bigG 0 #1 April 19, 2004 Just finished reading this news article...[url "http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3578973.stm"] Clicky[ /url] about extreme sports getting more popular with tourists. But why am I not surprised when they did not mention Skydiving? What would "Skydiving" have to do to be more appealing or marketable to the general public? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vertifly 0 #2 April 19, 2004 Yeah, it looks like a perfect example of an author taking an example of one extreme sport and generalizing it for the lamen community to relate to. Whatever. At least he writes well. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites billvon 3,116 #3 April 19, 2004 > What would "Skydiving" have to do to be more appealing or >marketable to the general public? It would have to lose much of what makes it appealing to me. There would have to be fewer opportunities to screw up, more regulation on everything from canopy size to formation size, and part-135 aircraft (read: much more expensive.) No more formation flights, of course. Just too dangerous for the general public. A lot of people think that mainstreaming skydiving is some sort of holy grail, one that would result in accolades from the press, regular coverage of skydiving events on ESPN and DZ's on every corner. None of that is important to me (even if it was achievable, which it ain't) and indeed I really don't care what people think of what I do on the weekends. Skydiving already appears in movies, credit card ads, posters and "real TV" type shows. What would having it on twice as many shows do for us? How would having it be more "marketable" help your typical skydiver in any way? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites bigG 0 #4 April 19, 2004 Quote> How would having it be more "marketable" help your typical skydiver in any way? Well, I am more thinking along the lines of more business for the Drop Zones may translate into (a big assumption!) better planes, facilities and may be lower jump prices. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites scottjaco 0 #5 April 19, 2004 (This was an Excerpt from article) QuoteThe secret to bungee's success is high perceived, but low actual risk. What people pay US$85 for is the fear, according to bungee co-founder Henry Van Ash. "What is actually extreme is what people go through in their minds," he said. This is the deal with bungee jumping(and yes I have tried it) It is idiot proof! All you do is jump and let the bungee cord do the rest. Bunce up and down a few times and get towed back up. There isn't that much that a customer could do to screw this up. As you know, skydiving requires a 6 hour class just to be able to jump with two people hanging on!!! Lets see.. the customer has to follow hand signals without going unstable maintain altitude awareness Pull Fix Canapy problems (line twists ect.) Cut away/Pull reserve if needed Follow a landing pattern Listen to radio instruction Flare! That is a lot for a whuffo to remember while falling to the earth +120mph! Wait a minute!! I forgot!! we have a way for people to avoid all of these steps! TANDEMS! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites billvon 3,116 #6 April 19, 2004 >Well, I am more thinking along the lines of more business for the > Drop Zones may translate into (a big assumption!) better planes, > facilities and may be lower jump prices. Better planes and facilities - perhaps, if you're into more of a Disneyworld-type DZ. Lower jump prices - definitely not! Based on what most people in aviation pay, we get rock-bottom pricing because we don't maintain our aircraft to the same standards as even part 135 operators. To make it safe enough for the general public we're talking part 135 at the very least, if not part 121 (airliners.) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Squeak 17 #7 April 19, 2004 I don't acutally think of skydiving as Extreme Swwoping I would consider extreme, downhill mountain biking, freeclimbing and MANY other sports but skydiving I don't find extremeYou are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky) My Life ROCKS! How's yours doing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Zeemax 0 #8 April 19, 2004 not entirely. I've seen a number of incidents where people have died making bungee jumps. I dont know what the regulations are about Bungee operations, but i've never once seen one that fills me with a sense of security.Phoenix Fly - High performance wingsuits for skydiving and BASE Performance Designs - Simply brilliant canopies Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites freeflybella 0 #9 April 19, 2004 Quotei've never once seen one (bungee operation) that fills me with a sense of security. Me, either! To paraphrase a great George Carlin line: Somewhere out there is a bungee-jump crane put together by carni with a wicked hangover, with a cord measured by someone with a 5th grade education...and someone is buying a ticket for it...RIGHT NOW! Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead Only 75 emoji are allowed. × Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead × Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor × You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL. Insert image from URL × Desktop Tablet Phone Submit Reply 0
billvon 3,116 #3 April 19, 2004 > What would "Skydiving" have to do to be more appealing or >marketable to the general public? It would have to lose much of what makes it appealing to me. There would have to be fewer opportunities to screw up, more regulation on everything from canopy size to formation size, and part-135 aircraft (read: much more expensive.) No more formation flights, of course. Just too dangerous for the general public. A lot of people think that mainstreaming skydiving is some sort of holy grail, one that would result in accolades from the press, regular coverage of skydiving events on ESPN and DZ's on every corner. None of that is important to me (even if it was achievable, which it ain't) and indeed I really don't care what people think of what I do on the weekends. Skydiving already appears in movies, credit card ads, posters and "real TV" type shows. What would having it on twice as many shows do for us? How would having it be more "marketable" help your typical skydiver in any way? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigG 0 #4 April 19, 2004 Quote> How would having it be more "marketable" help your typical skydiver in any way? Well, I am more thinking along the lines of more business for the Drop Zones may translate into (a big assumption!) better planes, facilities and may be lower jump prices. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scottjaco 0 #5 April 19, 2004 (This was an Excerpt from article) QuoteThe secret to bungee's success is high perceived, but low actual risk. What people pay US$85 for is the fear, according to bungee co-founder Henry Van Ash. "What is actually extreme is what people go through in their minds," he said. This is the deal with bungee jumping(and yes I have tried it) It is idiot proof! All you do is jump and let the bungee cord do the rest. Bunce up and down a few times and get towed back up. There isn't that much that a customer could do to screw this up. As you know, skydiving requires a 6 hour class just to be able to jump with two people hanging on!!! Lets see.. the customer has to follow hand signals without going unstable maintain altitude awareness Pull Fix Canapy problems (line twists ect.) Cut away/Pull reserve if needed Follow a landing pattern Listen to radio instruction Flare! That is a lot for a whuffo to remember while falling to the earth +120mph! Wait a minute!! I forgot!! we have a way for people to avoid all of these steps! TANDEMS! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,116 #6 April 19, 2004 >Well, I am more thinking along the lines of more business for the > Drop Zones may translate into (a big assumption!) better planes, > facilities and may be lower jump prices. Better planes and facilities - perhaps, if you're into more of a Disneyworld-type DZ. Lower jump prices - definitely not! Based on what most people in aviation pay, we get rock-bottom pricing because we don't maintain our aircraft to the same standards as even part 135 operators. To make it safe enough for the general public we're talking part 135 at the very least, if not part 121 (airliners.) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Squeak 17 #7 April 19, 2004 I don't acutally think of skydiving as Extreme Swwoping I would consider extreme, downhill mountain biking, freeclimbing and MANY other sports but skydiving I don't find extremeYou are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky) My Life ROCKS! How's yours doing? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zeemax 0 #8 April 19, 2004 not entirely. I've seen a number of incidents where people have died making bungee jumps. I dont know what the regulations are about Bungee operations, but i've never once seen one that fills me with a sense of security.Phoenix Fly - High performance wingsuits for skydiving and BASE Performance Designs - Simply brilliant canopies Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflybella 0 #9 April 19, 2004 Quotei've never once seen one (bungee operation) that fills me with a sense of security. Me, either! To paraphrase a great George Carlin line: Somewhere out there is a bungee-jump crane put together by carni with a wicked hangover, with a cord measured by someone with a 5th grade education...and someone is buying a ticket for it...RIGHT NOW! Action expresses priority. - Mahatma Ghandi Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
