missbrz 0 #51 July 21, 2011 thanks I'm too lazy to actually google it myself & I figured skydivers could give me the low-down faster. & yes I know who DB cooper is. I'm only partly under a rock Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DiverMike 5 #52 July 21, 2011 I drop by there every weekday in the middle of the day when they are open. I try to get 2 jumps in during my lunch hour, but there are times when the loads are full and I am lucky to get one in. They appear to be busy to me, but don't take my word for it. I am a regular there and would probably be considered to drink their kool-aid. For the same reason I jump off a perfectly good diving board. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Remster 24 #53 July 21, 2011 Quote & yes I know who DB cooper is. I'm only partly under a rock You're missing the point, dear. Remster Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rstanley0312 0 #54 July 21, 2011 QuoteI drop by there every weekday in the middle of the day when they are open. I try to get 2 jumps in during my lunch hour, but there are times when the loads are full and I am lucky to get one in. They appear to be busy to me, but don't take my word for it. I am a regular there and would probably be considered to drink their kool-aid. I said nothing to the contrary. I am saying nothing bad at all. I love my DZ... nothing wrong with you loving yours...... and I decided long ago to stay out of this BS especially with friends that jump there.Life is all about ass....either you're kicking it, kissing it, working it off, or trying to get a piece of it. Muff Brother #4382 Dudeist Skydiver #000 www.fundraiseadventure.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
missbrz 0 #55 July 21, 2011 Quote Quote & yes I know who DB cooper is. I'm only partly under a rock You're missing the point, dear. then please enlighten me... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JerryBaumchen 1,048 #56 July 21, 2011 Hi Rich, Quote who served time for negligent homicide after several of his students died when their parachutes failed to open Wiki is slightly wrong. He was charged with negligent homicide due to the death of an 83-yr old student; not 'several of his students.' He plea-bargained it down to something less than negligent homicide so that he would not go to the state pen; and that he simply did not have the funds for a defense. He was sentenced to 13 months in the county jail. Which was reduced for good behavior. In Oregon, if your sentence is 13 months & one day or more, you will serve your time in the state pen. If it is 13 months & no more, you can serve it in the local county jail. I do not know this from personal experience. JerryBaumchen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grimmie 173 #57 July 21, 2011 IIRC Jerry, he had a few other issues regarding his rigging errors and putting students on improper gear. Wasn't there almost 20 fatalities at his DZ back in the day, during his tenure as DZO? Chime in Northwesterners. Sorry Ohio peeps, we hijacked your battle of the DZ's thread. Maybe we should start a DZO's that have been arrested thread...naw, too much bandwidth would be taken up for that one... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rstanley0312 0 #58 July 21, 2011 Quote IIRC Jerry, he had a few other issues regarding his rigging errors and putting students on improper gear. Wasn't there almost 20 fatalities at his DZ back in the day, during his tenure as DZO? Chime in Northwesterners. Sorry Ohio peeps, we hijacked your battle of the DZ's thread. Maybe we should start a DZO's that have been arrested thread...naw, too much bandwidth would be taken up for that one... I'm glad the topic was changed. Life is all about ass....either you're kicking it, kissing it, working it off, or trying to get a piece of it. Muff Brother #4382 Dudeist Skydiver #000 www.fundraiseadventure.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
missbrz 0 #59 July 21, 2011 our convo was way more interesting... and its kinda "on topic" ish since she never actually mentioned a DZ or DZO its about DZ's that lie & are built by questionable people. anybody got any more interesting stories? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #60 July 21, 2011 QuoteI'm not saying it's because they know that Start lies about their business, AHA! So that's why they apparently have been soliciting Dz.com reviews. Trying to put something up in front of the city to say, "See? We are the GOOD guys"?My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #61 July 21, 2011 Quote anybody got any more interesting stories? YOU may not think so but I sure think it's a crime what that girl (Alexa) did to me on the DC3 after my first static line at z-hills. My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skydance1954 0 #62 July 21, 2011 I live in Calgary.Mike Ashley D-18460 Canadian A-666 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rstanley0312 0 #63 July 21, 2011 QuoteI live in Calgary. ? Not that it matters but you are the same Mike Ashley that was working for Start though..... right? Photographer? If that is you I have really enjoyed many of the stills you shot.Life is all about ass....either you're kicking it, kissing it, working it off, or trying to get a piece of it. Muff Brother #4382 Dudeist Skydiver #000 www.fundraiseadventure.