Krip 2 #1 February 10, 2012 Hi Ladies and Gents In another forum a person is trying to improve the retention rate of Tandem students in the sport to greater than 20%. What do the s/l instructors from pre tandem, AFF, tunnel days estimate their retntion rate was after the students first S/l. I never was a jumpmaster, or a FJC instructor but from the lack of new faces on the DZ located in the boondocks, I would estimate the retention rate to be < than 3%. Was the retention rate a lot better than that in places like jumping heaven cali, florida, texas, arizona etc that much better? If the retention rate has improved that much why are the USPA membership numbers almost staying a constant 32K more or less. Senior jumpers dropping out at 20%/year? I'm so confused, time to take another nap, or did I just wake up. R.One Jump Wonder Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
obelixtim 100 #2 February 10, 2012 Most of my SL students did another jump if the weather, daylight, slots on the plane were conducive to doing so. I would be guessing, but overall I would say it would have been 30 - 40 % doing a second jump....It was something I always pushed hard. If you go to the numbers who got an A licence, I guess the figure would be a lot less...maybe 5 %. But that was prolly due to the fact that for 4 or 5 years we were a travelling jump circus, operating at 6 different DZ's, so only got to visit every 5 or 6 weeks... For a number of years 25% of A licences issued in NZ were issued to jumpers who came through my courses. I "made" a lot of skydivers who went on to become TM's, jumpmasters and instructors. In later years a lot of these students came from abroad....so were lost to the NZ scene.My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonstark 8 #3 February 10, 2012 I ran a rural DZ in Georgia. We figured about 5% would make it to freefall and 1% would stick around for more than 50 jumps. Sad but true. One thing we did was to close the DZ one weekend each month to go to a Boogie in Deland, Palatka, Fernandina, Z-hills, Barnwell, etc. Tried to show our students that there was more to skydiving than landing in a peanut field. jon Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wmw999 2,121 #4 February 10, 2012 I was at a fairly large DZ in Texas, and retention was low there, too. The more advertising that's done for new students, the smaller the percentage who keep doing it. Makes sense, though -- by advertising, you're attracting people who aren't dedicated enough to go looking for it. Wendy P.There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drjump 0 #5 February 10, 2012 Post first jumps were a lot less expensive, in the S/L days. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Krip 2 #6 February 10, 2012 Quote Post first jumps were a lot less expensive, in the S/L days. HI Dr Everything was a lot less expensive back then. Except long distance telephone calls and pocket calculatorsThe cost of PC's , cell phones, cable T.V. went from zero to R. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve1 5 #7 February 13, 2012 Things are different now. The expense of skydiving today, is a big factor. It holds a lot of people back from going on to becoming an experienced skydiver. In the old days, even a starving college kid, like myself, was able to scrape together the money to jump. A first jump course in the 70's was only $50. Jumps after that were $3.50. Even if you figure in the rate of inflation that was cheap....Most all of our jumpers were college age jumpers back then. Brutal landings, under round canopies, was a reason for that, but young people could afford to jump. Our old college jump club is still in existence. There are literally no college students in it. Many people (of all ages) come out to make a tandem, but that's usually their last jump. A few older jumpers (with money) end up sticking with it. Things were cheap in the old days, but jumping (even then) was not for everybody. Very few stuck with it, to make ten or more jumps. I'd venture to say that the retention rate was higher back then....I think that the affordability of skydiving then had a lot to do with that. The price of a hospital visit was cheap too. In the 70's I rodeo'd and skydived, both without medical insurance. I made more than one emergency room visit and hospital stay, and even one ambulance ride. None of that cost much, back then. That's all changed. I also wonder about the young "whipper-snappers" these days. It seems that many would rather play video games, than to risk life or limb jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. When I was young I wanted to be an "Outdoorsman". Now days, many kids seem to want to be "Indoorsmen". Maybe that too has an effect on the number of people who go on to become jumpers. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RogerRamjet 0 #8 February 16, 2012 QuoteI ran a rural DZ in Georgia. We figured about 5% would make it to freefall and 1% would stick around for more than 50 jumps. Sad but true. One thing we did was to close the DZ one weekend each month to go to a Boogie in Deland, Palatka, Fernandina, Z-hills, Barnwell, etc. Tried to show our students that there was more to skydiving than landing in a peanut field. jon I'd say the retention rate at Z-Hills was similar. I believe Hooper told me when I started training static line students that only 1 in a 100 would complete the 5 jump SL course and do a freefall. Of those, only 1 in a 100 would complete 100 or more jumps. I expect the same math worked for 1000 or more jumps... ----------------------- Roger "Ramjet" Clark FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wmw999 2,121 #9 February 16, 2012 Quote1 in a 100 would complete the 5 jump SL course and do a freefall. Of those, only 1 in a 100 would complete 100 or more jumps. I expect the same math worked for 1000 or more jumps...My mom always said I was one in 1000... Wendy P.There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fastphil 0 #10 February 16, 2012 QuoteQuote1 in a 100 would complete the 5 jump SL course and do a freefall. Of those, only 1 in a 100 would complete 100 or more jumps. I expect the same math worked for 1000 or more jumps...My mom always said I was one in 1000... Wendy P. Hi Wendy, I think of you as more of a one of a kind... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Krip 2 #11 February 17, 2012 Quote Quote Quote 1 in a 100 would complete the 5 jump SL course and do a freefall. Of those, only 1 in a 100 would complete 100 or more jumps. I expect the same math worked for 1000 or more jumps... My mom always said I was one in 1000... Wendy P. Hi Wendy, I think of you as more of a one of a kind... +1 in a good wayOne Jump Wonder Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sebcat 0 #12 March 4, 2012 My conscious self was formed in the 90's so I wasn't around when PONG came out, but I've heard that the resolution was terrible and it didn't even have any colors! I mean, come on. Of course you'd have to resort to jumping out of air planes, what else could you do? Either that, or flipping cows. I like the outdoors, if it's any consolation. I will probably look back on that day in thirty years, thinking how things where better. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve1 5 #13 March 6, 2012 I always figured that I wanted to try base jumping. Most of my younger years involved adrenaline. Looking back I figure that I'm lucky to still be here. I've got a friend with thousands of jumps and hundreds of base jumps. B.J. Worth filmed one of his base jumps...(skimming close to the ground). He said about the only thing he hasn't done is die. Adrenaline may not be a good thing. Sometimes it's hard to turn it off, and live a different life.... So, maybe that is what I'm trying to do now. My wife and I may see our first grandchild this year. I want to be around for that. I do miss skydiving, rodeoing, and other dangerous times....but I'm trying to quit. I had a good friend killed in a plane crash yesterday. A low pass followed by a steep climb, with an overloaded aircraft, didn't work. The plane crashed in front of their farm house. Times like that make you re-evaluate what is important in life..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hodges 4 #14 March 6, 2012 I wouldn't say it's a money thing. Our British University Club offers the RAPS course and first jump for £150, and further jumps for £15. We train between 60-80 new members each year and only a handful ever gain their A cert. Some people want to do it, most just want to have done it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyrider 0 #15 March 15, 2012 I started out at Otay,Here in Dago, (back wehn Mumma owned it, Not Buzz, Buzz was jumping there though, I'd say 5 percent came back for a second, 1 percent saw it threw to Freefall, 1 tenth of one percent did what I did, start working at the DZ to pay their way threw student status... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
