Are All Skydiving Centers the Same?

Choosing A Skydiving Center is Trickier Than it Seems, Isn’t It?

Once you start to look at the details, the seemingly simple task of picking a perfectly good airplane to abandon becomes a lot more subtle. You’ll find that there are massive differences in the tandem skydiving experience between dropzones, and we’re here to explain them to you. Here goes.

1. What Gets You Up There Is A Big Deal. 

At most dropzones, you’ll see the same airplane toodling down the tarmac: a four-seater Cessna 182. These little guys are workhorses–economical to run and easy to maintain–but they’re slow, rattly, altitude-limited and about as comfortable as the backseat of a Volkswagon beetle…that’s already full of luggage and passengers. Meh, right?  

The star of the show over here is our flagship aircraft: a Super Grand Caravan 850 Blackhawk. If you’re not an aircraft geek, no worries–the upshot is that it’s the very best skydiving plane in the sky. It’s lightning-fast, comfy, smooth and spacious enough to fit you and your super-stoked friends on a single load. (The plane’s excellent safety characteristics are, like, icing on the cake.)

2. How Far “Up There” You Get Is Also A Big Deal.

Y’know those cute little Cessnas we mentioned earlier? Yep. Those. They little-engine-that-could their way up to just over 10,000 feet. Our Super Grand Caravan rockets up to 18,000 feet.

If you’re wondering, the math goes like this: from 10,000 feet, you’d freefall for a little more than 30 seconds; from 18,000 feet, it’s about 90. That’s some pretty sweet value.

3. The Skill Level Of The Camera Guys (and Gals) Varies Pretty Widely From Dropzone To Dropzone.

Are you ready for your close-up? ‘Cause beyond our fantastic, eminently experienced tandem instructors, we have even more superhero staff at Skydive Tecumseh: They’re our freefall camera team, and they are good. They’re available to leap out alongside you, capturing your entire freefall experience from a nearby spot in the sky in high-resolution video and still images.

Your tandem instructor can get “inside video,” too, from a camera attached to the back of his/her hand, so you’ll get an even closer look at your wonderment (and you won’t miss a moment of that canopy flight, either).

4. In Some Places, The Safety Culture Is Nonexistent. (gulp.)

A lot of dropzones pay just enough lip service to safety to look good on paper. At Skydive Tecumseh, however, we really walk the walk. First off: we’re regulated by the United States Parachute Association (USPA), an organization which sets and regulates strict safety protocols for all its member dropzones. Secondly, we rigorously update our equipment and training procedures to keep everyone safe in the sky.

Thirdly–and, arguably, most importantly–we care. Our instructors are deeply passionate about introducing new jumpers to the joy of this sport, and they can’t do that if you aren’t secure in the knowledge that you’re safe in our hands.

5. A Warm Welcome (and A Strong Community) Brightens The Whole Experience.

Skydive Tecumseh is Michigan’s number-one longest running drop zone. If that seems like an unimportant factoid, think again: it means we’ve had more than 45 years to build a fantastic facility and collect a friendly crowd of happy skydivers to welcome you into our gregarious “skyfamily.”

Choosing a skydiving center, after all, isn’t just about the experience in the air–as you’ll find out, it’s all about the new friends who share this unique experience with you. Bring a picnic and hang out with us for the day. You’ll be glad you did!