May Death Camp 2008 - A review and thank you
I wanted to take a moment to share a thank you letter to Tom Aiello for his May Death Camp 2008. I was one of the applicants chosen for the class. I did not know Tom before this class and did not know anyone that knew him at the time. I was impressed shortly after he accepted me to the class, when a rig and packing tools arrived shortly there after at my house. The tools were mine to keep, the rig a free loaner to practice packing and make some skydives on the canopy. It came with a packing video, base log, and reader for the class. Tom spent every waking hour with us during the 7 full days of the class. We made several jumps at 6 AM due to bad weather. He was motivated and the first one there every time. He spent extra time packing turn rigs and water round rigs for everyone. (as well as having extra rigs for the 5 students) He provided the class with water and juice every day on ice and never asked for anything in return. He asked for a meager $ 100 donation for a local charity in exchange for the class. During the class, Tom gave us a wealth of base information and told us keep an open mind about the why and how things were done. The knowledge he presented was thorough, intelligent and based on facts and historical data. After the class, I also purchased a container and canopy from Tom. The container needed some minor Velcro repair. He allowed me to have another container in the interim (a nicer one than the one I purchased), until mine was back from the rigger. I have called Tom a few times since, he answered every time and made time for me (as he does with anyone who calls with base specific questions I noticed). I was completely impressed with the training camp and I highly recommend it to anyone. I wanted to personally thank Tom for accepting me into the class and providing the highest level of training and support for me as a new jumper. With many thanks,
Paul D.