Profession in Adrenaline
Leigh Ainsworth's recipe for success is a volatile cocktail of nylon, titanium and huge air. At just 18 years of age she has become New Zealand's youngest commercial freefall photographer, and jumping out of a perfectly good aeroplane for a profession is something she has aspired to for many years. Leigh experienced her first tandem skydive at age 13 which started off her addiction for adrenaline.
At age 16 and whilst still in high school, Leigh put all her savings into an AFF (Accelerated Freefall) Course to become certified to skydive solo and completed 126 skydives during the next year.
Last year Leigh studied at the Christchurch Parachute School where she attained a NZQA Diploma in Skydiving. During this course students learnt all aspects of working within the skydive industry. Having previously skydived at Queenstown, Leigh was very excited to complete the work experience module of her course at NZONE 'The Ultimate Jump'.
NZONE has been operating tandem skydiving in Queenstown for the past 12 years, and with the addition of a Cresco Turbine aircraft, and more recently a Fletcher Turbine, has enabled the company to do 15,000ft skydives and has more than doubled its capacity in the past 18 months. Strong product demand has provided the opportunity for Leigh and two other course graduates to be trained and employed by NZONE as commercial freefall photographers.
"I've always wanted to be a skydiver. Now my dreams have come true, and being paid to jump is definitely an added bonus". Leigh's ultimate ambition is to one day achieve the title of 'World Freestyle Skydiving Champion' and with over 450 skydives already is well on her way.
NZONE "The Ultimate Jump" - www.nzone.biz
PRESS RELEASE - Green Light for new US Tandem Skydiver Insurance
LAS VEGAS, NV - Jump Cover Inc. has announced the launch of its new range of accident insurance policies. The policies created specifically for tandem students, available online via the company’s website www.jumpcover.com would seem very affordable, starting at just $24 they provide one-jump instant cover offering payouts up to $100,000 in the event of an injury. “Just like renting a car customers can choose to take out accident insurance before they skydive” said Jump Cover President Paul Blair; he added, “We hope DZOs will see the benefits of offering their tandem customers this choice at the point of sale or during the check in process.”
INNOVATIVE INSURANCE
There are currently no other instant policies of this type available anywhere in the USA. Most insurance companies ask for huge amounts of information with many taking days to respond with a costly quote. The US insurance industry is like no other - in addition to the numerous federal regulations that must be complied with each state has its own specific legislation governing the insurance industry including varying taxes and fees. Blair said “it took a long time to get right but I wanted to make the process of buying a policy as simple and easy as possible with absolutely no paperwork involved” - a policy can be purchased securely online in less than two minutes. With skydiving being such a weather dependant sport cancellations are well catered for. Customers can easily reschedule their insurance by sending a simple email if their jump gets cancelled due to bad weather and the company also offers a full refund for any customers who don’t go through with their jump, for whatever reason.
A NEW UP-SELL OPTION FOR DZOs
Although tandem students can buy their policies directly through Jump Cover’s slick website the company intends to authorize Drop Zones, as its main sales channel, to introduce Jump Cover policies to their tandem students in return for generous commissions. This should prove to be an attractive new up-sell option for DZOs particularly in these increasingly competitive times. James La Barrie’s recent dropzone.com article “6 Tips to Boost the Bottom Line” talks about how “creating opportunities to maximize on customer expenditure is essential” – unlike other up-sell options such as merchandise there are no upfront costs involved so Jump Cover would seem like an ideal way for DZOs to boost their bottom line. Blair who is a decorated British Army Vet and a qualified tandem instructor with almost 1800 jumps said “we believe our products provide a win-win solution, tandem customers get peace of mind from an invaluable financial safety net, while DZOs can generate a significant additional income stream.”
CREDIBILITY
After a lengthy consultation period with the USPA and several major tandem providers the company tailored its products specifically for the US market. The company also has some impressive backing; Jump Cover products are underwritten by Inter Hannover one of the largest insurance and underwriting companies in the world with specialist advice provided by Aon, the largest insurance broker in the world.
