’s unusually heavy rain, the student area is a bit soggy, so instructors will be discussing landing near the pea pit to gain separation from most other jumpers on the load.

The south landing area is the designated high performance landing area, only to be used by jumpers with a minimum of 1,500 jumps. Courtyard swooping will only be allowed on the last load of the day with prior permission obtained. This is a to help maintain safety of both the jumpers and spectators in that area.

Upcoming Events

Next week, we kick off one of our most-loved traditions, discount day for experienced jumpers. Beginning May 1, licensed skydivers can enjoy $19 full altitude PAC or Otter jumps every Wednesday!

Saturday, May 4: Spicy Scrambles with CSC Inferno. RW Scrambles organized by one of our very own CSC 4-way teams with lots of fun and great prizes up for grabs from Blue Skies Magazine, SunPath Products and more. All licensed jumpers are welcome to participate. Stick around after jumping for a Cinco de Mayo fiesta at the Flight Deck Bar & Grill.

Friday, May 10: Live Music by Briar Hill at the Flight Deck Bar & Grill.

Friday May 10 – Sunday May 12: Coach Rating Course with Steve Verner. There is still time to sign up. Email Steve at moreratings@hotmail.com. Requirements: 100 jumps minimum, B-License, coach course proficiency card completed.

Sunday, May 12: Special Mother’s Day Brunch at the Flight Deck Bar & Grill, 10am to 2pm. Reservations highly recommended. Call 815.361.3664.

Construction News

We’ve continued to put finishing touches on our amazing facilities with two projects we added this week. In anticipation of a very busy summer, we’ve decided to expand the patio outside the Flight Deck Bar & Grill. This will allow room for more outdoor tables as well as an outdoor bar addition that will serve drinks and quick grilled food options like burgers, hot dogs, kabobs and more.

We’ve also started building the permanent bonfire area, which will continue to expand as we lay the patio bricks around the pit. We hope this area will grow in a circular way like rings on a tree. If you want to leave your permanent mark on CSC, personalized engraved bricks are available for purchase. Two sizes are available: 4″ x 8″ bricks are $50 and 8″ x 8″ bricks are $100. Contact Woody to purchase a brick.

Freefall University

Congratulations to Amy Bowen, who earned the first A-License of the 2013 season! We’ve enjoyed having a surge of new students after our free ground school earlier this month and everyone has been doing a great job on their training tandems and solo jumps. We have several students from across the country (even Alaska!) who are currently spending several weeks at CSC while they learn to skydive at FU.

For those who missed our last ground school and are interested in jumping solo, please join us on May 5. We are offering one more free ground school this spring, a $99 savings off the cost of the program. Licensed skydivers or current students may also attend as a refresher course to meet currency requirements. Please sign up online at www.skydivecsc.com/reservations.

Hope to see many of you this weekend for our Arbor Day Hinckley Tree celebration and to take advantage of the great weather forecast. We’re hoping spring is finally here to stay. See you in the sky!

We’ve been enjoying the first few weeks of the 2013 season. We’ve had some decent jumping weather so far and it’s been nice getting back into the skies over Rochelle. Both the PAC and Twin Otter are home from their winter contracts, so let’s keep them flying! For now, we are open Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. We go to our 6 days per week schedule toward the middle of April.

As we ramp up for the busy season, we’re still looking for some CSC team members. We are hiring more full-time and part-times staff for our customer care team in the PROshop and manifest. If you’re interested, please send resumes and availability to jason@PROskydiving.com.

We are also in need of street team members to help with marketing at events and promotional venues across the midwest. Applicants must have a valid driver’s license and a clean driving record. Those interested should download the application and drop it off to CSC or email to tony@PROskydiving.com. This is a great way to earn money to pay for jumps!

To help kick off the season, Freefall University is offering a FREE ground school this Sunday, April 7. The class begins at 10am and should last 3 to 4 hours. Weather permitting and based on availability of instructors, students may be able to make their first training tandem jumps the same day. Ground school is the next step for anyone who wishes to jump solo. Previous skydives are not required. If you’d like to sign up for the course, please register on our website by selecting “AFF level 1″ on April 7.

Any of our existing students or licensed skydivers who need a refresher course before jumping again and weren’t able to join us on Safety Day are welcome to attend this free ground school followed by a coach evaluation jump to get current.

While we’re proud of our beautiful new facility, there is still one area that will receive some finishing touches this spring. Help make your mark as part of the CSC family as we build our new permanent bonfire pit in the courtyard. We will construct a circular area that will grow with time. Two brick sizes are available for purchase and personalized engraving (with approval by CSC): 4″ x 8″ bricks are $50 and 8″ x 8″ bricks are $100. Contact Woody to purchase a brick.

The Flight Deck Bar & Grill begins its first annual volleyball league next month. Six player co-ed teams play a ten week season from May 21 to July 25, followed by a post-season single elimination tournament. Rosters and payment must be submitted by Tuesday, May 14. Visit our website for more information, payment details, sign-up forms and league rules. Contact tony@PROskydiving.com with questions.

Looking for a special family outing for Mother’s Day? Spend the day with us! The Flight Deck will host a special brunch 10am to 2pm on Sunday, May 12. Reservations are highly recommended. Please call the restaurant at 815.361.3664. Sundays are also Family Day at CSC. Tandem skydive special: $209.99 per person, 5 or more family members jump for $189.99 each and 10 or more family members for $179.99 each. Surprise mom with a jump from a perfectly good airplane!

 Upcoming Events

As always, our events calendars are available on our website and Facebook. Join us!

Saturday, April 12: Live music by Briar Hill at the Flight Deck starting at 8pm.

Friday, April 19: Live music by Tristan Bushman at the Flight Deck starting at 8:30 pm.

