Skydive recommends

[Blueontop]

Interested in trying a skydive in the GTA, looking for a place that’s recommended based on price and overall experience? I know of skydive Toronto but I see them a scabs of the industry selling C-182 “type ratings” so don’t want to give them any of my money.

[porcsord]

Just book 737-Max flights, request the aisle with the plug, and wait.

Seriously though, good on you for not giving that wretched outfit the time of day.

[pavcho]

skydive burnaby

[bodyflyer2]

There's no bad place to go in the GTA region, to be warned away from.

A smaller place can be less impersonal. But whether at a big or small school, on busy days one can wait a long time to go up, as everyone tries to max out their students and keep the planes in use as much as possible.

Skydive Toronto (Innisfil) is certainly the biggest, running 2 Caravans when it is busiest.
SWOOP (north of Hamilton) is perhaps the smallest.
There's also Skydive Ontario (Cayuga) and Skydive Niagara (Dunnville).
Skydive Burnaby is indeed a nice place, a happy medium in terms of size.

(Guess I'm being pretty even handed here, as I've jumped at and have friends at all of the DZs...)

One can also look for what aircraft one will use -- as it might be a piston single like the ubiquitous C-182, or a turbine like a Cessna Caravan, that will go higher (say, 12.5k vs. 10.5k). But even the bigger DZ's with turbine aircraft won't necessarily be running them all the time, so if one comes on a slow day one might be going out of smaller piston aircraft.

[Dwightsune]

I’ve heard good things about Skydive Burnaby—it’s not too big, so it feels a bit more personal, but still super professional.
The type of plane can make a difference too. Turbines like the Caravans go higher, which gives you more freefall time, but on slower days, even the bigger places might use smaller planes.
When I started skydiving, I didn’t really think about stuff like that, but it’s fun to pay attention to the details once you’re hooked. If you ever decide to keep going and get into your own gear, https://skydiveshop.com is worth checking out.

[Airspeed Addict]

My recommendation (as a Skydiving Instructor with 1000's of jumps) for your first one, and potentially you're only one, go to a place that's going to offer a combination of beautiful scenery, and a larger aircraft. A Caravan or Twin Otter/King Air are going to offer you a jump from a higher altitude and also provide a bit more comfort on the ride up. It's one of the most surreal experiences of your entire life so invest in it accordingly.

[albertdesalvo]

My recommendation.... for your first one, and potentially your only one

If your chute fails to open, it will indeed be your only one!

[Airspeed Addict]

My recommendation.... for your first one, and potentially your only one

If your chute fails to open, it will indeed be your only one!

My chute has "failed" to open 7 times, and I did 2000 more jumps after that so..

[albertdesalvo]

Picky picky, I could have made "chute" plural. <assuming Foghorn Leghorn voice> "It's a joke, son!"

[digits_]

My recommendation.... for your first one, and potentially your only one

If your chute fails to open, it will indeed be your only one!

My chute has "failed" to open 7 times, and I did 2000 more jumps after that so..

This is likely going off topic, but I'm very curious: what happens in case of a chute failure once you're back on the ground? Do you have to get the chute inspected, do you have to throw it out, do you just go up and try again? Does it need to be reported to anyone?

[Airspeed Addict]

If your chute fails to open, it will indeed be your only one!

My chute has "failed" to open 7 times, and I did 2000 more jumps after that so..

This is likely going off topic, but I'm very curious: what happens in case of a chute failure once you're back on the ground? Do you have to get the chute inspected, do you have to throw it out, do you just go up and try again? Does it need to be reported to anyone?

Thread drift is common

There's a lot of factors that come into play, Students or novice jumpers who have next to no experience might have trouble identifying something that's relatively minor and easily rectifiable.

Experienced jumpers who start jumping very high performance parachutes have a higher likelyhood of their canopy spinning up on opening, which is sometimes next to in possible to un-spin.

