SkyDive Arizona

SkyDive Arizona is advertised as the largest skydiving center in the world...we were told by numerous RV Park residents that we had to drive to Eloy, AZ and check it out, so on Friday, Feb 10th we drove the 20 or so miles to Eloy and watched the skydivers...it was amazing!
    SkyDive Arizona is a training facility for individual and team skydivers...they also offer tandem jumps with an instructor for those brave enough to jump out of a plane at 13,000 feet, free-fall for one minute, then deploy the parachute and glide to earth.  (Neither of the Jax's were up for that!) 

 Also on site is a freefall simulator...that looked to be more fun! The simulator generates wind speeds of up to 120 miles per hour in an enclosed chamber...you gear up, step into the chamber, and experience the "free-fall" sensation, suspended a couple feet above the floor of the chamber.  We were able to watch several individuals, including a group of young children, use the simulator.

 The fields and simulator are often used for military training.  The day we visited there was a group of about 20 members of the Royal Air Force from England doing practice jumps.

We spent a couple hours there watching the jumpers glide to earth...at times there would be a dozen or more in the sky at once, all with colorful jumpsuits & parachutes.  Everyone we watched made a safe landing!