Saturday, April 20: Our first installment of The Loft Sessions – a monthly educational seminar series dedicated to different areas of the sport. These seminars are meant to teach skills that keep jumpers safe, teach them about equipment and new disciplines and to help teach technical aspects of body flight, camera flying and more. Betsy Hoats of Third Coast Parachute Service will host and lead the first session called “How To Check Your Gear Like a Rigger” from 7:30 to 9pm and will cover gear maintenance tips and less-performed gear check items. This will be helpful for skydivers of all skill levels and Betsy is available to answer equipment questions afterward. Bring your rig and follow along!

Saturday, April 27: We hope jumpers who were part of CSC’s family when it was located in Hinckley will join us from 2-3pm as we celebrate Earth Day and pay tribute to our dropzone’s roots during the planting of “The Hinckley Tree” in our courtyard. After jumping, stick around for live music by Hitman Rockband in the CSC main hangar starting at 8pm.

Wednesday, May 1: Kicking off our weekly experienced jumper special to last through the season. Licensed skydivers, join us every Wednesday for $19 full altitude jumps from our PAC or Otter.

Saturday, May 4: Spicy Scrambles with CSC Inferno. RW Scrambles organized by one of our very own CSC 4-way teams with lots of fun and great prizes up for grabs. All licensed jumpers are welcome to participate. Stick around after jumping for a Cinco de Mayo party at the Flight Deck Bar & Grill.

Save the Dates:

Operation: Pink Sky : June 8, 2013. Our annual fundraiser for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Registration includes dinner, t-shirt, raffle entry, party with live music in the hangar & courtyard and a donation to the NBCF. Happening throughout the day: awesome LOs for belly, freefly and wingsuiting, Brian Darnell’s RW Big-Way skills camp, Zach Schroedel’s “Flock for Boobies” with free experienced wingsuit coaching in preparation for the 1st Wingsuit Sequentials Competition at CSC later in June.

Independence Boogie: July 3-7, 2013. Load organizing by Sandy Grillet, Karl Meyer, PJ Jackson, Simon Bones and Zach & Kiwi from SkyVenture Colorado. Win a GoPro Hero 3 in the Hypoxic Film Festival, achieve glory in the boogie beer olympics, get dressed up for the 007 Bond Theme Saturday night party, and all kinds of other fun.

Sisters in Skydiving: July 12-14, 2013. Load organizing and coaching by Melanie Curtis, Carolyn Chow and Chazi Blacksher. Tons of amazing prizes, Saturday night ladies-only dinner and all the fun jumps you can handle with female skydivers from all over the country. Get registered at http://bit.ly/summertimeSIS or by contacting becky@PROskydiving.com.

We hope to see you out at CSC soon!

We’re just about ready to kick off the 2013 season, starting this Saturday with USPA Safety Day. Please join us for an afternoon of seminars and safety briefings covering the many aspects of our sport that contribute to safety on the dropzone and in the air. Seminars begin at 11:30am and will cover aircraft safety, emergency procedures, gear checks & maintenence, canopy flight and more. This event is open to the public and we invite anyone interested in learning more about skydiving safety to attend to learn more.

In the spirit of keeping everyone safe and ready to get back in the air, Freefall University will be offering a free refresher course Saturday morning, beginning at 9:00am. The course will finish in time for attendees to participate in Safety Day. Skydivers and students from any drop zone who need to complete a refresher to meet currency requirements are welcome to attend.

If your reserve goes out of date before April 1st and you want to jump it in the month of March, drop it off at Third Coast Parachute Service at CSC on or before Safety Day. Betsy will be out of town attending the PIA Symposium from March 24th – 30th, so a little advanced planning is in order. While away, she will be attending Rigger Continuing Education Seminars, and get up to speed on all the new gear and gadgets coming out this season to be sure she can help everyone keep their gear in tip-top shape.

CSC’s Opening Day will be March 22. Weather permitting, we’ll be resuming normal skydiving operations with the PAC. She’ll be back from her winter trip to dropzones around the country. If you’re ready to get back in the sky (we know we are!) then please join us for a great first weekend of the season.

As we get into the season, we are pleased to announce a new addition to our management team. Jason Kane has joined the staff as Manager of Guest Relations and will be leading the manifest and PROshop teams. Jason brings his outgoing personality, amazing work ethic and skydiving knowledge to our customer service efforts and will be a great addition to this dropzone. He was formerly an instructor at the Skyventure Colorado wind tunnel and will sometimes put those skills to work as a freefly coach and organizer. Please welcome Jason to Rochelle!

We’re also giving a jump-start to our student program by offering a free ground school on Sunday, April 7 at 8:00am. The class will be capped at 50 students, so don’t wait to grab your spot. Please sign up online at www.perfectlygoodairplane.com. This course is open to anyone who wishes to jump solo and pursue their license. No previous jumps are required to attend this course.

We’ve also got some fun things coming up at the Flight Deck Bar & Grill. Chef Jason has planned an Easter Brunch on Sunday, March 31. The Flight Deck will open at 10:00am. We are now accepting reservations and hope to see many of our friends there.

Upcoming Events:

On April 20, we’ll start a new series of evening seminars we plan to have monthly at CSC called The Loft Sessions. Each session will feature a specific aspect of the sport, and one of our resident experts will lead an evening seminar or discussion and then Q&A. Up first is Betsy Hoats of Third Coast Parachute Service with “How To Check Your Gear Like a Rigger“. Join us in the loft 7-9pm and bring your rig. Betsy will guide the group through a more thorough gear check, talk about less-often-performed gear maintenance and more.

Saturday, May 4 CSC Inferno will host Spicy Scrambles – a day of RW challenges and fun jumps with awesome prizes! Stick around for a Cinco de Mayo fiesta that evening.

