Gila- Scott Stilwell

Name

Gila- Scott Stilwell

What are your PRIMARY roles at the DZ?

• AFF Instructor
• Videographer
• Rigger
• Coach

How many years in the sport/industry?

29 Years

When you were a kid, were there any early activities that might indicate you’d one day become a skydiver?

I jumped off everything. Houses, trees, bridges, rock cliffs. I jumped things with dirt bikes, skateboards, and bicycles. I was not scared of anything.

What was the circumstance that led you to make your very first skydive?

I moved to a new town my senior year of HS, and a new friend’s parents were DZOs. I learned to pack parachutes as a job, and at the end of that summer, the DZO told me if I was going to work at the skydiving center I had to make a jump.
I paid for the class and jump by spreading mulch chips from a wheelbarrow, on all of the walkways around the DZ. Made my first jump on Oct 14th, 1994.

What made you want to continue skydiving after your first jump?

I screamed with excitement and had such a positive feeling after the first parachute opened, before I landed I knew it was my thing. I wanted to learn how to control my body that way.

What’s the best/most memorable skydive you’ve ever made, and what made it so remarkable?

Demo into Downtown Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. I made that jump 3 times and it was called for weather 2 others. The winds brought us in over the top of the 26-story 300ft Federal Court House Complex, FBI and IRS. Then above the Philadelphia Inquirer building, take a left down Ranstead St. just before you reach the Post Office. Flying Straight towards Independence Hall, directly overtop of the actual Liberty Bell.
I posted up the 2,500sq ft US Flag in front of Liberty Hall and then a stand landing in the park.

If you have one, what’s your personal motto/philosophy as it relates to skydiving?

Fear kills reason.

What three words would your colleagues/students use to describe you as a skydiver?

Knowledgable. Unyielding. Dedicated.