PRICING AND AVAILABILITY
There are three levels of insurance on sale now: $24, $29 or $35 for $25,000, $50,000 or $100,000 levels of payout respectively. Although currently only available for those customers doing their jumps in California, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Michigan and Nevada it is understood that additional states will be added in the coming weeks. Blair said “we plan to roll out our tandem policies across the USA this summer, in addition to our standard products we will be adding a Bespoke Tandem Policy for VIPs and high net worth individuals. Later this year there will also be a Pro Cover option for all those professionals who make a living from the skydiving industry.” ENDS
CONTACT
For more information or for US DZOs wishing to register for the programme contact Paul Blair on [email protected] or 702.560.6490.
President of FXC Corporation and Guardian Parachute Passes Away
François (Frank) Xavier Chevrier, 81, President of FXC Corporation and Guardian Parachute, passed away suddenly on September 17, 2012.
For over 60 years, Frank had been very active in the military life support equipment industry.
Frank, from Montreal, Canada, joined the Canadian Air Force in his teens. He came to the U.S.A. in 1962 and began working in the aerospace industry in Southern California.
In 1973, he founded the FXC Corporation in Santa Ana, California, which bears his initials. With his FXC team, he immediately addressed an upswing of industry interest in parachute safety and advancing escape system technology.
FXC Corporation developed and became a world leader in Automatic Parachute Ripcord Releases for the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, NASA and foreign militaries. FXC Corporation is also a designer and manufacturer of critical components for military ejection seats and aerial delivery applications. In 1976, Frank acquired the Guardian Parachute product line. Today, the Guardian Parachute Division is a qualified manufacturer of all parachutes for U.S. militaries and a designer of High‐Glide Tactical Parachute Systems for Special Forces and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Recovery Parachute Systems.
Frank had been a long‐time corporate supporter in the military aircrew life support equipment community of the SAFE Association and the Parachute Industries Association. In recognition of his business leadership, industry service, and commitment in delivering life‐saving product innovations, Frank was recently informed that he was selected to receive the 2012 SAFE Association Career Achievement Award at its Annual Symposium in October 2012. The company will celebrate its 40th year of operation in 2013.
Frank was a resident of San Juan Capistrano, California and is survived by his wife Irene and four children: Sylvia, Rick, Anna and Francois, Jr. He also has five grandchildren and five great‐grandchildren.
Popularity of skydiving soaring in Chicago area
When Todd Davis started skydiving, he had to scrape together every penny he could for the sport. "Once I did my first jump, I knew this is what I wanted to do, but I didn't know how I was going to do it," said Davis, 28, who started jumping 10 years ago. Now, he makes a living off skydiving as a co-owner of Chicagoland Skydiving in Hinckley.
He and friend Doug Smith, 27, bought the business in December.
Davis said he loves the sport and expects the business to grow. As an instructor and videographer at Chicagoland Skydiving for three years before taking over, he watched skydiving's popularity increase.
About 300,000 people skydived last year, for a total of 3.3 million jumps, said Chris Needles, executive director of the U.S. Parachute Association in Alexandria, Va.
Increasingly safer equipment and a wider acceptance of jumping out of airplanes for recreation have contributed to skydiving's steady growth, Davis said.
"The gear is so advanced now that anybody can skydive, anyone from you to your grandmother," Davis said.
In fact, one woman last year went skydiving on her 86th birthday. This year, a woman with Parkinson's disease jumped on Mother's Day.
Standard equipment for students at the jump site includes an automatic activation device that will open an emergency parachute if the main parachute is not deployed during a jump.
That and other equipment make skydiving costly.
A tandem jump in which a student is attached to an instructor while they share a parachute, costs $175.
Beginners jumping with their own parachute pay $275 for the required six hours of training. That compares with about 30 minutes of training for a tandem jump.
Two instructors jump with each student for the first solo jump.