Friday, May 10 thru Sunday, May 12 CSC is hosting a Coach Rating Course taught by Steve Verner. Candidates must have a minimum 100 jumps, USPA B-License and complete the pre-requisites on the coach proficiency card. Contact Steve at moreratings@hotmail.com to sign up for the course and pay your deposit.

You can see our full events calendar on our website or check out the events section on CSC’s Facebook page.

We hope to see everyone at Safety Day!

Thank you to everyone who was able to join us for our CSC Winter Party and to wish the Dexters farewell. It’s always great to see our jumping friends during the off-season.

Despite the weather only cooperating enough to make a few jumps now and then, we’ve had plenty going on at CSC and The Flight Deck Bar & Grill. We’ve hosted many private parties (and even a few wedding receptions!), beer pong tournaments in the PROshop, concerts in the hangar, and we’ve been working on countless improvements throughout this amazing new facility. We’re excited to see this place full of jumpers again soon to show off all the great new features.

We also had a group of jumpers head out to SkyVenture Colorado in Lone Tree, CO near Denver for a weekend tunnel camp. We flew together and worked on our body flight skills with the talented coaching team at SVCO. Everyone made progress and we’re looking forward to having several more tunnel camps throughout the year after such success with this first one. Huge thanks to staff and coaches at SVCO for all their generosity and help with our group. If you are interested in visiting SkyVenture Colorado, you can purchase tunnel time at a discounted rate through CSC. Email customercare@skydivecsc.com for more information.

We’re anxious to get the jump season going and we know you are too, so we’re ready to share what’s in store for the year so you can get to your planning. As always, we offer packages for discounted jump rates and the coveted CSC PROpass. You’ll have more opportunities to enjoy those jumps than ever before. 2013 will be jam-packed with events, camps, parties, boogies, competitions, concerts, and good old fashioned dropzone fun for experienced jumpers and we’re going bigger than we ever have before.

We’ll focus on sharing event information in two places this season. Please bookmark these resources:

A brand new CSC events calendar on our website will allow you to see what’s coming up in a traditional calendar format. Simply click on an event to reveal the option to add it to your personal calendar to save the date. http://www.skydivecsc.com/zone/calendar/.

Check out what’s coming up in the CSC Facebook events section, RSVP and invite your friends. We welcome skydivers from all over the world, so feel free to spread the word! And, as usual, the CSC Facebook page will be a constant source of useful information, fun photos & videos and event details.

What’s coming up soon:

Saturday & Sunday February 9 – 10: Ski and Snowboard Trip at Cascade Mountain
Saturday, February 23: Skydiver Whirlyball Outing in Lombard (Join us from 1:30 – 4:30pm, $20 per person)
Saturday, March 9: USPA Safety Day at CSC (Starts at 11:30am in the hangar, students and experienced jumpers should plan to spend the afternoon reviewing safety information and dropzone procedures to prepare for the upcoming season).  We’ll also be hosting a FREE Refresher Course courtesy of Freefall University (begins at 9am, will be finished in time to participate in Safety Day activities – students and licensed skydivers from any dropzone who need to meet currency requirements are welcome to attend)

Friday, March 22: OPENING DAY for the 2013 season (Jump the PAC all weekend – cross your fingers for cooperative spring weather!)

Save the Dates:
July 3 – 7: Independence Boogie
August 31 – Sept 2: Mala Kohi (“Blue Sky” Boogie and Luau)

2013 Jump Prices and Specials:

Buy-Ins:
Preferred Silver – Put $1,000 down, receive 10% credit on account
Preferred Gold – Put $2,000 down, receive 15% credit on account
Preferred Platinum – Put $3,000 down, receive 20% credit on account

CSC PROpass – all-you-can-jump season pass!
*Limited availability, please fill out this form if you’re interested in a PROpass: http://bit.ly/cscpropass2013
PROpass Unlimited (available to licensed skydivers worldwide) – $6,000.00
PROpass Local (available to licensed skydivers with proof of home address within 150 miles of CSC) – $3,500.00

The fine print: Prices subject to change. Any refunds will result in removal of account credit. Offers valid thru March 1, 2013. Buy-in packages and PROpasses MUST be paid in full by March 1, 2013. Not valid for team contracts. Team pricing must be arranged separately. Please contact customercare@skydivecsc.com with questions, team proposals or to purchase buy-in packages.

Stay tuned for more as we get closer to the start of the season. Until then, blue skies!

We hope you’ve enjoyed the holidays and have found some time to celebrate with family and friends. 2013 will be a big year for CSC and we look forward to all the new and familiar faces who will be part of it.

Surely you’re missing jumping just as much as we are, so we’d like to extend an invitation for several gatherings we have planned until the season gets going.

Our CSC Winter Party will be Saturday, January 12 at 7:00pm at the home of Doug and Carolyn Smith. Please join us for a casual hangout with friends and to say farewell to Nathan and Lisa Dexter before they move to Texas. The Dexters have been a big part of CSC and our jumping family for many years, so we hope everyone can see them off with us and enjoy appetizers and drinks with their favorite group of skydivers. Please email rsvp@skydivecsc.com to let us know if you’re joining us.

The weekend of February 9 – 10, we’ll be heading to Cascade Mountain for a CSC Ski Trip. Get your gear, your carpool and accommodations arranged and enjoy a few days on the slopes with other CSC jumpers. If you’re looking for someone to coordinate rides or a hotel room, just post on the Facebook event page or email tony@PROskydiving.com and we’ll try to help coordinate groups. See the link above for more details.

We’ll also be getting together to play Whirlyball on February 23 and a night out in Chicago at some point in the next several months. USPA Safety Day is March 9 so mark your calendar now. More details and full season calendar to come in the next newsletter. If you’re interested in hosting an event, record attempt or organize at CSC next season, let us know by emailing becky@PROskydiving.com. There is still room on the calendar for a handful of special events.

