Skydiving: Burning Fossil Fuels for the Fun of It.

[jakee 1,254]

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UK pays $55 per jump.

I have no idea where you got that piece of info, especially as accurate UK jump prices have already been posted in this thread

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[mdrejhon 8]

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I have no idea where you got that piece of info, especially as accurate UK jump prices have already been posted in this thread

The exchange rate may have changed since, but 25 GBP was almost 55 USD at the end of year 2007 when the GBP was worth more than 2 dollars!

[Checked -- actually, yes the exchange rate is a bit better now. I should have mentioned $45 or $50, and for cheaper dropzones, more like $38-$40]

[bodypilot1 0]

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that's soon going to be double the cost of jumping at Lodi....

Here's one that will make him squeal. It's TWICE the cost, plus a dollar for the pack job. A block of 50 tickets at Lodi comes out to $13 per jump.......

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[virgin-burner 1]

i want to go to lodi!

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[jakee 1,254]

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The exchange rate may have changed since, but 25 GBP was almost 55 USD at the end of year 2007 when the GBP was worth more than 2 dollars!

So where were you paying £25?

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[VincentVL. 0]

I currently pay 16€ to 13K which is the cheapest you can get pretty much anywhere in Europe.

I would not be able to afford (read: enjoy) 24€.

[BoilingMidnight 0]

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The the DZs have less loads, increasing overhead per load, driving costs up even more, not being able to afford the larger planes when they can't be filled... Then gear manufactures have less sales as no one needs back-to-back rigs or two rigs for training... Nor do skydivers rigs wear out as quickly, so sales volume goes down in gear sales...

If your doomsday prediction were true, why are we still skydiving after all the gear and gas increases in the last 8 years? Or the 90s? Or the 80s?

Hint: Inflation may affect more than prices...

The economy is not a zero-sum game and you might better apply your mispent energy achieving a better income, or reading this: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?r=1&ISBN=9780764557262&ourl=Economics%2Dfor%2DDummies%2FSean%2DMasaki%2DFlynn

"Iþ ik qiþa izwis, ni andstandan allis þamma unseljin."

[el6uapo 0]

Has anybody ever heard of adding tiny amounts of acetone to fuel to improve fuel economy?

This arcticel is very interesting anyway.

Any comments from pilots?

http://www.pureenergysystems.com/news/2005/03/17/6900069_Acetone/

If somebody could make this "clicky" I'd appreciate it.

[LongWayToFall 0]

http://www.pureenergysystems.com/news/2005/03/17/6900069_Acetone/

Interesting article, however it is not feasible for aircraft use, first reason being that you would need to be approved by quite a few different manufacturers to use it in just one aircraft, possibly the FAA, etc, just allot of paperwork and you will probably never get the ok. Second reason being, turbine engines are pretty darn efficient, and having a more volatile fuel is not going to give you the same results as your inefficient car engine.

[billstap 0]

if the prices go higher then 30 dollars a jump i am heading to VENEZUELA....

if you dont know about venezuela look it up under dropzones and take there jump ticket cost and run it through the currency converter

we should start a "world jump tickets suck boogie" down there

****how do they do it ---- not that i disagree with the EPA (environmental protection agency) but they dont have one so they can tap into the gold mine below the gulf of mexico!?

[billvon 2,380]

> Has anybody ever heard of adding tiny amounts of acetone to fuel to improve fuel economy?

Yep. And magnets on the fuel line, and magic MPG increasers, and air filters that double your gas mileage. These devices/additives have made a few people pretty rich, but don't do anything for gas mileage.

[crashtested 0]

Maybe Americans as a nation could start eating less... the faa might let you put more people in your planes.. droping the price by a persons worth or to
in a porter you could save $2 each.

Or you could start getting more fuel efficent cars saving money driving to the dz..

Or you could so for saudi next time rather then iraq.. they have loadsssss of oil. :P

I think i like the first idea best...

[JohnDeere 0]

Take your liberal speach to Speaker corner.

Nothing opens like a Deere!

You ignorant fool! Checks are for workers!

[crashtested 0]

I think these were some good ideas... liberal or not.

Maybe not the saudi one, that was to far..