For another $80, a videographer will jump too, recording still and moving images from the one-minute free fall and landing that takes place five or six minutes after the chute opens.
Lisa van Deursen, a manager, videographer and instructor at Chicagoland Skydiving, said she would like to see more people hire videographers, but they seem put off by the price.
"People can't understand why it's so expensive, but I have $3,000 worth of equipment on my head," she said, referring to helmet cameras.
Planes that can hold up to 20 skydivers cost $800,000 to $1.5 million, while parachutes and other gear for one person can cost $5,000 to $12,000.
Davis and Smith lease the planes as well as the land used for the business. They employ 25 independent contractors as instructors, pilots and parachute packers.
About 6,500 jumps took place last year at the Hinckley site; in 1999, there were 3,200 jumps, according to van Deursen.
The growth comes despite the presence of two regional competitors: Skydive Chicago near Ottawa and Skydive Illinois in Morris.
Nationally, skydiving has grown at a rate of 2 or 3 percent every year for the past 10 years, Needles said. "It's not perfectly linear at all times because we are affected by movies that come out about skydiving, so you get these great spikes sometimes," Needles said.
He said improved safety does seem to be a factor, and he noted that while there are still fatalities associated with the sport, there were only about 30 deaths in the U.S. last year out of about 3.3 million jumps.
The number of annual fatalities has remained steady for 10 years, despite jumps increasing each year, Needles said.
Davis said he thinks the sport will continue to grow because of the natural curiosity many people have about flight.
"It's the closest to flying outside of your dreams," he said.
For information or reservations, call 815-286-9200.
Chicago Tribune
Poorly Packed Parachutes - A Personal Story
While some see skydiving as an activity that leads to death, others have quite the opposite experience, where they find life. There are countless stories from individuals who found that skydiving saved them from themselves, offering both a community and a purpose. Andrew Goodfellow is one of those people, and he recently submitted this piece which details his venture into the sport.
I found skydiving on the run. Ten years of addiction, depression, self-loathing, countless failed relationships, a broken engagement, two suicide attempts (one near success), and the ever-present aching loss of a sibling, left me with a lot to run from. But for a long time, it felt as though I had no one and nothing to run to that could save me from myself.
Almost overnight, skydiving filled a void that nothing had ever come close to filling. At its best, it’s the most pure and vital experience I’ve ever known. Totally thrilling and deeply fulfilling. And at its worst…well I had already tried that route twice…so I figured at least this way I’d part with the world on better terms.
What I found in skydiving was more than I expected. Friends, community, support, inspiration, excitement, challenge, and pride.
The rewards were all around. But I also came to realize how many crucial life lessons were on offer at the DZ. Skydiving is a great teacher. Its lessons are vital. Its truths are fixed and inarguable. It is indiscriminate. It is generous and unforgiving – rewarding and punishing in near equal measure.
It teaches patience and perseverance. It fosters trust and forges self-reliance. It provides constant proof that learning is a perpetual process; perfection does not exist. All are fallible; none invincible. It necessitates calm under pressure. It demands you walk the fine line between confidence and recklessness. It requires you to train and focus and prepare. And then begs you to accept that which lies outside your control. Perhaps most importantly, it forces you to make hard decisions. It teaches you to recognize that crucial moment when the best course of action – the only choice that will save you – is to give up fighting, swallow your pride, and cutaway.
Many of life’s toughest moments feel like a really slow opening, a line-over, a two-out, toggle fire. Blistering uncertainty meets coursing fear, raw emotion and instinct. And above all, a defiant will to survive. Looking back, I’ve had a lifetime of low-speed, high-speed, and total mals. Situations I found myself in – whether of my own doing, or simple tricks of fate – that called for precise and efficient emergency procedures I either couldn’t muster or was yet to learn. Without knowing it, I’ve spent a long time sacrificing altitude for stability in one form or another.
My experiences in the sky have been exotic and intoxicating; yet not without great peace and tranquility. There is a magnetism about skydiving that consumes those it attracts. The primal, electric surges of dopamine and serotonin that flood your brain in freefall lay shame to any narcotic high I’ve ever known. This cannot be overstated. And the constant evaluations of risk and reward are, in themselves, a thrilling version of chicken that each of us plays against ourselves on every jump – at the intersection of the familiar and the unknown.
One quickly realizes, as did I with much dismay, that the phrase “mind over matter” could scarcely be applied as accurately to another pursuit. All the strength and speed in the world won’t help you swim your way back into that plane once you’ve left the door. And good luck muscling your way to stability or control. Abandon hope, all ye who enter here. The sky will disabuse you of many formerly held convictions in a matter of seconds, as it calls to you with its Siren’s song. Welcome to your second adolescence. There is much to learn.
Polish Skydiving Plane Accident Kills Eleven
A plane crash near Topolów, Poland this weekend killed eleven people and left one seriously injured. Shortly after departure from Skydive Rudniki, given the statements of witnesses on the ground- it would appear that the plane began experiencing problems, with reports of strange noises coming from the engines. The twin engine Piper Navajo aircraft was carrying 11 skydivers and the pilot when it crashed.
There were conflicting reports with regards to the final moments before the crash, with some saying the plane caught fire on impact, while other witnesses were quoted saying that the plane caught fire moments before impact, when it was seen flying close to the houses.
Another quote from a witness suggested that some of the skydivers may have tried to exit the aircraft prior to impact.
At the time of publication, there was no official cause of the accident. Though some news reports indicated that the plane was over capacity.
Police parachutist injured in test jump
TAIPING: A police parachutist suffered a bad fall from a 1,500m jump after his parachute strings became entangled mid way before the landing.
Safaruddin Mohd Ariffin, 36, who suffered head and neck injuries, was rushed to the Taiping Hospital in the 10.45am incident at the old airport in Tekah here yesterday.
A member of Special Task Force formerly known as Vat 69--an elite police commando unit based in Ulu Kinta near Ipoh--Safaruddin was among 25 members in a parachuting test at the old airport over the last three days.
Safaruddin was transferred to the Ipoh Hospital where his condition is reported to be stable.
The father of three children from Teluk Intan had made 18 jumps in the past.
It is learnt he had safely jumped out of a light aircraft at a height of about 1,500m but his parachute strings became entangled mid way before he landed.
Seven others who jumped with him landed safely.
Point Break Remake Trailer
For those skydivers old enough to remember the early 90s, they will also surely recall the movie Point Break. Released in 1991, Point Break was centered around a group of surfers who robbed banks while wearing masks of ex-presidents. An undercover agent, Johnny Utah, was sent in to the world of the 'ex-presidents' as they called themselves, to gather information. Johnny Utah however, finds himself forming a bond with those he is trying to help apprehend.
Despite the scenes of surfing and action, the movie has been best known for the skydiving scenes, which while certainly not the best, were some of the most memorable to viewers. It was clear that story and script were never high on the priority list, and the film focused almost entirely on the action sequences, of which there were quite a few.
Point Break was the kind of movie you either bragged to your friends about loving, or the guilty pleasure movie that you kept in an unlabelled VHS container and only watched once the kids and wife were asleep.
Well, good news for fans of the original movie is that the ex-presidents are back, and this time they're at least twice as extreme and in 3D. The remake of Point Break is set for release later this year (25 December) with the first official trailer now released. In the 24 years that have passed since the initial movie release, the ex-presidents have evolved to not only be surfers and skydivers, but masters of almost all extreme sports, from motorcross and snowboarding to BASE jumping.
The movie will be released in RealD 3D, so you can make sure that you feel immersed through the likely unrealistic and exaggerated stunts (assuming they stick to the original formula). And who wouldn't want to experience quotes like "The only law that matters is gravity" in surround sound. It's not clear yet how the plot of the remake will differ from the original and which scenes will carry over, but from the trailer we can already know to expect some tracking and BASE jumping, and one thing is for certain, dropzones are likely to experience higher tandem requests in the first quarter of 2016.
Jokes aside, it's difficult to gauge what to expect from the remake, and perhaps it seeks to give us just that which it did over two decades ago, this time without Swayze and Reeves - but instead with more stunts, more sports and more over the top action.
Are you going to be adding this to your watch list, or to your avoid list?
Plunge skydiver on the mend
A NOVICE skydiver who fell 3,200ft after his parachute failed to open properly is back at home and expected to make a full recovery.
Craig Paton, 26, was being cared for by his family in Kilmarnock last night, less than three weeks after cheating death when he hit the ground at more than 40mph.
Mr Paton took the place of a friend at the last minute to make his first skydive jump from Strathallan airfield, near Auchterarder in Perthshire, on 8 April.
His descent took a quarter of the normal four minutes after his main parachute malfunctioned.
Mr Paton's fall was cushioned by landing on a grass embankment, missing a concrete road yards away that would have meant certain death.
He escaped without a single broken bone, and tried to walk to an ambulance after remaining conscious after hitting the ground.
Last night, Mr Paton's girlfriend, Diane Giels, 21, said she was delighted that he was back home after being discharged from Edinburgh Royal Infirmary on Monday.
She said: "He is getting there, and a full recovery is guaranteed. He is able to walk about, but has not talked about his experience."
Mr Paton was initially treated in intensive care for internal bleeding before being transferred to another ward in the hospital during his two-week stay.
His terrifying jump from a Cessna light aircraft had followed several hours of skydive training at the airfield.
He fell past two others in the group who had jumped before him after a static line that should have opened his parachute automatically failed to work.
Just a few hundred feet from the ground, he tried to open his back-up parachute, but it became entangled in the first parachute.
Mr Paton runs a newsagent and milk delivery business with his father, John, 52, in Kilmarnock. However, It is not known when he will be able to return to work.
His father said after the accident that it was a miracle he had survived.
He said: "Quite honestly, he shouldn't really be here. He only went up because someone had dropped out and he said he would go and do it for the fun. It was the first time he had ever done a jump.
"He landed on the banking of a road which sits higher than a grass area and then slid or rolled down the banking. If he had hit the road he would not be here.
"After he landed, Craig was wanting to sit up and walk out of the field. He had to be restrained because he wanted to get up and walk over to the ambulance."
Mr Paton was taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee for emergency treatment before being transferred to Edinburgh.
His father added: "Craig does weights and runs a lot and the doctors said that is one of the factors which has saved him.
"He didn't smoke so his lungs are in great condition and he was always jogging or riding his mountain bike."
An investigation into the accident has been launched by the British Parachute Association.
Kieran Brady, owner of Skydive Strathallan, who piloted the plane involved, said the parachute that had malfunctioned had been used on numerous previous occasions and that such problems were very rare.
Plans for Middletown Wind Tunnel Announced
The expansion of iFly indoor skydiving centers continues, this time with development planned for the Middletown, Ohio area. Start Aviation LLC and iFly Corp recently signed an agreement that would see a vertical wind tunnel build in Middleton. Though the exact location of where the tunnel will be built is still undecided, Middle Regional Airport has been listed as a potential location.
Start Aviation LLC is the operator of Start Skydiving, a dropzone that has in recent years shown itself to be one of the best in the country, while iFly has shown its dominance in the global wind tunnel market with more than 20 wind tunnels located around the world, and the company continuing to show impressive growth.
While still in the early stages, aspects of the project have been released; such as the plans for the indoor skydiving location to include a restaurant, classroom and an office.
With the development of the Middletown tunnel, there will be a total of 15 iFly tunnels in the United States, several of which have been established in the past couple years. With the next closest tunnel being located in Chicago, the city hopes that the new attraction will bring in visitors from surrounding locations.