CSC is now accepting team proposals for 2013. With USPA Nationals at Skydive Chicago in 2013, CSC is an ideal place to train and for out-of-town teams to host camps. Our facilities and aircraft can easily accommodate ongoing team training, so please reach out to us if you want to prepare for meets or Nationals. We also offer very competitive pricing for team training jumps and want to work with you to make it affordable to meet your team goals. Please email doug@PROskydiving.com with your proposal.

While some familiar faces from our staff will be headed elsewhere next season, we’re excited to welcome some new talent to our team. We are still looking to fill a few positions for the 2013 season. Check out our job listings and let us know if you or someone you know is ready to take this business to the next level.

One major change we’re making next year is with our Freefall University student program. FU will be under new leadership and will have a full-time dedicated manager. We’ve also now fully transitioned to the tandem-progression method and will have better student-to-instructor ratios so all students receive more individual and focused instruction. More AFF-rated and coach-rated staff will be available to jump with students next year and we look forward to continuing the massive growth of the student program we saw at the end of last season. For those interested in pursuing their license, contact chris@PROskydiving.com now to discuss the savings available for pre-paying for your license progression and learn more about our flexible payment plans.

If you haven’t had a chance to stop by the Flight Deck Bar & Grill, please join us! We keep our Flight Deck Facebook page updated with information about parties, live music, daily specials and monthly fly-in/drive-in breakfasts.

Be sure to keep an eye out for updates on the CSC Facebook page about occasionally firing up the Cessna 206 in the hangar for jumps. If we get a nice forecast and are thinking about flying, we’ll post there. Any experienced jumpers with the itch to skydive, bundle up and come on out!

Thanks again to our staff, fun jumpers, students and guests for a great 2012. Please join us for even bigger and better things. We hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!

Let’s just start by saying the past few weeks have been a whirlwind. We’ve been focused on getting our new restaurant finished and we’re happy to announce construction is nearly complete! The Flight Deck Bar & Grill has passed inspection with 100 out of 100, Chef Jason has finalized his menu, we’re waiting on a few more permits and finalizing the liquor license and we’ll be able to open very soon. Thank you to everyone who has been so very patient throughout the season. We’ve been anxiously awaiting our official opening. Stay tuned for that announcement in the coming weeks.

We’ve put some other nice finishing touches on the dropzone, too. We planted over 500lbs of grass seed in the courtyard, added a pool table and some arcade games to the hangar for a few more fun things to do during wait times or weather days and have even added another wifi access point to our already-lightning fast service. We look forward to sharing our world-class facilities with skydivers for many years to come.

To take advantage of the best weather we’ve had in years, we’ve decided to offer a special deal for tandems, but you’ve got to act fast to get the end-of-summer savings. Starting now, you can book a 9,000′ tandem skydive for just $139.99. That’s close to $100 off the retail price. We’ve had so many enthusiastic first-time jumpers visit this season so we’re excited to pass on amazing savings to get you back in the sky again. Book your skydive online at www.perfectlygoodairplane.com and use the discount code “solongsummer” during checkout. The deal expires at midnight on Monday and jumps must be completed before the end of 2012. No other discounts apply and all sales are final with this deal.

Somehow it’s September already and that means it’s time for Skydiving for MS. This annual fundraiser happens each fall and has become one of our biggest and best events, year after year. This Saturday, September 8th is the 15th anniversary of making skydives to raise awareness and fundraising for the National MS Society and to support our friends and neighbors with multiple sclerosis. With the help of Dave and Ceil Perez, we’re looking forward to another fantastic event. If you, a friend or family member have MS and would like to skydive, our instructors can make it happen! We are trained to safely skydive with students with physical limitations. Just give us a call at 815-561-3663 to talk about specifics if you’d like to book your skydive.

We proudly raised over $17,000 in 2011. Help us blow that number away in 2012. To encourage fundraising, we have a special offer for anyone who gathers pledges on their own to donate to the cause.

-Raise $500.00 for the NMSS and receive a free tandem skydive.
-Raise $750.00 for the NMSS and receive a free tandem skydive and DVD!
For information on how to register for a free skydive and to print your pledge form (to bring with you, filled out), visit http://www.skydivecsc.com/reservations/info/skydive-for-free/

We’ll also once again host the legendary raffle during the big party on Saturday night. For just $10 per ticket, you’ll be entered to win a ton of awesome prizes like gift certificates to stores and restaurants, golf outings, wine club memberships, indoor skydiving at the Las Vegas wind tunnel and even a free 100-jump package at CSC! You can find the full list of prizes here. To purchase raffle tickets, you can visit the manifest window at the dropzone and pay cash or charge to your dropzone account or you may call and ask to purchase tickets over the phone. We’ll enter you into the drawing and let you know if your ticket is drawn. You do not need to be present to win. All proceeds benefit the National MS Society’s Greater Illinois Chapter.

For our experienced jumpers, Skydiving for MS is our final boogie of the season. Simon Bones will be here again for freefly organizing in addition to our regular organizers. For those of you who missed out on jumping with him during the Independence Boogie, be sure to stop by! He recently helped organized the national record sit-fly jump at Skydive Cross Keys, so get it on all the vertical fun!

Only $25 registration fee includes:
-Boogie t-shirt
-Saturday night dinner
-Live music
-$22 experienced jump tickets

Please join us for another great event while the warm weather lasts. It’ll be fall before we know it. A Canadian 8-way team is visiting this weekend while training for nationals, so between the team, our booked tandems and fun jumpers here for the event, we should have no problem keeping the Super Otter and PAC turning.

