rhys

Hi all, I am looking at the level of interest in a boogie or a package deal for fun jumpers at our tranquil new dropzone in New Zealand. Our location is second to none with views at altitude of hundreds of mountains, many glaciers, rainforest, the ocean, lakes, rivers..the whole nine yards. We are fortunate enough to have access to a fleet of aircraft including 3 -27 Pilatus Porters, I doubt we could get 3 of them as they are used for ski plane ops into the local glaciers but at least one or two for such an event depending on numbers attending. We should be using one full time before long, it is early days yet. but to cut a long story short, do you guys think there would be enough interest in a boogie as far as new zealand from the rest of the world? There is only a handful of fun jumpers in NZ, Australia has a reasonable market but Europeans and North Americans would be the target. Our village is small but boasts an impressive array of activities from hunting and fishing, hot pools, glacier hiking, quad biking, mountain biking, helecopter scenics, ski planes etc etc. There are over 5000 commercial beds in the village and at this time of year, the weather is great and the village is almost empty. I was thinking at this time next year or sometime over the winter here we could have a boogie with added attractions such as the above mentioned with a package and high altitude skydiving 20k etc. I would expect it would not be a cheap package but it would be certainly next level. take a look at our website www.skydivefranz.co.nz (new and not fully developed only been up a week) and tell me what you reckon. Escape the heat and dust and cool of in little old NZ, lord of the rings country etc.etc. I 'will' be putting together a package for fun jumpers to do this as a small group (2+) but how many of you would be prepared to pay good money for such a boogie so far away? I realise there is not that much money in it after all the running around but the aim is to bring business to the other operators and accomodations in Franz Josef during the quiet season and when the weather is very stable to get them to promote us in the summer when thay are busy, as well as install some sport skydiving back into the sausage factory of NZ. Thoughts? Ideas? "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Marketing and market research. No point in opening a DZ between 2 struggling ones, and no point in opening a dz next to a booming one unless you have a strategic plan to gain your market share. the boomer is going to crush you unless you have an edge. Marketing should be about 10% of a business and those that do set a budget similar to that in an adequate market should do well with reasonable business sence. Under selling your product is a problem also, sometimes if you arent selling enough, putting the price up and increasing quality and value instead of taking these thngs down may create more interest. Inexpensive is great but cheap is not! especially in skydiving. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Bill would have een running black since jeb was in nappies. I havn't seen too many black nappies! "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

I ask them! they ask me; What is the highest you can jump from. What is the highest 'you have' jumped from, Can we do flips. how many jumps a day do you do. sound familiar? There are some that are interested in skydiving as a passtime and those people get the information they want. Everybody gets the inforamtion they want. I have spent many many days talking with customers, more than half of my 4000 or so tandems have required a 20 minute to 30 minute bus ride back from the landing area or to the airport resepctively, do the maths on the sitting down and talking to customer time that has gon on in my life. MOST of them are not interested in taking up skydiving, many of them would never jump if it were not for tandems, they have the 'bucket list attitude' and I am willing to give them what they want, they just need to ask about skydiving, I am more than willing to tell them what they want or need. We are there to provide a service to them and give them what they want, not tell them what they want or tell them that they have to do things they would rather just leave to you. IMO an instructor that tries to push all tandem customers into AFF courses or IAD etc, is simply on their own adgenda. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