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CSpenceFLY 1 #64 July 22, 2011 Quote Quote Yeah, I guess you are right. It really doesn't compare to killing your wife and burning her body or building one of the biggest DZs in the country entirely with drug money. BN If you are going to make wild accusations how about you have the guts to put a name down...other wise move along Someone needs a little history lesson. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CSpenceFLY 1 #65 July 22, 2011 Quote How could you forget Dead Ted Mayfield. And David "COWBOY" Williams... again! tell me what happened! curious minds want to know! please! Two books you should read. Cowboys Caravan and The Bluegrass Conspiracy. It's really good when you know people who can fill in the blanks and tell you the alternate theories. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillyVance 34 #66 July 22, 2011 QuoteIIRC Jerry, he had a few other issues regarding his rigging errors and putting students on improper gear. Wasn't there almost 20 fatalities at his DZ back in the day, during his tenure as DZO? I still have the VHS tape with the 20/20 segment (I think) on Ted Mayfield and his history... Been dragging my ass on getting a VHS/DVR deck...."Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nutz 0 #67 July 22, 2011 Quote Quote anybody got any more interesting stories? YOU may not think so but I sure think it's a crime what that girl (Alexa) did to me on the DC3 after my first static line at z-hills. It is not a crime if you didn't report it. And if there is no video, well, you know. "Don't! Get! Eliminated!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
startskydiving 0 #68 July 23, 2011 Rhonda, Congratulations on your recent retirement from the United State Air Force and let me be the first in this thread to thank you for your twenty years of military service. People who write a post like this without identifying themselves lack courage and moral conviction. Four things drive these kinds of writings, "envy", "hatred", "malice" and "cowardice". As a business we have not entered into the games played by others like you, "cowards" writings false post on Google and DropZone.com reviews, making false statements to the FAA, posting derogatory comments on social media sites, clicking Google Adwords to run up the cost, etc, ect, ect,. We don't have time for it, we are busy running a successful skydiving center ;)-. I can't remember the last time I posted on this site but sometimes you have to speak out against your kind of ignorance, so here goes. I am a majority owner and the General Manager of Start Skydiving. I work seven days a week from 7am to close to ensure that our business is performing and meeting the high standards we set for ourselves when we founded Start Skydiving. Start Skydiving is in it's fifth year of existence and each year has grown by more than 100%. This season is half over and we will have surpassed our record sales of 2010 by the end of the month. By the end of the season we will have performed over 10,000 tandems, 2000 AFF's, 1000 Coach jumps, 7,000 videos and more than 40,000 licensed jumper slots. We own two Cessna 208's and a Cessna 206 that are kept to Part 135 standards by a professional maintenance service "AirNet" in Columbus, Ohio. Our turbines fly non-stop from 8am to sunset every weekend of the season by some of the finest jumpship pilots in the industry, they hot fuel with our single point fuel system in three minutes and rarely shut down. Our instructor staff of more than 60 are the finest instructors in skydiving and put it all out there every single day, some performing 15-20 tandems each day. All of our instructors submit to a breathalyzer before starting a shift and if there is any detection of alcohol they are not permitted to jump that day. We also perform random substance abuse testing every week and have a zero tolerance for its usage. Our tandem equipment is the best built "sigmas by UPT" they inspected every day before operations by an FAA Rigger and throughout the course of the day for wear and tear. Our only limitation to not performing 200 tandems per day on the weekends is that we don't have the staff to support it, so we cut off reservations at 150 per day on weekends. Didn't you earn your Sigma TI rating at Start five years ago? Come on out and throw some drogues for us on weekends, we will even cover the fight up from Tampa. We have invested in a state of the art manifest program allowing jumpers to manifest on any load they desire with five touch screens located throughout the dropzone or from their IPhone. Our experienced jumpers can check their account online, check their load call time online or manifest online. You can personally observe our load lists everyday as they build and do the math for yourself. We have more than 600 licensed skydivers in our manifets program from all over the midwest. And on most weekends we will have more than 100 of them come out to play. At Start Skydiving we are about putting the customer first in everything we do. We love what we do and want to introduce as many people as we can to our great sport. That is why last year more than 77 people completed our AFF program and 42 earned their A license. Yes, you can come out and we will gladly introduce you to all these people. They may even teach you a few things. Here are answers to some of your slanderous comments: 1. Start Skydiving, LLC is current and has never been late on any Local, State or Federal tax payments. We utilize Diana Nelson, CPA of Mason, Ohio for all accounting purposes. Feel free to contact her as she will verify that your statement is a fabrication. 