Experienced jumpers should also plan to join us the following Saturday, September 15 for “Fall Fun-Ways” hosted by the CSC Angry Birds. If you’re a licensed jumper you are welcome to participate. These scrambles will include four rounds: Mr. Potato Head, Speed Star with Hit and Rock, Hula Hoop and traditional RW. There will be 4 individual winners – though each jump will be with a group, there will be ways to score points on your own. Prizes for winners include a night-out package at Hawthorne, gift certificates for rigging work at Third Coast Parachute Service, CSC Sky Bucks and a discount on a Merlin jumpsuit. Be there!

Congratulations

John Fleuchaus – 100 jumps
Chris Most – A License
Scott Albin – A License
Donna Sharp – A License
Tim Hunckler – D License
Peter Piotrowski – Head-up national record

Once again, we extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has visited our new dropzone, jumped here, pitched in with construction help and generally supported us throughout the season. It’s been nice to be able to just enjoy this place a bit as most of the major construction was completed. With a little way to go, we know we need to push through to make this place just perfect, but stick with us. We’re almost there! Next time you’re out at the dz, shake Woody’s hand and thank him for his hard work and leadership of the massive construction project.

Let’s finish out the season strong. The great weather just keeps rolling in, so let’s keep up the skydiving. Check out our Facebook page for updates on what’s happening at the dropzone and upcoming events and follow us on twitter for daily flight status reports.

Blue skies,

Douglas Smith

We’ve had so much fun around here lately, where do we even begin? As more of the final touches of the construction project have been completed, we’ve got one more major task at hand: open up the Flight Deck Bar & Grill. We’re so close! Over the next couple of weeks, Ward and Chef Jason will be finalizing the last few details to open the best restaurant in skydiving!

Last month, after winding down from an incredible Independence Boogie, we had two more awesome events at the dropzone. First up was our XMas in July party. This event was held to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Skydivers donated more than 50 packages of toys, games and school supplies for the kids and enjoyed discounted jumps and a holiday-style potluck dinner, complete with a visit from Santa Claus.

We also made it “snow” in our landing area with a ping pong ball drop – jumpers purchased their lucky snowflakes and we flew a low pass to drop them over the target, awarding winners with awesome CSC merchandise from our PROShop. The proceeds were used to buy additional gifts to donate.

We also had a unique event at the end of July – a CRW (Canopy Relative Work) camp led by world record holder Jim “Ras” Rasmussen. This particular discipline remains untouched by many skydivers, so bringing Ras in to educate the CRW Pups and provide leadership and coaching with experienced CRW Dogs was a great way to introduce it jumpers of all experience levels. A huge thanks to local jumper and CRW enthusiast Matt Faivre for helping bring Ras to CSC. The small active CRW community has definitely grown, with jumpers informally gathering once or twice per week for CRW jumps.

Coming Up!

Freefall University is offering a FREE ground school this Sunday, August 12! If it has ever even crossed your mind that you may want to skydive solo, you’ll save $99 and be taking the next step toward pursuing your license by attending. Instructors Ward Hessig and Carmen Villamil will be leading a large group style course beginning at 7:30am. Upon completion of the course, we’ll get as many students up for jumps as soon as possible. Come join us to learn more about the sport and become a real skydiver!

To register for the course, you can call our office at 815.561.3663 or register online at perfectlygoodairplane.com. Select AFF Level 1 on August 12th for the free course. If you’d first like to learn more about Freefall University, please visit our website and FU Facebook page.

THIS WEEKEND, Aug 10-11 we’ve got plenty in store for all our experienced jumpers. CSC is hosting world-famous freeflyer Luis Prinetto. He’ll be here for freefly organizing and coaching on Saturday and Sunday, so this is a great opportunity for jumpers of all skill levels to take advantage of the guidance from a very talented skydiver. CSC is also hosting an NSL 4-way meet, organized by James and Michelle of the CSC Angry Birds. Put your pick-up team together and join us for a fun day of 4-way. Anyone who is licensed and interested can plan to participate. If you do not yet have a team, please e-mail Michelle at shllbll_1@yahoo.com to let her know you need some teammates!

Freefall University Class Reunion: Labor Day weekend at CSC. We’re hoping to gather Freefall University graduates from years past to see the new dropzone and share memories from Hinckley and seasons past. FU Alumni can enjoy $20 jumps over the weekend and all our other licensed CSC family of jumpers can enjoy $22 jump tickets, too. Whether you graduated here or transferred in, please join us for this fun event.

The 15th Annual Skydiving for MS event is almost here. On September 8th, please plan to join us for what has become one of our biggest and best events, year after year. With the help of Dave Perez and the Illinois MS Society, this event raises awareness and funds for our friends and neighbors living with multiple sclerosis. We’ll have a great day of jumping and our legendary raffle that night. Try your luck at a ton of great prizes, including a free 100 jump package at CSC!

Only $25 registration fee includes a boogie t-shirt, Saturday night dinner, live music, $22 experienced jump tickets, freefly organizing by Simon Bones and you’re entered to win tons of prizes.

This event brings a few special opportunities for tandem jumpers that day. As in years past, our instructors look forward to introducing our guests with MS to the joys of freefall. We’ve seen many wheelchair-bound faces smiling in the sky over the years and hope that continues! If you or a family member would be interested in making a jump, but would like to discuss it beforehand due to medical concerns, please contact customercare@skydivecsc.com. We’re happy to answer questions about making safe skydives.

We also want to encourage our guests to help in the fundraising efforts for the MS Society. If you collect pledges and raise a $500 donation, you can make a 14,000ft tandem skydive for FREE. If you raise a $750 donation, your tandem is FREE and you’ll also be able to choose from FREE photos or video of your jump. To register for this jump, please book your skydive online and select 14,000ft tandem on September 8. Use discount code “curems” to book the free jump. Please download and print out the Skydiving for MS Pledge form and bring it with you completely filled out when you arrive to make your skydive on the 8th.

