Gold Coast
SKYdiversModern sport for modern people

Mike Igo
Drop Zone Owner, AFF Instructor, Tandem Instructor

Mike made his first jump when he joined the U.S. Marines in 1969. He opened Gold Coast Skydivers in April of 1993 "We care about our jumpers regardless of experience level. We give excellent service to everyone. Our job is to teach new students how to skydive and we take that seriously. We also cater to the experienced skydiver. We are very proud of Gold Coast Skydivers." Mike has a D license, he is a world record holder for the largest vertical CRW stack (23-way) in 1985, and still standing.

Leanne Igo
Drop Zone Manager, Freefall Coach, Manifest

Leanne started jumping in 1998  and has made over 400 jumps. She is a C license holder and a coach. She was in the Air Force 10 years but got stationed in Mississippi and fell in love with the people at Gold Coast and decided to call it home. Leanne says "the thing she likes most about Gold Coast is the people are like her family and no one is a stranger. No matter how many jumps you have or what your skydiving preference is, you are welcome just the same."

Lynette Muller
AFF Instructor, Videographer, Freefall Coach

Lynette Muller, originally from South Africa, began jumping 6 years ago. She is a "D" license jumper with over 960 jumps to her credit. Lynette began working as a videographer about a year ago and has provided first time jumpers the thrill of seeing themselves in freefall. Lynette loves working with students and providing them with footage of their "thrill of a lifetime". The thing she likes about Gold Coast..."the friendly, laid back atmosphere and lots of work!"

J. Michael Brown “Mike”
Senior Rigger, Gear Sales

Mike caters to all the needs of the skydiver: both new and used equipment, and rigging services as well. An experienced skydiver as well, Mike also began the AFF program at Gold Coast Skydivers in 1995. " Our staff is USPA qualified and caters to your needs. Good camaraderie and a great aircraft bring our jumpers back time and time again. I can take care of all your skydiving needs and have exceptionally good prices on all my equipment."

Bryan Buechler
Tandem Master, USPA Coach, Military Freefall Instructor, Videographer, Safety and Training Advisor

Bryan started jumping in 1989 and now has over 6,000 jumps. He is one of the leading canopy pilots in the sport of skydiving and truly enjoys passing his knowledge and expertise on to up and coming jumpers. Bryan states "I enjoy the camaraderie and family feel at Gold Coast Skydivers."

Joe Courtney
AFF Instructor, Videographer, Freefall Coach, Tandem Instructor

 

Joe began skydiving with Gold Coast Skydivers in April 2005. Joe is a true Jack of All Trades who enjoys a challenge which is why he started skydiving.  He said, "I start something new, become proficient at it, and then move on to new things.  Skydiving seems to be just what I needed to break that trend because the learning curve is so long that I may just never make it to the point of moving on." 

 

What does Joe say about Gold Coast Skydivers? "I couldn’t ask for a better place or group of people to pursue my new interests with."

Paul Cozic
AFF Instructor, Tandem Instructor, USPA Coach Course Director, Parachute Rigger

Paul has been skydiving for 11 years and has made over 2400 jumps.  Of those 2400 jumps, 1200 have been as a Tandem Instructor and 300 as an AFF Instructor.  He holds high altitude records in both Mississippi and Tennessee and has acquired his Pro rating to go along with his Instructor ratings.  Paul's experience ensures every student's questions are addressed and his or her fear of the unknown is put at ease.  "Skydiving is easy!  It's all about relaxing, smiling and having fun.  Fear is usually of the unknown.  Once you teach a student all that is going to happen, their fear goes away and is replaced by exhiliration."  The things Paul likes most about Gold Coast is "the professionalism of the staff and their safety consciousness".

Ben Crowell
Chief Tandem Instructor, Vector Tandem Course Director, Master Parachute Rigger, Safety and Training Advisor, Freefall Coach

Ben is currently entering his 20th year as a skydiver and has accumulated over 2500 jumps during that time.  He has over 1300 tandem jumps, 30 night jumps and 25 CRW jumps to his credit.  He also holds the record for the highest tandem jump, 30,000 feet, as well as the high altitude record in Tennessee and the POPS high altitude record in Mississippi.  Ben is a Senior Chief in the USCG and carries that professionalism over to dealing with students on the weekends at Gold Coast Skydivers.  The things Ben likes most about Gold Coast is " being able to work side by side with my wife, Malinda.  She gets to video me while I'm jumping tandem with a student.  This place is so friendly to jumpers of all disciplines and the facilities are outstanding."

Paul "Chopper" Cruz
Tandem Instructor, Freefall Coach

JC Fallo

Owner of Video Concession, Videographer, Freefall Coach, Packer, Resource Protection Manager, Senior Rigger, Tandem Instructor

David Fortner
Master Packing Instructor

David has been with Gold Coast since 1998. He has over 360 jumps and way over 18,000 pack jobs. What David says he likes most about Gold Coast is, "How great the staff is with everybody".

Dee Fortner
Packing Instructor

Dee has been with Gold Coast since 2000 and has 9 tandems to her credit. The things she loves most about Gold Coast is, "How nice and friendly everybody is".

Julie Golden
AFF Instructor, Tandem Instructor

Julie has been skydiving for over 11 years. As an instructor Julie says, "we teach people how to skydive from their first jump to graduation and beyond. We're safe and enthusiastic about skydiving and want to promote this sport to the world at large. We are a whole bunch of wacky fun!" She is an active member of a local 4-way and 10-way RW team who has won the nationals in Texas for the last few years. Having made over 3000 skydives; Julie has a D license, Gold Wings, a Falcon Award, and an Eagle Award

Rob Hansen
AFF Instructor, Tandem Instructor, Freefall Coach, Videographer

Rob has been skydiving since 2003 and has made over 800 skydives, accumulated over 210 minutes of wind tunnel flight, and earned his D license, coach, pro, and tandem instructor ratings.  He is also an instrument rated private pilot with over 200 flight hours.  He joined Gold Coast in March 2006.  He enjoys taking people for their first ever skydive and helping up and coming jumpers. 

Rob says, "I like the small family connection between the people at Gold Coast." 

Andre Lee
Videographer, Freefall Coach

Andre has been jumping for over 8 years and is a "D" license holder. He has worked at Gold Coast Skydivers for the past 7 years. Ask Andre about Gold Coast and he'll tell you "it's the safest, best and friendliest skydiving operation in the world".

Jason Martin
Tandem Instructor, Videographer, Freefall Coach

Justin Smith
Freefall Coach

Martin Swords
Tandem Instructor, Freefall Coach

Martin has been teaching students at Gold Coast Skydivers for over five years. In addition he also works with novice jumpers and teaches them basic freefall maneuvers to prepare them for relative work. Martin has been skydiving since 1991, he holds a D-license, an Eagle Award, a Falcon Award, and a Starcrest Award.

Craig Saucier

Videographer

Brian

Packer

Karen Blanks

Freefall Coach, Manifest, First Jump Course Instructor

Austin Blanks

Packer

Matt Peneguy

Videographer, Packer, Freefall Coach, Tandem Instructor

Charlie Porter

Chief Pilot

Bruce Farrar

Pilot

DJ Kemp

Packer

Ben Ford

Freefall Coach

Christy Voss

Video Editing

Tony Cascino

Freefall Coach

Red Courtney

Freefall Coach

Chris Estrada
Freefall Coach

Angela Cascino
Freefall Coach

Graham Himel
Freefall Coach

Bill Bradburn
Pilot