2. Start Skydiving has never been threatened with a lawsuit for being late on a payment for leased aircraft. Feel free to speak with Rampart Aviation, Win Aviation, Desert Sands Leasing, Vertical Air Inc and Sky Team Aviation, Inc. These are the only companies we have leased aircraft from and we pay each of them before the aircraft leave our facilities, because we can. We had a King Air at Start Skydiving last year that belonged to a South African owner that borrowed money from a short term lender here in the states to make his plane airworthy. We agreed to manage the aircraft and find a DZ to lease it too, in the interim we made weekly payments for all hours we flew in this aircraft. Unknown to us he fell behind on his payments to the US lender without notifying Start Skydiving. The U.S. lender arrived one day without notice, showed us paperwork of the default by the South African owner, their legal title of the aircraft and recovered their plane as collateral. Come visit us and we will show you the contracts and paperwork to back this up. Once again your statement is another fabrication. 3. We were an incredible tenant of the Warren County Airport for three years. We were on a month to month verbal lease that was all inclusive meaning electric and phones were included with the rent. We loved jumping at this location and they loved having us on the grounds. We brought activity and life to a dead airport, it is once again a ghost airport. The Middletown Regional Airport now has several thousand visitors each week visit and spend money with the restaurants, hotels and stores nearby making a huge economic impact to a struggling community. In July of 09 we asked the owner for a long term lease and credit for the 10% fuel purchase rebate that had been agreed to for all fuel purchases over $100,000. He said that that deal was not valid because it was made by the airport manager, not himself. Now keep in mind that we just invested $100,000 in remodeling "his" hanger for our purposes and the fuel rebate owed us was for over $36,000. Additionally we spent more than $32,000 with the landlord's construction company to build an RV park on property he owned only to be evicted by the county because he had not filed for the building permits or proper zoning change. We informed the owner the second week of September that the City of Middletown wants us to relocate to their airport and were offering a deal that no sane person could refuse. We made the decision to move the first week of October after he refused to honor the fuel rebate. At that time we had paid our rent current through the end of the year. We closed out the season in November and finished the move the last week of December, leaving the facility clean and in impeccable condition. The owner all along thought we were bluffing and begged us to stay, no one would walk away from this beautifully remodeled hanger after investing $100,000. Paisitic, wake up! We involved our corporate counsel to resolve a fuel bill of $23,000 for the month of October in exchange for the fuel rebate owed us and believed the matter was resolved. In May the owner sued Start Skydiving for $32,000 in claimed unpaid fuel bills, we counter sued for $68,000 which included the fuel rebate and the money invested in the defunct RV park as well as a return of a our phone number that he forwarded to a competing dropzone. His counsel approached us and asked if we would be willing to settle and we said yes. From the beginning all we wanted was our original phone number to prevent our customer from be misled when they called. They agreed to "our" terms and we walked away with our legitimate phone number and the landlord walked away with a smaller ego. Both suits are of public record with the Warren County courts in Lebanon, Ohio and can be validated by our corporate counsel Konrad Kircher with Kircher Law in Mason, Ohio. So again another fabrication on your part. 4. Stealing an email list! Before we opened we met with the owner of a DZ to the north that we all respected and told him of our plans, he said that he was planning on retiring soon and had no issues with our opening in Warren County. Had he expressed concern, we would have opened at an alternate site in Indiana, this is how much we respected the man. We opened and dozens of jumpers began migrating to our DZ from other locations, our friend on two occassions came in and flew loads with his Otter when our aircraft was down for maintenance. Later