But the not eating so much.. and the MPG. both valid points.

I hear that in the us you already charge bigger people more money if they take up 2 seats on airplanes....

[LongWayToFall 0]

Maybe if we were eating food that tasted like balls, such as you have "across the pond", then we wouldn't weight so much. Damn you America! Stop making good food!

[billvon 2,380]

> Maybe Americans as a nation could start eating less . . .

I figure this was half joking, but we do see the difference between a tandem load of Japanese students from the language school and a load of visiting Georgians. Indeed, the FAA is looking at re-evaluating its "standard passenger" since the average american is getting heavier. This will definitely affect airlines and may end up affecting skydiving operations as well.

Years ago I ran some actual vs estimated weight and balance numbers for our Beech 99 and realized we were often over max T/O weight, since we were assuming 200lbs per jumper. That particular problem was helped by the introduction of manifesting software that could give a total weight for the load, but in many places the rule is still X people per plane no matter what the weight.

[Chrisky 0]

Boohoooo. 27 USD? Hahaha! Dude...

How's it for 28 EUR as we pay over here? That's like 42 USD... I just wish we had your prices. Kerosene is 1.98 EUR per litre over here - Diesel is at around 1.52 EUR/lit. Damn China.

The mind is like a parachute - it only works once it's open.
From the edge you just see more.
... Not every Swooper hooks & not every Hooker swoops ...

[quade 3]

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There has gotta be a lot of people, or at least some people, in skydiving who just don't enjoy it enough for $X per jump and will soon walk away...

I don't think it's just skydiving. I think that we're going to see a major shift in the way a LOT of things happen here in the next 10 or so years.

A $20 jump ticket a few years ago going up to $27 today isn't that big of a deal. However, it's not the incremental price increase of ONE thing that will keep people from skydiving, but the price of everything combined. What used to be the "$100" weekend skydiving trip for the average person is going to be "$200" when you add up everything.

Eventually there will only be two kinds of people skydiving; the very rich and people that live in a trailer on the dropzone working for the school.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[billstap 0]

ok i am going to go back to school, get a mechanical/electrical engineering degree, buy a hangar/airport and build/design a new hybrid airplane

anyone got a few hundred million dollars they can spare me!?

[billvon 2,380]

>and build/design a new hybrid airplane

Not sure if a hybrid aircraft would help. Jump aircraft are in one of two modes - full power and zero power. Hybrids help when you don't need max power all the time.

I've been thinking more along these lines myself:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE2DB1439F932A15754C0A961948260

[n23x 0]

Dig out the paraglider. How much gas does it cost to hike to the top launch all day long?

Plus you don't have to deal with the general landing douchebaggery at MH.

.jim

"Don't touch my fucking Easter eggs, I'll be back monday." ~JTFC

[crashtested 0]

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> Maybe Americans as a nation could start eating less . . .

I figure this was half joking, but we do see the difference between a tandem load of Japanese students from the language school and a load of visiting Georgians. Indeed, the FAA is looking at re-evaluating its "standard passenger" since the average american is getting heavier. This will definitely affect airlines and may end up affecting skydiving operations as well.

Years ago I ran some actual vs estimated weight and balance numbers for our Beech 99 and realized we were often over max T/O weight, since we were assuming 200lbs per jumper. That particular problem was helped by the introduction of manifesting software that could give a total weight for the load, but in many places the rule is still X people per plane no matter what the weight.

Fat tax bill its the only way fwd....

[billstap 0]

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>and build/design a new hybrid airplane

Not sure if a hybrid aircraft would help. Jump aircraft are in one of two modes - full power and zero power. Hybrids help when you don't need max power all the time.

I've been thinking more along these lines myself:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE2DB1439F932A15754C0A961948260

wait i dont know about you but didnt your mom tell you to not stare at the microwave or you will get cancer, now they want to transmit them waves all over the earth, sketchy

[billstap 0]

wait a minute i think i got it --- lets build a thirteen thousand foot staircase!!!!!



i know it didnt work in the bible but hey you never know

[kallend 1,620]

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Take your liberal speach to Speaker corner.

Does that mean obesity is a conservative idea?

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.