First and foremost, CSC would like to say THANK YOU to everyone who visited our new facilities during our Independence Boogie. From July 4 – 9, we had nothing but great weather and great fun at the dropzone. Skydivers came from across the country to enjoy the event and we’re thrilled to hear how much everyone loved the place. Experienced jumpers, organizers and representatives from skydiving manufacturers with decades in the sport agreed we threw an amazing event and CSC is undoubtedly an industry leader in the making.

Here’s a little recap video to enjoy.

Click here if you can’t see the video.

We had more than 120 registered boogie attendees and over the course of the event, close to 2,300 skydives were made at CSC! In addition to our Twin Otter and PAC 750, jumpers also enjoyed a SkyVan and Helicopter over the weekend. It was great to see planes turning everyday and a constant stream of parachutes coming back down. Boogies can continue to happen because of the support of experienced jumpers and we’re thrilled so many of you made the trip to CSC to jump with our guest organizers and enjoy the company of our regulars. We couldn’t host these great events without you. We hope you enjoyed visiting our new dropzone. Let us know what you thought of our facilities, staff, aircraft and event on Yelp or Google.

Our guest organizers were a hit during this boogie. Huge thanks to Lyle Presse and Sandy Grillet for organizing fun and challenging RW jumps and big ways throughout the week. Simon “Bones” Palacio gave the freeflyers a challenge with some Illinois head-up state record attempts and a sit-fly speedstar competition. And we can’t forget Zach Sabel and Lee “Kiwi” Hamilton from SkyVenture Colorado – these boys coached both new and experienced freeflyers, organized hybrids and VFS fun jumps and even gave some lucky CSC jumpers free tunnel time in a duck drop! Congratulations to the “lucky ducks” Kristin Miller, Andy Metcalfe, Erica Piotrowski and Mario Maradiaga.

Our awesome vendors braved the heat to help jumpers demo gear, answer questions about products and even make time for some fun jumps! Huge thanks to UPT, SunPath, Aerodyne and Precision Aerodynamics for spending the week at CSC.

One of the highlights of the event was something we’ve been working toward and looking forward to since last fall. After months of construction, we finally celebrated our official grand opening on July 7. The morning started with the Rochelle Chamber of Commerce hosting a “ribbon swooping” ceremony outside our hangar as the first load of jumpers for the day took off in our Twin Otter. Jason Anderson and Peggy Friday from the Chamber, Rochelle Mayor Chet Olson, IL Representative Bob Pritchard, IL Senator Tim Bivins, Mark Delhotal of Rochelle Municipal Airport and Mike Wood and Doug Smith of CSC offered words of welcome to the crowd. We all then enjoyed exciting skydiver landings and seeing a huge American Flag fly through the Rochelle skies.

We were so proud to show off the business we’ve been building and will enjoy for years to come. The City of Rochelle, the airport and our government representatives offering their support means the world to us and we’re thankful we were able to celebrate this milestone in such great company.

To thank our boogie-goers for hanging out with us, we threw an amazing party on Saturday night. We’ll pat ourselves on the back for this one. We had hoped the construction would be finished on our new restaurant, the Flight Deck Bar & Grill, but we weren’t quite able to have the kitchen ready to serve food yet. We still filled the space with tables and had dinner catered for the crowd. After enjoying an awesome family-style meal, and of course free beer, we gathered everyone in the hangar for a champagne toast. Though Doug will never admit it, we loved hearing our DZO offer up a slightly teary-eyed toast. Mike Wood is our COO and was also the general contractor on the construction project and raised his glass to invite us, and future generations of skydivers, to enjoy CSC for years to come.

So now what do you do with a bunch of skydivers who’ve had hours of free alcohol? You party! We had a live performance in our hangar by Libido Funk Circus, Chicago’s premiere party band. They played great music and we danced well into the early morning hours.

Events Coming Up

There is plenty more in store the rest of July and in August.

Saturday, July 21: CSC’s Christmas in July party to benefit the Boys & Girls Club of America. Any jumper who donates a toy or game, will receive $10 off the first jump of the day. That offer goes for both experienced jumpers and unlicensed tandem students! That afternoon, we’ll be making it “snow” in the landing area by flying a low pass to drop 144 ping pong balls over a target. Buy a ball for $2 and take your chances at winning some awesome prizes: CSC merch from the PROShop, Liquor & Wine gift certificates and Flight Deck Bar & Grill gift certificates. Stick around after jumping for a holiday style pot luck & white elephant gift exchange. Please bring a gift ($15 value) and a dish to share if you’d like to participate.

Friday – Sunday, July 27-29: CRW Basics Camp. CSC is pleased to invite world record holder Jim Rasmussen and his teammates to our dropzone to lead a beginners CRW (Canopy Relative Work) camp. There will be a class on Friday evening beginning after 5:30. The cost is $25. We’ll have plenty of CRW gear available for rental at a very low cost of $20 for the entire weekend. Jumpers will be responsible for the cost of their own slots. This is a great opportunity to try out a new discipline under very experienced leadership. Anyone interested should call our manifest office at 815.561.3663 to register. We’ll need to know your weight so we can be sure we have the proper canopies to stay in the 1.1 – 1.4 wingloading range.

Saturday and Sunday, August 11-12: CSC hosts world-famous freeflyer and organizer Luis Prinetto. He’ll be here for the weekend to organize awesome jumps. CSC is covering his coaching fee and slots, so this event is no charge to experienced jumpers. Don’t miss out on a chance to fly with a great skydiver on our dime!

Friday – Sunday, August 24-26: Todd Hawkins Big Way Camp at CSC. Participation in the event will be limited to jumpers with sufficient experience to safely and consistently jump in a large group.  Jumpers who participated in last year’s 16-way+ camp automatically qualify as do jumpers who were invited to the Mission Impossible challenge. Referrals welcomed. If you would like to be considered for an invite please contact Brian Darnell at brian@cognitive-us.com. This is a great opportunity to jump with a national champion, world meet medalist, former member of Arizona Airspeed and Perris Fury as well as Sector Captain for the upcoming Dubai 500-Way World Record. Todd will design the dives, jump with us and perform serious debriefing. We will have two planes flying and the price for the event is a $30 registration fee which includes dinner and beer/soda on Saturday night.

