New for 2019 - Articles by Dean Ricci

Back in 2008 I was flying for Skydive Temple, about 50 miles north of Austin Texas. That is where I met a fellow jump pilot by the name of Dean Ricci aka Princess. He was flying a Twin Otter for Chicagoland Skydiving Center, whom my DZ had leased the Twin Otter from. Dean and I have remained in contact over the years and he is now flying a Twin Otter for Skydive Dubai. He has logged over 9000 hours of flight time, 7000 of which is flying skydivers. He is also a tandem instructor with over 10,000 jumps.

Since I last saw him he has also started writing articles for Blue Skies Magazine. I also wrote an article for that magazine back in January 2015 and I plan on writing more for them in the near future. 

I have read all of Dean's articles over the years and I have found them to be entertaining and informative, and I am happy to announce that new for 2019, and with permission from Blue Skies Magazine, we will be featuring Dean's articles here on SkydiverDriver.com! We are excited to be adding his flavor to our site and we hope that you all enjoy the articles as well.


SkydiverDriver.com

14 Skydivers and Pilot survive emergency landing at Skydive Dubai

A Grand Caravan owned by Skydive Dubai with 14 Skydivers on-board crash landed at about 8am local time on Tuesday morning. The aircraft had just departed Skydive Dubai's Desert Campus when it was forced to land off runway on the side of a sand dune.

According to a statement released by Skydive Dubai, the airplane experienced a "technical problem shortly after it had taken off". Soon after the airplane crash landed, it became fully engulfed in flames and was a complete loss. Luckily none of the 14 Skydivers, nor the Pilot was injured during the accident.

The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has started its investigation as to the cause of the accident and will release a report when complete. We will post that report when it becomes available.

Skydive Empuria Brava and their Beech 99 with its new paint scheme

A nice shot of Skydive Empuria Brava, located in Girona Spain, and it's Beech 99 featuring it's fairly new paint scheme that matches it's parent company Skydive Dubai's pattern. Not visible, but painted on the belly of the Beech is, "Land of the Sky", the company's slogan. This airplane is reported to be the fastest climbing jump plane in Europe.

Skydive Empuria Brava also has a De Havilland Twin Otter (EC-ISV) and Pilatus Porter (EC-EMZ) which I'm sure are next in line for the paint shop. 

Empuria Brava, the largest Drop Zone in Europe, was purchased by Skydive Dubai in November 2012. The King of Swoop will be hosted by Empuria Brava end of July 2014.

Fast and Furious star Michelle Rodriguez goes skydiving in Dubai

 photo: Skydive Dubai

The actress Michelle Rodriguez definitely lived up to the title of one of her films and lived Fast and Furious by jumping out of an airplane at the ever popular Skydive Dubai. The host to more and more celebrity skydives. 

After attending the annual Dubai Beach Polo Cup with fellow F&F co-star Tyrese Gibson and retired football star Diego Maradona, Michelle headed off to the drop zone where she completed her skydive. She has been in Dubai UAE for the last few weeks filming the 7th Fast and Furious film. 

This was not a first time jump for Michelle, she went skydiving in 2006 at Skydive Perris in Southern California for G4TVs show "Icons".

Will Smith goes skydiving at Skydive Dubai

Will Smith and his two sons, Jaden and Trey, recently went skydiving at Skydive Dubai. His youngest son is only 15 years old, which would have been an issue at any U.S. drop zone. 

Although the U.S. government doesn't care how old a skydiver is, the state governments will not allow a parent to sign away the rights of a minor to sue. The USPA requires its member drop zones to only allow skydivers 18 years or older to jump. Now, considering that he is one of the most popular actors on the planet, I'm sure that more than a few drop zones in the U.S. would have surely risked getting sued in exchange for all of the publicity.  However, Mr. Smith decided to jump at Skydive Dubai instead.  Not a bad choice, considering that it is one of the largest, newest and most respected drop zones in the world.

Before skydiving with his sons and to feel more comfortable with his decision to let them jump, The Fresh Prince went skydiving a week prior with his old co-star Alfonso Riberio. He also got some wind tunnel time with the Crown Prince of Dubai.

Diving Porter at Skydive Dubai

A new season at Skydive Dubai started September 2nd!  If you're on the other side of the globe, be sure and check them out.  One of the nicest, if not THE nicest drop zones in the world!