Want to sky dive?
For more information, visit www.teamfastrax.org or www.startskydiving.com.
MIDDLETOWN — Hook Field Airport was bustling Saturday, Sept. 4, with sky diving, corn hole, basketball, music and fireworks.
As part of the Work Stinks Boogie, planes holding eager instructors and sky divers continually took off — from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. — for an elevation higher than 13,000 feet.
The Boogie is organized by Start Skydiving and Team Fastrax, both of Middletown. It started Wednesday and ends today.
“It’s a full-throttle activity,” instructor Clint Leighton said. “I’ve seen everything from nervous, happy, excited to getting sick.”
The event is in its third year, but this was the first year at Hook Field, 1707 Run Way. The event was previously in Warren County.
Start Skydiving instructor David Strobel, a Team Fastrax member, said sky divers come from all around the region and Canada.
Strobel said at a cost of $198, thousands will jump by the end of Sunday — some multiple times.
Leighton said for him, an average day ranges up to 15 jumps.
Sky diving experience was 'quiet, peaceful’
In a room full of sky divers — amateur or otherwise — the excitement and thrill that ran through their veins was contagious.
A poster reading “Experience the thrill,” didn’t quite say it all.
“I’ve been wanting to do this 15 years,” said Chris Haynes, Hamilton resident and now skydiver. “It’s quiet, peaceful and gorgeous (up there). It’s like no other feeling you’ve ever had.”
For Haynes’ 40th birthday, Karan Engelkamp and her husband bought him the time of his life.
Engelkamp and Haynes sky dived out of the same plane Saturday, Sept. 4, as part of Work Stinks Boogie — a collection of simultaneous sky divers put on by Start Skydiving and Fastrax Skydiving Team at Hook Field Airport, 1707 Run Way.
Haynes said at a balloon festival in 2008, he saw Fastrax in action and started talking about it with friends.
“I started my bucket list early,” Haynes said. “We’ll be back.”
The five-day event, which began Wednesday and runs until today, attracts thousands of eager jumpers. As of Saturday evening, instructor David Strobel said only one man had broken a leg after landing improperly away from the group.
For anyone who wants to sky dive today, it’s $198 per jump. No reservations are necessary, but it’s recommended you arrive early. The event starts at 7 a.m.
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