chuckakers

And thus didn't get an ounce of the positive press for the sport that Felix did. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Your cross marketing ideas are worthy and have proven successful for DZ operators in the past. Relationships with service providers like limo companies, tour operators and the like are often profitable, and if the deal includes a bird dog fee the DZ doesn't pay for the relationship until it works. And since you are doing work on the subject, let me throw you a bone. One of the best partnerships going is with concierges at luxury hotels. They get asked for entertain ideas by and for fat cats more often than nearly anyone anywhere and will cut deals with vendors for a handful of dollars. I suppose it helps that they typically get big tips from their guests for hooking them up with really cool stuff in the market, so they don't work the vendor connection too hard for big commissions. As for your suggestion that DZ's arrange online ads to pop up on unrelated websites or subjects, that often creates a danger zone of diminishing return and should be metered based on reach vs focus. People surfing for a cruise or a car may or may or may not be the same people who could be enticed to make a jump. Remember that the most valuable thing about internet marketing is the ability to target the advertising to specific demographics and consumer profiles to maximize ad dollars. Each time we "reach out" we also dilute the dollars per hit. A DZ would likely be better off running ads that show up when web surfers look for things like scuba diving and flying lessons or car racing tracks and ski resorts. That way they are putting the message in front of like-minded consumers rather than a bunch of overweight cruisers who just want a deck chair, some shuffleboard, and an all-you-can eat buffet. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Good question. The retract device may not handle the G's necessary to get aviation approval. Anyone know? Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

One *minor* difference if the article read is accurate. Sounds like this jump was drogue assisted. Felix went balls out. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Maybe not doom, but in the last year their stock value has dropped by half. Stock prices can fluctuate for a whole host of reasons, not the least of which is over or under valuation adjustments. In a world fraught with new ideas beat out by newer ideas and market players always hungry for the next big thing, stocks can carry earnings ratios that are madly off the norm for years before correcting. For reference, Groupon stock took a nosedive over a 1 year period in the past, from more than $26 per share to less than $3. They didn't go out of business then and a year later the price had more than tripled. The company could get buried by a new player or concept tomorrow, or could bury all the competition because of a new concept it develops tomorrow. That's the world of tech stocks and why wild swings have little to do with a company's future viability or profitability. BTW Brean Capital just gave Groupon a "buy" rating yesterday, saying the stock is undervalued based on recent sales. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

"Won her back"? I don't get what you mean. Did she just get lost or was it something more sinister? As for DZ's being scary, my experience was anything but. We literally raised two kids on the DZ every weekend and found it to be a very good thing. When they were little we would exchange sitting duties with other parents to ensure someone was always there to supervise, and once they were a bit older they became the sitters of other new or younger kids. Also, friends we could trust kept an eye on them just in case someone like the subject of this thread ended up on our DZ. Having them in an adult environment matured them early and taught them what consequences area about. It paid off. Both kids stayed out of trouble and are living their dreams, our daughter as a teacher and our son as a professional competitive skydiver. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

One of the reasons that I have heard for using services like Groupon (and Skyride) is that many DZOs do not know anything about what to put on their web sites to attract the attention of search engines (and don't seem to care to learn), so they just give up and wait for business to come to them through Groupon and Skyride. By far the biggest advantage of using services like Groupon is market reach. Search engine friendly or not, putting a special price on a DZ website does nothing to attract previously unaffected consumers. It only gives a discount to a consumer who was already looking for the product (they came to the website, the website didn't go to them) and who may have purchased the product at full price anyway. Not very smart. With Groupon and similar services, the DZ's special price is hand delivered to a consumer who may have either never considered skydiving or who knows enough about it to know that the advertised price is a *good deal*. Using Groupon is simply a way of getting the product in front of the consumer and discount pricing is the way to get the consumer to take action. Unless a DZ has access to a list of thousands (or tens or even hundreds of thousands in big markets) of good e-mail addresses of real consumers in the DZ's market area, they can't dream of having the reach of Groupon. Yes, DZ's can rent/buy e-mail lists, but often spam filters keep those messages from reaching the consumer's inbox. With Groupon the consumer has pre-approved the e-mails to reach the inbox by subscribing to the service and in fact the consumer often looks forward to getting the e-mails to see what *hot deal* they are being offered. Online coupon services are not suited for every product or every company within an industry. When properly used they do drive sales very effectively. With a product like skydiving, try finding a balance between published retail price, discounted price and commissions paid, and most importantly create a plan for pushing additional sales once the customer is on the DZ. If the customer buys the video package and a t-shirt or two, the DZ gets a lot of the commission & discount back. If the customer brings a friend along for a jump at full price the DZ cuts the loss, and if the DZ plays the hand well the customer may stick around and we get more licensed skydivers to buy gear and fill airplane seats. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

The Groupon business model works for some products and business models and not for others, and I seriously doubt they are headed for doom. Companies get best results from a relationship with Groupon when trying to promote growth, not profit. That by default means there will be a diminishing renewal rate as a business moves from a growth to a profit strategy. Additionally, Groupon works best for products with higher profit margins where businesses can allow a deep commission to them and still either make a profit or use the promotion to drive addition sales. As I understand it the client controls the retail price. If a DZ can't make money at $145 minus commission, it has the option to adjust numbers until it works for that business. If the business can't find a balance between discounted pricing and commissions paid out, so be it. Go elsewhere. Let's also not forget that declines in renewal/sales rates are also due to increasing competition in the online couponing game stacked with companies cutting thin deals to grow (sound familiar?) and new online promotional strategies that never stop being developed. I'm not disputing that the company is in decline. It may be. However you seem to be attributing any decline to the single cause of not cutting what you see as lucrative deals to businesses - in this case DZO's - and that is a macro opinion at best. Spending time pontificating on the decline of a promotional partner is wasting precious resources that could be better spent focusing on finding relationships worth bragging about and profiting from. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

