News from Bird's Paradise
24 April 2010—Lots happened these past few weeks, but the big news is the Cessna 206 has cleared all hurdles and is now undergoing a routine annual inspection. We should be flying in about two weeks!
We also owe a late welcome to a group of regular skydivers now jumping at Bird's Paradise from Udon Thani. Mr. Kai made his first tandem jump at Children's Day and is now more than halfway through his license training! He continues to bring more friends from Udon, some of whom have made five or six jumps already. It's always fun when his group is around, which seems to be most weekends now.
And THIS JUST IN! Work is almost complete on the new landing area that increases the drop zone by more than 500 percent! We now definitely have the largest landing area in Asia, including a delicious swoop pond. To give you an idea, this area was originally going to be a 9-hole golf course. However another course is planning to open in the area, so the skydivers get it all!
7 March 2010—The Sakhon Nakhon Regional MX meet was a huge success. Two days of maniacal madness and some of the best people you'll ever meet and see in "Unseen Thailand." Neighbors lined the fields to watch the spectacle. Congratulations to Ms. Bird, Mr. Boy, and all the Bird's Paradise and Toyota staff on such an outstanding event.
4 March 2010—Mechanically our Cessna 206 is ready to fly! We are in the transfer process and will keep you updated with any news of when we think it will be able to fly. 
As everyone knows, the job is never finished until the paperwork is done. So far, however, everyone who has seen the plane has remarked about what good condition it's in both inside and out.
3 March 2010—Laurent Reuling and his group from Poland departed on Monday for points south after an amazing four days. They practiced freefly from the C-172 (nine loads per day) and swam in the evenings. When the RTAF asked for the airspace to practice, we all took to the mountains on ATVs and mountain bikes for riding, trekking, and a picnic by the lake. It all ended with a romantic barbecue dinner at The Rotunda.
16 February 2010—What a great week! Work is underway to get the motocross track ready for the big meet, and they're practicing almost everyday now. Skydiving all week with Danniel Lee and friends Michelle (hottie!) and Yakhim from Singapore, joined by Jack to finish the advanced canopy course with Kevin, and Nathan from Siam Reap for refresher training. Kevin's nephew Gabriel, visiting from Korea, made his first tandem. Also a first tandem with a friend of the family from Sakhon Nakorn and a promise of many to come. Michelle and Yakhim are now fully qualified solo skydivers. On Friday, Nathan made his first demonstration jump into Ban Chiang! We finished the week with a teambuilding group of 100 from Sakhon Nakorn Honda challenging the adventure course.
30 January 2010—A successful day of mountain biking at Phu Pa Lek for local resident Mr. Simon and his nephew Joe visiting from England. They climbed the mountain both ways and rode the remaining 40 km back to Sawangdandin!
22 January 2010—Famous Thai rapper Jo-E-Boy returned for advanced training toward his USPA skydiving license. He is already jumping without an instructor.
Joining him on Monday through Friday were Singapore magician Jack Seit, along with staff instructor Danniel Lee and his student Calin from Singapore. Calin is one jump behind Joey Boy, but she bought her own custom Bird's Paradise jumpsuit, delivered three days after she was measured.
14 January 2010—A successful and very extreme tour on mountain bikes of Khammouane Province, Laos across the Mekong River from Nakorn Phanom, Thailand. Three amazing days through wild mountains, including a motorized canoe passage from village to village in a cave on a 7.5 km underground river. Congratulations to Mark Kruse on his first screaming technical downhill!
9-10 January 2010—Successful Children's Day jumps in Udon Thani from the tailgate CASA 212 Aviocar, including a good canopy formation display by Mark and Ben. Mr. Boy took video, Ms. Bird took some good friends and supporters tandem jumping both Saturday and Sunday, and Mr. Pow and his wife organized, along with other friends from the Thai sport and police skydiving community. Ms. Dew is back in the air after the arrival of little Alistair.
8 January 2010—Happy birthday to Mr. Geir and what a throw-down for him and his bungalow resort guests at The Rotunda. Woody and Mark Kruse spinning, with Boy at the bar. Three days partying with Norwegians and Thais is not a bad way to kick off a new year!
7 January 2010—Bidding farewell to Laurent and family after three days of skydiving and ATV adventures in Phu Pha Lek.
29 December 2009—Congratulations to Mr. Sven and his wife, Giap, on their tandem skydives and a wonderful day of firsts! Little four-year-old Piryut enjoyed her day, too, on the trampoline and then in the Technam P-92 ultralight. Nice visits from local pilots, and Bird's Paradise Cafe was busy all afternoon.
25 December 2009—Merry Christmas to Mr. Kiat and Ms. Bird, who unloadeded the Cessna 206 purchased for skydiving. We’ll keep you posted on progress for approval to fly here in Thailand.
21 December 2009—Congratulations to Mr. Takashi Taneichi of Japan for successful completion of the USPA Tandem Instructor Rating Course! He will be training tandem students at his home drop zone in Tokyo.