SkyDance Legal Fund (Landing Rights)
Donation protected
SkyDance SkyDiving is seeking help from our community to support us in creating a legal fund to defend our continued use of landing areas at the airport.
SkyDance SkyDiving has prided itself on its extensive, safe landing facilities for experienced and student skydivers alike. As more and more discount tandem dropzones appear, SkyDance has become the most important student parachutist training center in Northern California. Over the past few years, we have invested extensively into an entirely new fleet of student rigs, classrooms, & training materials. SkyDance supports various charitable causes and through them, has accommodated students with various handicaps in its mission to make skydiving accessible to all.
SkyDance SkyDiving is facing an existential landing rights issue for skydivers at Yolo County Airport. During the COVID-19 shutdown, the airport began a highly disputed construction project of a flood water retention pond in the area we have enjoyed as the student landing area for many decades. Knowing that the project was highly contested, they gave airport tenants less than a day's notice before beginning construction.
Within a few days, SkyDance was successful in obtaining a Temporary Restraining Order to halt construction. The airport ignored the TRO and accelerated construction until the court issued a second order. The county got away with this and are now asserting that the project is too close to completion to undo any of the work. This area is no longer usable as a student landing area.
SkyDance proposed several solutions, including burying the power lines that currently cross the field in order to place the student area at that location. Yolo County then stated that SkyDance never had rights to land parachutes at the airport and that the "landing area" referred to in our lease can only possibly mean the runway for our aircraft.
SkyDance is likely to win its rights to on-airport landings in court as the judge is very concerned with getting this issue right. After 30+ years of on-airport landings, we will not have our rights suddenly yanked away.
SkyDance also is likely to assert its rights through a Part 13 and/or 16 FAA complaint process. The airport has little understanding of its obligations to the FAA in return for receiving federal funding and has violated its contract by trying to prevent parachute landings. Unfortunately, the FAA complaint process takes 1-3 years to complete.
After a prolonged COVID-19 shutdown, SkyDance is rapidly depleting its resources in this lawsuit with 10s of thousands already spent on it. We are asking for donations from anyone who has enjoyed their time with us at SkyDance and stands up for continued safe use of the public airport.
Should any donated funds remain, we would like to donated them to the USPA's Airport Access & Defense Fund, so that our neighboring DZs in the community may have continued support with future airport issues.
Thank you for your Support!
SkyDance SkyDiving has prided itself on its extensive, safe landing facilities for experienced and student skydivers alike. As more and more discount tandem dropzones appear, SkyDance has become the most important student parachutist training center in Northern California. Over the past few years, we have invested extensively into an entirely new fleet of student rigs, classrooms, & training materials. SkyDance supports various charitable causes and through them, has accommodated students with various handicaps in its mission to make skydiving accessible to all.
SkyDance SkyDiving is facing an existential landing rights issue for skydivers at Yolo County Airport. During the COVID-19 shutdown, the airport began a highly disputed construction project of a flood water retention pond in the area we have enjoyed as the student landing area for many decades. Knowing that the project was highly contested, they gave airport tenants less than a day's notice before beginning construction.
Within a few days, SkyDance was successful in obtaining a Temporary Restraining Order to halt construction. The airport ignored the TRO and accelerated construction until the court issued a second order. The county got away with this and are now asserting that the project is too close to completion to undo any of the work. This area is no longer usable as a student landing area.
SkyDance proposed several solutions, including burying the power lines that currently cross the field in order to place the student area at that location. Yolo County then stated that SkyDance never had rights to land parachutes at the airport and that the "landing area" referred to in our lease can only possibly mean the runway for our aircraft.
SkyDance is likely to win its rights to on-airport landings in court as the judge is very concerned with getting this issue right. After 30+ years of on-airport landings, we will not have our rights suddenly yanked away.
SkyDance also is likely to assert its rights through a Part 13 and/or 16 FAA complaint process. The airport has little understanding of its obligations to the FAA in return for receiving federal funding and has violated its contract by trying to prevent parachute landings. Unfortunately, the FAA complaint process takes 1-3 years to complete.
After a prolonged COVID-19 shutdown, SkyDance is rapidly depleting its resources in this lawsuit with 10s of thousands already spent on it. We are asking for donations from anyone who has enjoyed their time with us at SkyDance and stands up for continued safe use of the public airport.
Should any donated funds remain, we would like to donated them to the USPA's Airport Access & Defense Fund, so that our neighboring DZs in the community may have continued support with future airport issues.
Thank you for your Support!
Organizer
Chris Peterson
Organizer
Davis, CA