Stay Connected!

You can always find out what we’re up to on Facebook and see our entire events schedule on our website. We also tweet daily weather and flight reports. Anyone can have these updates sent directly to your phone via text message each morning. Simply text “Follow @cscweather” to the number 404-04. You’ll receive the messages even if you do not have a twitter account.

New this season, you can also see when we’re flying via our Live Departures viewer. departures.skydivecsc.com is linked directly to our manifest system and updates in real-time. You’ll know if we’re flying, how many empty slots are left on a load, how long your call time is and can double check that your whole group is on the load. We originally designed this to be a resource to our regular fun jumpers, but many others have found it useful on questionable weather days or while waiting to jump after a tandem orientation class.

Congratulations

• Patrick Talley: A-License
• Nestor Orjuela: A-License
• Forrest Hyler: 100 jumps
• Mike Tunney: 100 jumps
• Sabina Kotarba: 100 jumps
• Tim Hunckler: 500 jumps
• Rod Houart: 500 jumps

Please note we will tentatively be closed on Monday, July 30 for a much-deserved staff outing. We will resume normal hours and jumping operations on Tuesday the 31st.

The next big announcement will be the opening of the Flight Deck Bar & Grill. We’re very close to putting the final touches on the construction of the restaurant and look forward to inviting everyone out to give it a try and enjoy a cold beer while we watch jumpers land. We’ll see you soon.

-The CSC Team

It’s the big week! The Grand Opening Independence Boogie starts this Wednesday, July 4th. This annual event is a celebration of summer and this year is even more special as we welcome everyone to our new facitlities in Rochelle. For those of you who have already stopped by and jumped, thank you for your support in getting this place off to a great start. To anyone who has yet to check out the new dropzone, this is the event to do it. We have plenty of fun on the horizon whether you like to skydive, observe, hang out and have a drink or just enjoy some fireworks with friends and neighbors.

We’ll kick things off on Wednesday and the party won’t stop until Monday the 9th. Cash in some sick days, bring a tent and stick around. Camping is always free at CSC and we have shower and laundry facilities available on site for our guests 24/7.

Here’s what you can expect each day of the boogie:

Wednesday, July 4: Discount day for experienced jumpers. Any licensed skydiver can enjoy $18 jumps all day! We have plenty of tandem students booked so in addition to the fun jumpers, we should have both CSC planes (Twin Otter and PAC) running all day. We’ll  have guest organizers in the house to put together any type of jump you’d like to do. Get in on some RW jumps with organizer Lyle Presse and join Lee “Kiwi” Hamilton and Zach Sabel from SkyVenture Colorado for RW, freefly coaching or shenanigans fun jumps co-organized by Ward Hessig. The SVCO boys will also host a duck drop – buy a rubber duck for $20 – take your chances as they’re dropped from the plane toward a target in the landing area. First, second and third place winners will be awarded free tunnel time! Stick around in the evening for night jumps and join us to watch the City of Rochelle fireworks show from the comfort of our landing area.

Thursday, July 5: Thursday is Ladies’ Day at CSC. So girls, bring your friends for $189.99 tandem skydives from 14,000 feet. Enjoy a full day of jumping and live music in the hangar at night. Lyle Presse and the SVCO guys are available for coaching and organizing all day. There will be great food, great people and all the fun you can handle.

Friday, July 6: We welcome RW organizer Sandy Grillet and freefly organizer Simon Bones to put together any kind of dive you want to do – be creative. Anything goes! Simon and the SVCO boys will be organizing 4-way sit speed stars. Think you’re a head-up superstar? Come show off your skills. We’ll also be offering a first jump course for students interested in starting the process toward earning a solo license. Nathan Dexter will teach ground school at 9:30am. Students should be at CSC by 9am. To register, email lisa@PROskydiving.com or call 815.561.3663. That evening, CSC’s own Jody Moore will DJ the party.

Saturday, July 7: The SkyVan will be here for your jumping pleasure all day and all kinds of shenanigans are sure to ensue. We’ll have rafts, inflatable animals, Mr. Potato Heads, hula hoops and more to take to the sky. We’ve also confirmed a helicopter for the day, so join us for chopper jumps! Any students or licensed jumpers who still need to complete water training can join the Freefall University instructors at 6pm sharp in the FU classroom. The group will go to a nearby pool to complete the training. If you plan to participate, please email carmen@PROskydiving.com and have $25 cash with you.

That night is is the big party. When all the skydiving activities are done for the day, get ready for the main event. We’ll have food, drinks and a live performance by Libido Funk Circus, Chicago’s premier dance party band right in our hangar! Trust us, you won’t want to miss this one.

Sunday, July 8: The SkyVan will be here for one more day of jumping and the SVCO boys will be organizing and coaching all day. They’ll also be selling discounted tunnel time – a boogie special. Be sure to stock up to save on your training this winter.

Monday, July 9: All boogie registrants can enjoy a one-day-only special: Buy 1 jump and get 1 free! This offer is good for anyone who has made at least 10 jumps during the boogie. For those interested in coming out to make a tandem skydive, on Mondays we offer service industry discounts. Are you a bartender, server, bus boy, bar back, security at a club or an employee in another service industry? Bring a paystub or a business card and a valid ID to validate your employment and jump from 14,000 feet for just $189.99!