fuck all, most of them have left the county within a week of jumping. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Considering 97%+ of my customers have been first time passengers, passing thorugh 9gone in 2 days), 'WANTING' a joyride/scenic flight/get it out of the way; then teaching them all would be a waste of energy. My customers have a great time and experience the skydiving without the stress. Once they have jumped once, they can decide to take up skydiving, skydiving will sell skydiving. We do have a competely different market down here in NZ and Aus than north America, so it is subjective. Some passengers don't even want to take the controls, every customer I take has a turn at flying the parachute(except thos that would rather not) and learns a couple of things about skydiving, but for the most part they are paying $300+ to enjoy themselves not to hear me try to drum up some more business. I completely disagree about the notion of teaching every tandem customer. The lions share of the people I take 'would like to' but have no intention of taking up skydiving as much as bungee jumping, jet boat driving, paragliding, ice climbing, white water rafting or any of the other activities thay have done in the last week or two. The last thing they want to have is me wanking on in thier ear about how cools skydiving is when they are trying to enjoy thier experience they have just spent a small fortune on. Second tandem, completley different story. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Thanks, I'll check it out, i'm just doing some research. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Hi all, I have tried a little research with no joy. I am wondering if a service ceiling of an aircraft is set in concrete or if repowering will allow a higher service ceiling? In particular a PAC Fletcher Fu24 repowerd with a walter turbine. The factory spec is a 16k service ceiling on the Fletcher Fu24 but that is with a piston engine. Once repowered with a walter turbine increasing the horsepower by 200hp, the aircraft will be capable of higher altitudes than the specfied service ceiling, but is going there allowed? thanks in advance for any help. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

can you lock a vector on alti? I threw out my instructions. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

the porter will allow us to do high altitude jumps, which will bring more customers, they are all about doing the highest jumps so the 180 just won't cut it! "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Hi everyone, We have just made our new website live, there are still a few things to add and subtract; Gallery photos - will be doing outside camera soon and will add more photos to sideshow and subtract some. team -add photos and add staff!!! Craigs' profile is not finished yet either. Video - have NZ music, we are in discussion with an NZ band to use their music. etc. But any criticism will be gratefully accepted. Our market is predominantly tandems, in fact not one fun jumper has called or shown up since I have been here, and slots are available. tell us what you think Skydive Franz website "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Very true. often enough. too much! But there is such a thing as being a stiffo, not fun, boring, bland... some customers want to be freaked out, some want to be comforted, some will have a good sense of humor and some will not. This is part of the job description and an instructor that 'never' jokes with their customer is a wanker, as much as one that does it every time! If a customer is cursing and swearing it is then o.k. to let a couple of light weight swear words out (if you are that way inclined), but not when others can hear. It is mostly about getting on a level and making your customer feel comfortable with you. Just as much as if your customer is some christian self proclaimed goody two shoes, you will have to be careful not to say what they consider curse words... There is more to being a tandem instructor than plummeting and pulling strings.... "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Tell your workmates' customer that if they wait 10 second until they are at terminal velocity, to spit and it will hover in front of them until the parachute opens. If you like your workmate tell their customer when they can hear you so they can tell them what will 'really' happen. I don;t know of anyone that has actually gone through with it... but it sure does make a good laugh. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Eh Oh, Lets Go... I love the ramones... hmm hook knife! One of the toys that everyone should want but nobody should want to use. I carry one for the unlikely event of a lineover on my reserve. There are plenty of other scenarios that may require one but that is the one that psycologically gets me! "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

