Aloha,

We hope that everyone enjoyed a wonderful holiday season and is back to your normal freefall weight. Skydive Hawaii is looking forward to a wonderful 2007.   We extend our wishes for your every success in the new year and for more peace in the world this year.

We have enjoyed having Sascha Schlindler, Tom Deacon, Marc Heise and Tommy Sammis working here this winter. Tom has been a great asset to the Freefall School student program and we’re going to have to get 2 AFF Jumpmasters to fill his shoes. Ben Mason has taken advantage of his recent separation from military service to begin jumping as a freefall videographer.

Evan Whitlock and Aaron Comp should be rejoining our staff this spring. Rick Cain, who has given many years of service in both freefall videography and tandem instruction, will begin working part time this Spring. Kelly Keeney has joined our mechanic staff, just missing the winter storms that hit the Mid-west US mainland.

We have recently made a change in our aircraft loading procedures. The aircraft, which has its next group of jumpers, will move into the boarding area. Aircraft waiting for jumpers will hold short and not make jumpers walk past spinning propellers.

European jumpers have been a nice addition to Skydive Hawaii this winter. They have done student training and helped to fill loads. We hope that this group of jumpers is the seeds for even more Europeans to come to Hawaii next winter.

All of our jumps are authorized to land at Dillingham Airfield. The Polo Field has been used as an alternate drop zone for many years. The cooperation of the owners of the Polo Field is based on the skydivers using care when landing not to scare horses or riders. Passing the Polo Field and opting for a beach landing is not a good idea.  Unless you have made prior arrangements, any landings off the designated landing areas have not approved by the landowner. Several sport jumpers have been hurt in the last year by trying to make it past the Polo Field.

The Outpost library has begun and started to grow. Grasshopper has provided several good books on space and the space program. They also added to our model collection with Spaceship One, Saturn V and STS models. The COM station in the Outpost is available for most digital communications and the Mars Rover Simulation program.

The Pitts S2-B is back in the air! Honolulu Soaring has secured a new lease on this wonderful aerobatic aircraft. After your jump, either the Pitts or an ultra-light flight lesson is a great addition to your Dillingham Airfield itinerary that you won’t soon forget.

Praying for our world at peace,