We’ll also be offering massages all week. Work out the soreness or just take some time to relax with Nicoleta Codrea. Schedule services on the sign-up sheet next to the manifest window in the main hangar. Options include a 20 minute back & shoulders massage for $20, 15 minute leg massage for $15, 20 minute reflexology massage for $15 or on-demand massage services for $1 per minute.

REGISTER NOW for the Boogie to save off the walk-up price . Pre-registration is $25, and the price will be $30 once the event is underway. Registration fee gets you a boogie t-shirt, boogie swag bag, entertainment, and food on Saturday night. To pay for registration or to charge it to your dropzone account, please email: customercare@skydivecsc.com. Feel free to contact event coordinator Stephanie Davidson if you have any questions about the event at stephanie@PROskydiving.com.

Please note: CSC Jump package prices (buy-ins, PROpasses, etc.) are good for CSC aircraft only (Twin Otter and PAC). Jump tickets will be full price for specialty aircraft (SkyVan and Helicopter). SkyVan – $25. Helicopter – $59.

We hope you can join us for this awesome event. See you soon!

Hope you’ve been having a great summer so far. Things have been incredibly busy at CSC as we put the final touches on the new facilities. Our home in Rochelle has been under construction since November 2011 and we’re thrilled to be operating out of our beautiful new home. We’ve been told this place is almost too nice to be a dropzone!

Our facility boasts an 18,000 square foot hangar with comfy padded packing floor, private shower rooms, laundry facilities, team rooms, The CSC PROshop to serve your gear needs, sand volleyball court, basketball court, RV Park, camping area, and lightning-fast WiFi on every corner of the property.  The Flight Deck Bar & Grill is nearing completion and we hope to be slinging our first beer in July.

No wonder only a few months into the season we’ve had an amazing turnout every week. We broke our all-time jump and revenue records for the month of June this month on the 17th! The support from our regular fun jumpers, members of the surrounding communities, tandem and Freefall U students has been incredible. We thank everyone who has joined us so far and who plans to this season.

Our first boogie of the year, Burlesque for Breasts was a huge success. Even with a full day weather hold, we had more than 100 resgistrants and made more than 930 skydives. A portion of each jump and proceeds from the registration fee were pooled into a charitable donation. In combination with fundraising done by tandem guests, we’re proud to share we raised more than $3,000 to donate to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. We blew last year’s event out of the water and hope to keep this event growing! We’re accepting donations through the end of the month here.

Since this one was all about the boobies, we threw a raging party in our hangar on Saturday night, complete with live music and all the ladies in corsets. Some of the girls even took their sexy look to the sky with guest organizer Eva Malikova. Thank you to everyone who joined us to support the cause!

Independence Boogie – the event you DON’T want to miss!

All the excitement so far is leading up to our big event of the summer. July 4 – 9, CSC is hosting the Grand Opening Independence Boogie. Our annual summer boogie will be even better this year as we celebrate our new dropzone and show the skydiving world what the future of CSC really holds. We’ll have fun activities going on every day of the week, so cash in your vacation time and plan to stick around the whole time.

CSC’s Twin Otter and PAC will be flying all week. Come jump the aircraft voted best in the industry by the readers of Blue Skies Magazine. We’ll be open at 9:00am every weekday and 7:00am on the weekend. Get here early and help us get load one off the ground!

We’ll also have some vendors in the house that week ready to let you demo gear, ask questions and organize jumps. SkyVenture Colorado, SunPath, Vigil, UPT and Aerodyne are confirmed.

Wednesday, July 4: Discount day for experienced jumpers. Any licensed skydiver can enjoy $18 jumps all day! We’ll also have RW organizer Lyle Presse here and Lee “Kiwi” Hamilton & Zach Sabel from SkyVenture Colorado to host a duck drop – each duck is $20 – take your chances as they’re dropped from the plane toward a target in the landing area. First, second and third place winners will be awarded free tunnel time! Stick around in the evening for night jumps and join us to watch the City of Rochelle fireworks show from the comfort of our landing area.

Thursday, July 5: Enjoy a full day of jumping and live music in the hangar at night. There will be great food, great people and all the fun you can handle.

Friday, July 6: We welcome RW organizer Sandy Grillet and freefly organizer Simon Bones to put together any kind of dive you want to do – be creative. Anything goes! That night, CSC’s own Jody Moore will DJ the party. Bring your dancing shoes.

Saturday, July 7: The SkyVan will be here for your jumping pleasure all day and all kinds of shenanigans are sure to ensue. We’ll have rafts, inflatable animals, Mr. Potato Heads, hula hoops and more to take to the sky. We’ve also confirmed a helicopter for the day, so join us for chopper jumps! That night is is the big party. We’ll have a live performance by Libido Funk Circus, Chicago’s premier dance party band!

Sunday, July 8: You have our permission to take it easy today since you will have partied so hard the night before. The Skyvan will be here for one more day of jumping and the SVCO boys will be organizing and coaching all day. They’ll also be selling discounted tunnel time – a boogie special. Be sure to stock up to save on your training this winter.

Monday, July 9: All boogie registrants can enjoy a one-day-only special: Buy 1 jump and get 1 free!  (as long as you made at least 10 jumps during the boogie)

REGISTER NOW for the Boogie to save. Pre-registration is $25, and walk-up price will be $30 once the event is underway. To pay for registration or to charge it to your dropzone account, please email: customercare@skydivecsc.com. Feel free to contact event coordinator Stephanie Davidson if you have any questions about the event.

We have plenty more awesome events coming up this season. You can always get information on our Facebook Events page and keep up with the latest CSC happenings on our fan page. The full events calendar for the season is also on our website.

Congratulations
Spencer Labunski: A-License
Forrest Hyler: A-License
Sabina Kotarba: A-License
Derek: A-License
Steven: A-License
Becky Johns: B-License and 100 jumps
Chase Dowd: 300 jumps
Kelsey Mizeur: 9,000 jumps