Skydiving

Skydiving... Do I need to say any more? Ok, well now I have to say more.

This page is now here for historical reference. I told my self many years ago that I would be skydiving until my body no longer allowed me to continue. Well that day finally came in the Spring of 2005... I have retired.

My one TV moment of fame (while skydiving) came in March of 2001:

Here's a picture from the filming of "Understanding", that was aired on The Learning Channel (TLC) on March 23, 2001 at 10:00pm East Coast Time (and repeated at 1:00am). "Dude" is the student (red jumpsuit); Brian O'Neil is the camera man (out front, white/green jumpsuit); Benny Sherman is the Instructor on the near side (white suit, black/blue rig); I'm the Instructor on the far side (white suit, burgundy/grey rig). Picture is by the 2nd cameraman (Chris Noel). Dude decided to not open his parachute... ok, he didn't NOT decide... he just had a serious case of sensory overload... as on lots of other first time student jumps, I opened it for him... for my reward, he embarrassed the hell out of me by kissing me on the cheek on national television, while telling me (as in the Budweiser commercial), "I love you MAN!... thanks for not letting me die."

For historical purposes:

I started by making 3 jumps in November 1985, then I took the winter and spring off. That's because I knew that I would have a part time job in the summer that would help me pay the rest of the training. So, I started again in June 1986, and have not really stopped since. Over the years, I held a few instructional ratings and positions from the United States Parachute Association (USPA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA):

Prior ratings:

	USPA Accelerated Freefall (AFF) Instructor / Examiner.
	USPA Safety and Training Advisor (S&TA) for Skydive The Point and West Point Skydiving Adventures.
	Skydive The Point Club Safety Officer (Board Member)
	FAA Senior Parachute Rigger

	USPA Tandem Instructor / Examiner [Strong rated].
	USPA Static Line Instructor / Examiner.

Grand totals tallied as of my self-imposed retirement:

	3615 jumps
	53:15:30 [hr:min:sec] of cumulative freefall time

Also as of retirement, I personally put out of the plane:

2179 students... consisting of:

	695 AFF students,
	462 Tandem students,
	922 Static Line program students.

I also worked at a few DZs (skydiving centers) through the years... Here's a list of places I've worked... starting from the oldest (Atlanta Skydiving Center) and going up until retirement (West Point Skydiving Adventures). (I've jumped at many more places than I've worked, but I can't remember all of those... plus it would be a long, boring list.... So, I'll just list the ones that I can remember working at .... even if just briefly):

1986-1989: Atlanta Skydiving Center in Jenkinsburg, GA -- for those old enough to remember it, this was "Billy World" -- it's now defunct... The above link shows where the runway USED to be... the old dirt runway used to run parallel to (and to the right of) the paved road... of course, back then, the road was not paved either!!! If you look closely, you can see the outline of the pea gravel pit in the middle of the picture.

1987-1989: Tennessee Skydiving Center in Tullahoma, Tenn. (WAY back when, this DZ was an extension of the Atlanta Skydiving Center... now, it's owned by someone else).

1989-1990: Freefall Ranch, Warm Springs, Ga. -- for those old enough to remember it, this was the place owned and operated by Banks and Debbie Brazell -- also now defunct.

1990-1993: Skydive Suffolk, Inc. (at "Grasso" and Suffolk Airport)

1993-1995: Skydive! West Point (Thanks for everything Dave and Ruth... you are still missed... Blue Skies, dudes.)... (here is the airport)

1995: Skydive! Virginia (just did a few tandems here and there)

1996-2000: West Point Skydiving Center (here is the airport)

2000-2005: West Point Skydiving Adventures

Here's a link to Skydive The Point...

Email: d.d.boyd@cox.net

Last updated: 03/28/2009 03:33:56 PM