We are getting a porter and there are people tripping over each other to fly it. The thing Ilike about tail draggers is that incompetant pilots don't like flying them, so (generally) you get a good pilot if you have a tail dragger! You can easily guess what my choice was, though for owners a Cresco (Not XL) is probably the most efficient in its class (10 place). 20 minute sortie times to 15k so 3 loads an hour = 30 people an hour which is not too shy of a XL... both aircraft have PT6A-34 Aresco is better for a mid sized DZ. The Cresco is what the XL was based on and Both are made by P.A.C. (which is a company by the way not an aircraft. Pacific Aerospace Corporation) "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Though that information is correct, it doesn't 'quite' cut it for those in the roaring 40's here in New Zealand and Australia. I know the 45 degree thing is not accurate, but for fucks sake 'look' down and see if there 'is' ground speed. Especially you newer jumpers in NZ and AUS where the upper winds can be in excess of 50knots and sometimes in excess of the airspeed. I have seen a tandem pair (light) drift over the previous pair (heavy) before, and I am not kidding! There will be plenty of SPG's here that will like to be the 'be all and end all' of knowledge but the reality is that most of them have probably never experienced some of the weather conditions that we jump in in NZ and Aus because in America they simply don't jump in them. (Flame time!) I'm not going to go into the 'you shouldn't be jumping in those conditions' argument because the reality is that dropzones do jump in those conditions down these ways, and you need to be prepared for it. Don't take the pilots word for it, though their information is the best indication you have. They may give you the wind before they pop into the strong wind and will be concentrating when they do so they may forget to tell you, don't just count, look down and make sure you have ground speed. If so then Bills advice is mostly correct. Wit a zero ground speed you will have to wait at least 45 seconds. Altough I have not had to do that much lateley, I have not been jumping in NZ for the last few years. I have had to do that on quite a few occasions in the past, when there was litte wind on the ground. Also, and most importantly! Don't feel pressured to jump. If you feel uncomfortable with the conditions, stay in the plane. I guess the moral of the story is talk to the people that have been jumping at your DZ the longest, they will have the best knowledge. To answer the OP's question, we are only using a C180 at the moment so it is much of a non issue for us, we should be in porter by this summer and at that stage we will have to address the problem. My opinion is; If the winds get to a point where the ground speed is reduced below 30 knots the jump run should be offset 45 degrees to jump run starting 1/2 mile to one side finishing 1/2 mile to the other so it is much less likely for groups to collide unless they are tracking. This will take a competant pilot with good local knoowledge, but that is what they should have anyway. Its saves the 30 second plus waiting time between groups and everyone should still be on the wind line. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

You are only as old as the woman you feel! "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

ah I can see how people might potentially get confused here, The work account is under the username; skydivefj (franz josef) and i have posted here from my computer under my personal username, sorry for any confusion. Skydive franz josef just bought a second hand softie with preserve in it, made in december 1993, but the think looks brand new... "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

Hmmm, They guy we just bought the rig off had this to say when I mentioned the expiry date; I don't really mind so much as it was super cheap and is an brilliant condition so it look great and will only cost us about $150 per year. I will look into it and contact the manufacturer personally. I "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

yeah nah, don't sell the rig bit sell the camera gear while it is still worth something. Those cameras are almost obsolite but still in use in many places It is easy to get camera gear and you can still jump without it. like someone above said you are less likely to jump without gear... "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

They are great for outide video, only if the camera flyer has great skill, they have a 170degree field of view and roll in high definition. The only reason they are not good for outside camera is that they are so wide that not many people will have the skill to remain close enough to fill the frame. Why do you suggest they are no good for outside camera? shit thay have a better picture than any camera with a shithouse conversion lens that 98% of outside camera people use... "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

I concur with the IHI thing. my wife and i use it, she twisted her ankle quite bad with reasonable swelling so we wanted to check out if it was broken in any way, if you use a hospital you pay nothing, if you use a doctor, you pay and the reimburse you. even though we didn't pay the reciepts cam through us and it cost IHI over $1000 for the xray and consultation?!?!?! they gave us crutches and an inflatable brace etc... just making money. In my country you borrow crutches so many people use them, there they sell them to you, what a waste. I would hate to have a problem and have no medical insurance in America. you can have your luggage etc insured with them also but you are probably better of with some standard insurance for that stuff and just use ihi for medical. they are very helpful. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

You are probably right, I would have assumed that zero P fabric would be the same on most tandem canopies, on icarus at 1300 jumps they are just broken in... fortunately I have only had to put up with a handful of jumps on Set 400's and Set 366, They are aweful when they are new... "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

The difference is that retuning a tent after 2 weeks to wall mart is within the rules. the shifty trick i mentioned above is not really recommended, i was just pinting out that that particular policy would not necessarily take thme out of service, now that i am a dzo, I would never jump strong gear let alone old strong gear. I am not that against it that I would never jump it for someone else, I would just never own the stuff, it is outdated. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

No football is 'the beautiful game' and rugby is a mans game. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Shelford Now call him stupid, but a pussy he is not. In Rugby you play the entire game including both directons without big pads, helemets and 'wino makeup' "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix