Vigil Letter

[hkf 0]

I received the following email today, not sure where they got my address from, but probably some site I registered on. Has anybody else received this, or does any one have more info?


Overijse (Belgium), May 2004.

Dear Skydiver,

In the past we have been in touch for the Vigil AAD.

Now that my 'partner' Jo Smolders publishes an official document on the USPA website where he connects my name with the recent troubles that the Vigil has, I must inform you about the real situation.

I worked for more than 5 years on this project and invested way over 150.000$ in it.
The Vigil was my idea, from the design, the concept, to the name. I was promised half of everything that the Vigil concerns, and never saw a dime of it.
Since January 2004 I'm not involved in the Vigil project any more. I NEVER received a decent explanation regarding the numerous malfunctions.
Disregarding my insistence as a skydiver, as an instructor, as a rigger and as a partner, I never got any answer on my questions regarding the safety of the product from Mr. Smolders. I told him that under the present circumstances the lives of the skydivers are endangered.

Anyway, due to this situation, I have been forced to consider possible alternatives.

I'm sure that we'll meet again on a DZ sometime.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at +32 (0)485 86 87 88 or bookmark my personal email address: [email protected].

Blue skies,

Karel Goorts

[neily 0]

I've had the same e-mail, as have many others, whether they've been in contact with AAD, or posted on DZ.com, and newsgroups etc... I think someones pissed at them, either way its spam in my book and pay no attention to it.
There are other threads about this on here are well.

[freeflyfree 0]

Got it too!, and It came to an account I seldom use...

--
Blue Skies
NO FEARS, NO LIMITS, NO MONEY...
"A Subitánea et Improvísa Morte, Líbera nos, Domine."

[BillyVance 34]

Me too... if you don't have a Vigil, who cares. I just deleted it as soon as I read it.

There's no substitute for the Cypres, IMO.

Blue Skies
Billy

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[deaffreeflyer 0]

Yeah i got it too... I guess everyone here got it too!

[Hazarrd 1]

thats pretty weird. i got it also... i did a search and came up with this. the email address on that site is the same one in the email.

http://www.lannews.be/Company.asp

weird site...

.-.

[gulaz 1]

I think its just a cry for help basically. The author (if what is said is true) is out a lot of money, and is just trying to get the word out, basically badmouthing the company, in hopes that they will return their part of the deal (again, here, I am assuming that what was said is true). Doesnt really affect me at all, I will wait a few more years before I even consider the vigil.

[softnotes 0]

I also got the email. Seems a bit an the weird side.

The document on the USPA websit he refers to can be found here.

http://www.uspa.org/news/notices/VIGILSTATUSApril_04.pdf

I think this could potentially hurt Vigil sales quite a bit. Either way I think it was a bad move to publish this letter.

We can cook up a nice conspiracy theory on this one, but I won't even go there.

Blue Skies
SoftNotes
"That's not flying.... that's falling with style!"

[Tonto 1]

I got it as well...

Must have been quite a mail shot...

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[Unstable 8]

I too got the letter - I'm amazed since I hardly get anything of this sorts...

The whole situation is a real eye opener. The company show's a number of signs of instability, and further leads me to believe that this AAD has a long way to go until it will be widely accepted here in the US.

=========Shaun ==========

[USPA 0]

Would you say the same if you'd got a similar letter over the cypres, Aerodyne or PD?

I didn't get the letter, maybe ít wasn't sent to me, or maybe one of my spam filters got it, but it would be interessting to see where it came from (Header info)

The trouble with skydiving; If you stink at it and continue to jump, you'll die. If you're good at it and continue to jump, you'll see a lot of friends die...

[markbaur 0]

The letter says a whole bunch more about Karel Goortz than it does about Vigil. Based just on the letter, I'd say the company is more stable, not less, without him.

Mark

[AndyMan 7]

I'm concerned because the letter really does show some of the conflict going on within the company, and it would really be unfortunate if the company folded before their product really got off the ground.

I've been pretty critical of the Vigil since it came out because I've always felt that it wasn't quite ready for prime time. I still think that's the case, but I also really was looking forward to seeing some real competion in the AAD market.

I hope Vigil has the energy and focus to get things right, and get a good product on the market. I hope its not too late for that, but it seems like it might.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[hookitt 0]

I sent Karel an email asking why he's sending that message to the entire planet. Here's the response.
======

Quote

Dear Sir,

I have been sending you an email about the Vigil some 6 months ago.
So, I feel that I have to prove that I'm not responsible for the technical
errors of that system.

Kind regards,

Karel

My grammar sometimes resembles that of magnetic refrigerator poetry... Ghetto

[Nightingale 0]

I got that email too, and I've never corresponded with ANYONE about a vigil. I bought my gear used and it included a cypres, so no need to AAD shop at all.

[dragon2 0]

Rumour has it that this guy has been 'let go' at at least 2 other skydiving-related companies before this.

Don't know the guy, myself, but maybe there's a reason?

ciel bleu,
Saskia