that year a rumor was started that one of his former staff members had given us his email list. This person he accused, learned to jump at his DZ and at one time looked to him as a DZ Father figure as many of us did. She never provided an email list, in fact she has never spoken a negative word about this man or his daughter, even after all the trash talking of her. This owner demands blind loyalty and bans his jumpers from his DZ if they jump at Start Skydiving. We currently have more than 35 former jumpers that have been accused of being disloyal and have been banned from his DZ. For goodness sake this is skydiving not armed conflict! We have used Constant Contact from day one for our customer newsletters. Our customer list has more than 25,000 subcribers that receive our weekly newsletter and for auditing purposes it records the dates of all contact entries and deletions. For auditing purposes you are unable to edit additin or deletion dates. I challenge you to visit Start Skydiving where we will permit you to view our email list. I want you to show us where we entered any email contacts that you claim were not properly obtained. Another false fabrication on your part. Now let me mention some of the things you failed to mention in your fabricated post that we can back up. 1. Start Skydiving created Blue Skies for the Good Guys and Gals and take dozens of military amputees for free skydives each year. In several cases we have flown hundreds of miles with our aircraft and tandem masters to perform this service. 2. Start Skydiving provides "free" tandem skydives for the physically impaired, all we ask is that they schedule the jumps on a weekday because of the time required to train and gear up these incredible students. 3. Start Skydiving donates hundreds of tandem skydive each year to local charities for fundraiser auction events. 4. Start Skydiving and Team Fastrax provide more than fifty free demos each year to worthy causes. 5. Start Skydiving provides its aircraft and pilots for humanitarian missions during the off season or whenever our aircraft are available for such causes. 6. Start Skydiving is a proud partner of the Veterans Airlift Command flying disabled warriors from Walter Reed Hospital to requested locations whenever our aircraft are available to aid these valiant warriors. 7. Start Skydiving is a proud supporter of Dreams of Fastrax, making the dreams of terminally ill children come true through the gift of flight. We spend free time visiting Childrens and Shriners Hospitals introducing children to our great sport and trying to bring a moment of happiness to them. 8. We are a proud partner of the Thank You Foundation, with a mission of thanking every veteran we can by performing for free at numerous events and taking sponsored veterans for free tandem skydives. So instead of attacking others with fabrications and the goal of trying to make them fail, learn from their success, take what you learn and try and better the failed business practices of your home DZ. Instead of blaming others for your failure, accept responsibility, look within and leap beyond. Have the courage to stand behind your comments and visit us at our expense so you can put you money where your mouth is. Start Skydiving loves the skydiving community and sharing our great sport with others. Maybe you should drink a barrel of Koolaide to wash out the years of lemonade you have consumed. Blue Skies, Gene Newsom D-14514 United States Army Special Forces Veteran and Purple Heart recipient Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jumpsalot-2 2 #69 July 23, 2011 Sounds like a great drop zone Gene.Life is short ... jump often. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mjosparky 3 #70 July 24, 2011 Game, set, match for Startskydiving. SparkyMy idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waveoff5500 0 #71 July 24, 2011 annnnddddddd boom goes the dynomite. "its just a normal day at the dropzone until its not" 1653 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jrmrangers 0 #72 July 24, 2011 WOW! All i hear now is crickets.Wait , I pull what first? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FreeFallFiend 0 #73 July 24, 2011 Quote annnnddddddd boom goes the dynomite. Win.Fiend I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
weaverd 0 #74 July 25, 2011 @ Gene and Start Skydiving....Phenominal response and great job on all of the community service!!!! I wish more dropzones were like you. If I am ever able to afford a trip to the states to skydive I know exactly where I am going ;) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonathan.newman 1 #75 July 25, 2011 Rhonda, I'm surprised that Gene offered to fly you up to come see the DZ. I hope you take him up on that. You would be welcomed the same as any jumper -- and you could meet our lovely manifestresses (we don't have manifest b!^#es) and some of the refugees from that other DZ. Perhaps you could even give a seminar on style and accuracy. And you could certainly help in the tandem rotation. There are 63 reservations for today -- on a monday. Jonathan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