the problem is your rig not the helmet. your rig should not choke you on or after opening. DQ, the OP indicated the problem began when she got the new helmet, not a new rig. I could be wrong but I'm guessing she had no issues on the rig as it relates to the line twists until getting the new helmet. Guessing of course, and you are right that the chest strap thing needs addressed. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Is this where the 1st jump is not a aff but. a jump your bold ass out of the aircraft. yank the ripcord. with 2 aad's 1 on the main and a second on the reserve set at a lower altitude? I have seen some video that was interesting Yep. And it works quite well for them. ........................................................................ Yes, I worked at Rigging Innovations when they sold the first batch of 300 Student Telesis rigs to the Air Force Academy: Cypres on the reserve and an FXC 120000M on the main. Why did I specify FXC 12000 "M?" Because after a few thousand activations, the Air Force noticed a wear problem inside the power cable housing, so they added an extra rubber buffer on the outside ... sort of a smaller version of the rubber bumper used while chamber-testing FXC 12000s. A few THOUSAND? Maybe that solo freefall first jump thing isn't such a good idea after all. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Is this where the 1st jump is not a aff but. a jump your bold ass out of the aircraft. yank the ripcord. with 2 aad's 1 on the main and a second on the reserve set at a lower altitude? I have seen some video that was interesting Yep. And it works quite well for them. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Rosa, I think the OP's question concerning safety was about the second center deployment being close (in time) to the first. That places the second jumper pretty much directly under the first and seemingly not by much given the short time separation. If the first lady to deploy were to have a mal and needed to chop, I think the OP was concerned that there would be a collision risk with lady number 2. I reviewed the video and it appears to be about a 4 second separation from body extraction to body extraction. Call it 750 +/- feet vertical separation. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Not sure how you arrive at that. There are many, many pilots who start at the academy and eventually end up in the guard after serving their commitment. BTW, unless something has changed since I served, officers don't ETS, they resign their commission. ETS is an enlisted thing. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

I assume you are referring to the possibility that the pilot that ejected may have had previous jump experience? The Academy program is one of the best. As I understand it any cadet can go through the program as an elective class for credit. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Deploying as a breakoff signal is common in big-ways. Specific procedures vary from one event to another. Excellent question about someone having a mal with a second early deploying jumper below. I'm not sure why there were two ladies dumping in the center. Can anyone chime in on that? Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Based on your answers I would definitely try having your openings filmed. One other thing to try is to transition between your old helmet and your new one to see if the problem maintains the pattern. While rare, I can see how this could be a case of risers interacting with your helmet. You may be a candidate for a Z1 or other fullface helmet that isn't quite as wide/large. Let us know what you find out. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

You didn't mention your size, but I suppose it's possible that a riser is clipping your helmet. If you are particularly small/short/slender it might make that possible. I can see where if the distance from the riser to the side of the helmet is very small it could cause some interaction, especially if you don't have your head perfectly straight as the risers lift off your shoulders. Do you leave your head turned to watch your pilot chute launch? Do you have a large size helmet relative to the width of your shoulders? Do you wear your chest strap extra snug, narrowing the distance between the risers and your helmet? Does it seem that whatever is hitting your head is in the same place each time? Are your line twists in the same direction each time? These are all just shot in the dark questions as I have never heard of this problem happening on a regular basis. You may also have someone film you as you deploy in place. Might be able to get the problem on video. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

How do you know it was a first jump? Might not have been, but I'd guess it was a first ejection. Edited to add: I'd also bet that it was intentional. "Eject, eject, eject!!!" Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

But, what about all the hand jive and the "Is my go-pro on?" hand signals? That's what I see going on just before exit. This ritual seems to have replaced last-minute gear checks and actually thinking about the coming dive. We still have all that silliness. We just do it earlier. Our last minute or two are spent with our minds on the jump. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Bill makes a very good and important point. I'll take that a step further. I make sure the people in my groups are in position at the door and staged for exit prior to opening the door. Every time a jumper moves, shuffles positions, etc. there is an opportunity for a handle to get pulled or something else to happen. I want everyone already pin checked, shuffled, moved, and whatever long before jump run. Doing so not only makes things safer, it allows everyone to spend the last minute or so before the door opens focusing on the skydive instead of anything else. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

Correct. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

I didn't offer any advice, and you have quite an attitude for a person asking for help. My post was sincere Sparky, but if you don't want to provide enough information for us clueless old f*ckers to help, so be it. Of course you may not know that the vast majority of AAD saves over the past few years have been from botched horizontal skydives. Might want to consider that before turning away assistance from your peers. And yes, it is entirely possible that the next accident is my own. Not probable, but possible. Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances, ya know. Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

If your bio is correct you may be a statistic in waiting. IMO, 139 jumps is a very low number to be playing with tracking dives, and depending on your combination of jumps vs time, a 7 year period is VERY stretched out for jumping in general, let alone for participating in what has proven to be one of the highest risk disciplines in the sport. Your post clearly demonstrates that things could go horribly wrong on your next jump. Without more detailed information on your jumping history and the jumps you are referring to, there's no way to offer solid advice. Can you give us a bit of background on your currency, jumping frequency, etc.? Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

boom Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX

If that's true I would hope someone with personal knowledge of it would call him out in a most public way. Hi Chuck. Go pro posted on utube. Link? Chuck Akers D-10855 Houston, TX