If i'm doing a tandem (paying customer attached to the front of me) my risk tolerance becomes extremely know compared to if i'm jumping my own personal equipment - I might opt to cutaway my main parachute for my reserve over something relatively small that I otherwise wouldn't on my personal gear for the sake of knowing i'm going to make it back to the primary landing area instead of landing in a field somewhere near by and rolling the customers ankle in a gopher hole.

In the end, IF the canopy is retrieved (sometimes they are lost) then it's usually inspected for any damage before being re-assembled. The majority of the times the damage actually comes from being pee'd on by some animal or left exposed under direct sunlight for a few days - very rarely is there actually damage as a result of the malfunction itself.

A common misnomer that is always reported by the media is "the parachute failed to open" for their lack of education, they assume that is the only viable cause for someone to get injured or die in the sport.

Parachutes always open - sometimes they open tricky, but the majority (like 95%) of injuries or fatalities that happen in skydiving actually occur under a fully functioning parachute and is often as result of pilot error (just like aviation).

[digits_]

My chute has "failed" to open 7 times, and I did 2000 more jumps after that so..

This is likely going off topic, but I'm very curious: what happens in case of a chute failure once you're back on the ground? Do you have to get the chute inspected, do you have to throw it out, do you just go up and try again? Does it need to be reported to anyone?

Thread drift is common

There's a lot of factors that come into play, Students or novice jumpers who have next to no experience might have trouble identifying something that's relatively minor and easily rectifiable.

Experienced jumpers who start jumping very high performance parachutes have a higher likelyhood of their canopy spinning up on opening, which is sometimes next to in possible to un-spin.

If i'm doing a tandem (paying customer attached to the front of me) my risk tolerance becomes extremely know compared to if i'm jumping my own personal equipment - I might opt to cutaway my main parachute for my reserve over something relatively small that I otherwise wouldn't on my personal gear for the sake of knowing i'm going to make it back to the primary landing area instead of landing in a field somewhere near by and rolling the customers ankle in a gopher hole.

In the end, IF the canopy is retrieved (sometimes they are lost) then it's usually inspected for any damage before being re-assembled. The majority of the times the damage actually comes from being pee'd on by some animal or left exposed under direct sunlight for a few days - very rarely is there actually damage as a result of the malfunction itself.

A common misnomer that is always reported by the media is "the parachute failed to open" for their lack of education, they assume that is the only viable cause for someone to get injured or die in the sport.

Parachutes always open - sometimes they open tricky, but the majority (like 95%) of injuries or fatalities that happen in skydiving actually occur under a fully functioning parachute and is often as result of pilot error (just like aviation).

Interesting! Are the incidents recorded somewhere to determine if brand A or brand B has an abnormal amount of incidents? Leading to intervention from the regulators, such as SBs or ADs?

[Airspeed Addict]

This is likely going off topic, but I'm very curious: what happens in case of a chute failure once you're back on the ground? Do you have to get the chute inspected, do you have to throw it out, do you just go up and try again? Does it need to be reported to anyone?

Thread drift is common

There's a lot of factors that come into play, Students or novice jumpers who have next to no experience might have trouble identifying something that's relatively minor and easily rectifiable.

Experienced jumpers who start jumping very high performance parachutes have a higher likelyhood of their canopy spinning up on opening, which is sometimes next to in possible to un-spin.

If i'm doing a tandem (paying customer attached to the front of me) my risk tolerance becomes extremely know compared to if i'm jumping my own personal equipment - I might opt to cutaway my main parachute for my reserve over something relatively small that I otherwise wouldn't on my personal gear for the sake of knowing i'm going to make it back to the primary landing area instead of landing in a field somewhere near by and rolling the customers ankle in a gopher hole.

In the end, IF the canopy is retrieved (sometimes they are lost) then it's usually inspected for any damage before being re-assembled. The majority of the times the damage actually comes from being pee'd on by some animal or left exposed under direct sunlight for a few days - very rarely is there actually damage as a result of the malfunction itself.

A common misnomer that is always reported by the media is "the parachute failed to open" for their lack of education, they assume that is the only viable cause for someone to get injured or die in the sport.

Parachutes always open - sometimes they open tricky, but the majority (like 95%) of injuries or fatalities that happen in skydiving actually occur under a fully functioning parachute and is often as result of pilot error (just like aviation).

Interesting! Are the incidents recorded somewhere to determine if brand A or brand B has an abnormal amount of incidents? Leading to intervention from the regulators, such as SBs or ADs?

It is if the issue was determined to be fault of the equipment and not that of pilot incurred. For instance - line twists are a natural result of material being introduced to highspeed airflow - it doesn't have anything to do with the equal type or design of the equipment itself.

If a parachute suspension line broke during opening, and the manufactory recommends the lines be replaced every 500 jumps and the line that broke had 800 jumps on it, it's not really reportable to the manufacturer as the item was being used beyond it's limitations BUT if it was a bran new lineset with no jumps and the equipment was being used within the design paramters then yes, reported.

Outside of the manufacturers, it skydiving centre usually has it's own internal tracking system that shares their findings with the Governing body of the sport that tracks ALL incidents regardless if it is equipment related or not as a general point to measure as many parameters as possible. The sport is heavily regulated by both manufactures and governing authority to mitigate risk and maximize safety, all equipment is TSO'd and certified for use by FAA/TCCA/CASA etc.

[2R]

You only need a parachute , if you want to make a second skydive

[2R]

Seen in for sale ad ;
Parachute for sale never opened , slight staining

[bodyflyer2]

Interesting! Are the incidents recorded somewhere to determine if brand A or brand B has an abnormal amount of incidents? Leading to intervention from the regulators, such as SBs or ADs?

I wondered how I'd answer questions about skydiving, regulation, and safety so here is a rather long go at it. (Airspeed Addict had a reasonable take on things too.)

For incidents, it is a fairly informal system in most cases, compared to "big aviation". Most malfunctions and problems are run of the mill stuff. In Canada if at a CSPA (Canadian Sport Parachuting Association), one should technically write up an Accident/Incident/Malfunction report for the organization, and that does happen but not all the time unless it is for unusual or serious situations. If something unusual is happening, sure, people will also report to manufacturers. Actual Airworthiness Directives are very rare in the US or Canada though, even though the harness/container, and the reserve parachute, are TSO'd components in most cases. (TSO not required for Canadian companies building gear for Canadian use, but it is mandatory in the US). The main canopies are not certified in any way.

Feedback about issues is typically through manufacturers issuing bulletins. Maybe some item went out the factory door with a manufacturing error, or there's an unanticipated issue with some new design. Actual fatalities due to errors in gear design or construction are extremely rare though. (Same with cars -- Plenty of crashes due to some combination of driver & weather & traffic, few due to the gas tank blowing up or steering wheel jamming.) Organizations like the CSPA or the USPA (U.S. Parachute Association) or the PIA (Parachute Industries Association) might also put out occasional notices, and they publish year-end safety summaries & analyses.

Skydiving has also become a lot more responsible over the decades, as dropzones have become bigger, more established, and more money invested, going from say a single C-180 in the old days to sometimes multiple turbine aircraft.

Admittedly there are always Transport Canada rules that don't always mesh well with how the community works. For example: Skydivers all buckle up these days, unlike in the dangerous '70s when it was rare. It took decades (including some big US accidents in the 1990's) to get skydiving into that safety mind set. Still, it is common for some jumpers to not be buckled in during taxi... yeah yeah TC says you have to be during movement on the ground. But for skydiving aircraft, the dropzone wants to keep expensive engine hours down, absolutely minimizing cycle time for each load of jumpers. So the moment everyone is inside, the aircraft may start taxiing, while jumpers are still strapping in, or making sure their students are strapped in and taken care of first.

In another example, a standard skydiving altitude for some forms of competition and many jumps in general, is 12,500' above ground. But for many DZ's in Ontario through Alberta, located at more than 500' MSL, now you're going to be flying above 13,000', where you need oxygen aboard for crew and all passengers, even if not used. (If I recall correctly.) Skydiving aircraft rarely have oxygen aboard, except for special cases. In the USA, they have exemptions for this sort of thing, for brief excursions to slightly higher altitudes. But we never got it here in Canada, unlike, say, the ELT exemption for flight within 25nm of your takeoff point. So it has been a regular occurrence, even at national skydiving championships, to have broken the air regs.

Skydiving safety still relies a lot on jumpers taking responsibility and making use of community knowledge. E.g, "You've got a B licence solo jumper trying out sitflying, followed by a 2-way head down, followed by a 3-way tracking group with a newer backtracking leader, on a day with high upper winds. What key safety points would you want to make sure the jumpers fully understand?" (I won't start answering that here!)

Had a malfunction of your main parachute?
Probably just luck of the draw. Also influenced by poorer or sloppy packing. Or indeed incorrect usage. The media might report "The parachute failed!" when it was really "The novice packed his pilot chute incorrectly which led to him being unable to deploy the main parachute, before having to use the reserve parachute."

Malfunction chances will depend on the type of canopy. A big docile student canopy will have much lower chances of malfunctioning than a small, sensitive, high performance canopy under one third the size. So for example, if due to luck with airflow as the canopy extracts from the container, a student canopy opens with twists in the lines (which really means, the parachute had spun around relative to the jumper), that should be no big deal for a first jump student to fix. They are trained to fix that minor issue. But on a high performance canopy that might be jumped by someone with 1000+ jumps (if they are into such high speed canopies), one would be lucky if it doesn't become a malfunction. If anything isn't quite even, because of its sensitive aerodynamics, soon the canopy will start spiralling earthward in a fast dive.

What happens after a malfunction?
For the equipment, start by finding the parts, like the main canopy that was likely jettisoned and drifted off into a field or tree (d'oh!), or buy replacement parts (like for a dropped ripcord handle). Ideally, write up one of those incident reports. The reserve will be inspected (as it always is before packing), and repacked by a licenced parachute rigger. Likely during the next week when the rigger (who is likely also an active jumper) has time. You can pack your own main canopy up in 10 minutes; the reserve canopy inspection & repack can take two hours, each pack being recorded on a card that stays with the parachute rig.

Having a malfunction isn't a big deal. At least not in general. It usually is a big deal to the jumper who hasn't had one before. There's usually a lot of trepidation about one's first time, and a lot of relief afterwards. Didn't have my first actual canopy malfunction until jump #1998. A main canopy might malfunction like 1 in 1000 jumps (or more often), but that includes bad packing, wear and tear over hundreds or even thousands of jumps, user error in deployment, and high performance canopies. A reserve canopy, who knows, but they are much much more reliable -- due to design, lack of wear, and very careful packing (not thrown together in a rush to get on the next plane load!).

Skydiving isn't as regulated as other 'regular' aviation, but there certainly is some. Government regulation exists for the gear (TSO's in the USA), in airspace rules of course, and on the aircraft operations -- e.g, part 702 Airwork I think in Canada, a company having an Operations Manual & Maintenance Control Manual, etc. The actual skydiving operations though, they are only regulated by volunteer organizations like the CSPA or USPA. So while they do have all sorts of safety rules, and student programs, and licences & ratings for jumpers & coaches & instructors, they don't have their own inspectors to check all the time. Dropzones still do naturally try to follow the rules.

Skydiving isn't always well understood by outsiders, and that's not helped by the simplistic and factually erroneous news reports of accidents.

While skydiving gear isn't nearly as complex as aircraft, safety procedures & equipment knowledge are still something learned from the beginning, and that whole ethos of having to be ready for emergency procedures on any flight. Yet it is also about having fun, so jumpers are often trying to push their skills a little, and there's a bit more of the yahoo factor -- The type of thing that has slowly been reduced in commercial aviation over the decades. We do have a little more freedom to go do something exciting that might kill us. Still, we have a responsibility to other skydivers in the air as well.

[digits_]

Thank you very much!

Love the yahoo factor

[AirThomson]

+1 for Skydive Ontario

"Ontario's most badass dropzone"

If you come in 2025, I'll be your pilot