Kevin Gibson, Skydiving Instructor Extroadinaire! Skydive Orange, VA. Skydive!

Skydive Orange Tandem, AFF, and Static Line Instructor, Kevin Gibson "Rahlmo Meegan"

I wanted to be a skydiving instructor from the very first jump. My best friend at the time, Jack Demme, taught me to jump. I always admired him and wanted to be as good an instructor as he was. Then when I took the USPA Jumpmaster course, I found it was terrible! I dreamed of going to work for USPA and fixing the instructional programs.

Kevin Gibson (L) and Theresha Thames (R) Jumpmaster an AFF student at Orange

When I started skydiving, I had various odd jobs as a carpenter, mechanic, painter, etc. Finally I realized that if I wanted to keep skydiving and buy good parachutes, I needed to go to college and earn a degree. So I did. I tried to quit one time after I sprained my neck exiting a Twin Beech in DeLand, Florida. I moved back to Texas, sold all my gear and stopped going to the DZ or hanging out with skydivers. The parties were so boring, and I didn't meet anyone I found interesting. Everyone seemed to lack imagination and the desire for freedom. Then I went to a skydiving party with some of my old buddies and had so much fun, I knew I had to start jumping again! I got a job at the local DZ the next month, where they had no school.

I borrowed some gear and wrote their training program for them, while publishing a little regional newsletter. Two years later in 1988, I took a job here in Virginia with USPA.

Now guess what: I'm helping revise all the student programs!

Kevin Gibson aka "Rahlmo Meegan"

Age: ??
# of jumps: 5000+, including:

Tandem: 1,500
Video: 15
AFF: 1,300

Years in sport: 27
First Jump: June 23, 1976 New Hanover, Pennsylvania

Ratings- AFF, Static-Line Tandem Instructor, Strong and Vector Tandem, Skydive University Body Flight Evaluator

USPA Skydiving Awards: Gold Wings, Diamond Wings, Double Diamond Wings, Triple Diamond Wings

Participated in the following skydiving records: night and former day world record freefall formation, POPS, 25-way canopy diamond; Texas, South Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, Florida, and New England freefall formation records. Florida state canopy formation record.

FAA Master Parachute rigger, back and chest ratings

Private pilot with 400 hours, SEL

What other places you have skydived and why you decided to stay at orange:
I have skydived at probably 40 drop zones around the country, and this is
the friendliest.

What I like about skydiving: The endless things I learn from the sport and the people who love it as much as I do.

Experiences as a student: I was a static-line student and unemployed, so I couldn't afford to repeat a jump. I had to put every bit of effort I
had into succeeding. I made only one mistake, when I almost went unstable while trying to pull my ripcord with two hands on a ten-second freefall.