Shameless plug for Joe B. & MEL.

[RMURRAY 1]

I agree with the original poster. nothing but great service from Skyworks. my advice, forget email and pick up the phone until you get it worked out.

do you guys have a JVX rds working the way you want yet?

rm

[chachi 0]

joe- probably no need to see a pic of the slider as it is in Mel's hands. i returned it to him. the one i had did not have close to 5" of cable, more like 3 (?) - not having it here i am guessing. the binding tape looked to me like maybe 1.5" folded over and then sewn. it was your guys' model. mel confirmed to me where it got shipped to. like i said, no matter what jump 1,2, or sometimes 3 cables were out during the opening sequence. my pack jobs hold the slider firmly in place so i know there was no excess mucking around causing it to come out.

regardless of the slider problem's, which i didn't really care that much about (cutaway's are sort of fun) the after service has been a non-existant.

[golowjoe 0]

I've been working with Paul Russow personally and the last one I sent him he said worked perfectly and any deployment speed . He's putting more jumps on it but I believe it is all worked out .
As for 3" extra of line on the slider . I personally have never built a slider with only 3" extra and wouldn't . And I don't use 1 1/2" tape for the extra line . Maybe Mel tried something new or your measurements are not correct . If for some reason you can't get in touch with him PM me and I will and we will get this resolved . Thank you Joe Bennett

[masterrigger1 2]

Rob,
You have my phone number, so please use it.

For the record:
We built three sliders as a project quite a while back.(April 2005)
One for John Z.
Two for Nick Boyd.

Rob somehow got one of these.
It was never a purchased slider or let me say I was never paid for this slider.

When I first was aware of a problem, Rob was blasting away here on DZ.com in January of 2006.
His canopy was delivered in November of 2004.

I sent Nick the sliders in April of 2005, not knowing one went to Rob.

I asked to see the slider after the posting here on DZ.com. That was January 05, 2006.

I received it in April 2006.

I had no idea it was one of the "project" sliders, in fact I could not find anything that showed a sale of a RDS system to Rob.

I was in California with my "other" job as always in the Spring and Fall seasons when the Slider came to the shop the first week of April.

I returned home in Mid-May with the good thoughts of replacing the slider free of charge even though it was free from my standpoint to begin with.

But with PM's with subject lines with 'Well........'

'the slider is worthless, I would rather trade it for a line set......'

I just have problems with that!

I try to help out people as best I can, ( and still will),
but I have a problem with demanding attitudes.

Also, I am in the shop right now and will be all day!

Pick up the phone..............


MEL

Skyworks Parachute Service, LLC
www.Skyworksparachuteservice.com

[ntacfreefly 0]

Ahhh the other side to the story. I knew there had to be an explanation!

Chachi....looks like you might want to give out all the facts next time, before you start slamming people.

Frankly Mel, I wouldn't do shit for him at this point.

Blues,
Ian

To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders. ~ Lao-Tzu

It's all good, they're my brothers ~ Mariann Kramer

[Spizzzarko 0]

I have to agree with Ian, Joe, and Mel on this one here folks. There's always going to be someone who spouts off at the keyboard and complaining just because they like to hear them self talk. I guess you can call them the 1%er's. 99% of the people here have had positive things to say about Mel and Joe to include their products. Well with Chachi's attitude here on line I would say Mel is doing just fine by ignoring him (if that is the case).

Grant

[chachi 0]

the final plot in the story was that i got this slider through simon at icarus whom i made the deal to purchase the canopy with a removeable slider. the purchase was supposed to be made from simon which makes no difference to me. i paid for the product, he arranged the shipping. if he didn't pay you that isn't my fault.

you said send you the slider and we could work out an exchange. i didn't even care in the beginning just had posted in a thread about my slider that caused a malfunction. you insisted in making it right in the beginning.

[chachi 0]

While I realize that i took a little longer to get it off to you than I had hoped it was frustrating to send it to you and then know you were online and not responding to my enquiries. We had discussed on the phone that I really don't want another removable slider as I think they pack terribly and was hoping to work the exchange for a line kit for an FX 92. Please adivse.

i appreciate your dealing with matters. Time delays happen in business, keeping the customer informed saves tons of grief.


that was my terrible message. we did chat on the phone and you said you would have no problem with the line kit. it is the only reason that i sent it out as i said i did not care for the openings. everything was reasonable and i almost ordered an HMA line set from you for my VX94 but never heard back from you.

[cessna54tango 0]

I have had 2 of joes removable sliders. one for my 99xf2 and now for my 83 xaos 27. i had no problem with the way they packed at all, in both canopies. i had the whole rds system on both canopies. on the xf2 it made asolutly no difference on opeing wether at terminal or pull and plays. on the xaos it doesnt open bad at all just a little inconsistant. sometimes it opens beautifully sometimes slightly wild, but who knows, i could be cocked or something but anyways, i cant speak for mel cause i never talked to him but i talked to joe on numerous occasions and he returned my call every time. when ne built my xaos slider, he worked on it before he was going to go on vacation to have it out to me in 3 days after i called him! he sent it to me even before he recieved the check from me. i think this just goes to show what kind of people these guys are. so go ahead and get one anyone who is interested.

[kamalasound 0]

I have purchased 2 complete RDS systems from Mel and 2 HMA line sets last month.
I live in Europe and everything was perfect from first time e-mail to post sales service.
Openings are good in any condition..............
I am a happy skydiver!! ;-))
Thanks Mel

[masterrigger1 2]

Rob,
This probably needs to be a PM, but I will help put this to rest now.
What type of Line set? ...Vectran or HMA?

Your call.


BS,
MEL


PS - In the end,you and I are the ones standing out looking, well....,stupid after this is over.
Try using the phone more.
I am deaf,dumb,and stupid, but I will talk to you!!!

Skyworks Parachute Service, LLC
www.Skyworksparachuteservice.com

[dharma1976 0]

does anyone have any suweet pictures of them swooping with there Skyworks RDS shoved in thier shirts or anything that THey would be willing to have used in the design of THe new skyworks rigging site?

Send em to me at [email protected]

Dave

http://www.skyjunky.com

CSpenceFLY - I can't believe the number of people willing to bet their life on someone else doing the right thing.

[raymod2 1]

Based on all the glowing reviews on dz.com I ordered an RDS from Mel over two months ago on March 14. On three separate occasions he has failed on promises to deliver it. Twice he said it would be done "by the end of the week" and the last time I spoke to him he said it would be done "by the end of the day". That was two weeks ago. The latest message on his answering machine says he was "back in the shop" last Thursday but I called that afternoon and got no answer. I left him several messages on his cell phone (because the answering machine at his shop is full) and he has not returned any of my calls. Does anybody know of a way to contact him?

[kamalasound 0]

I am trying to get in touch with him, but still no success. I thought he was out of office for some time.

[frost 1]

Welcome to the club...

I have been happy with the way MEL treated me in the past. BUT. as much as i hate to say it I have been very disappointed with the way he has handled his business lately.

Local DZ friend had to wait months before getting canopy that was promised to be delivered within two-three weeks.

Several fellow FL CPC competitors have been very unhappy with his services. From putting wrong linesets to not delivering on time and very late. Most of them have said the only reason they send their business his way is because they dont know anyone else who can do these things (like HMA relines)...

My associates from Russia ordered 3 sliders from MEL 7 months ago. For 5 months they have been getting a runaround. He was either ignoring their emails or coming up with excuses. After they contacted me i was able to get it resolved by calling him week after week... took me ONLY two months for them to finally receive their sliders.... without the stainless rings! Rings were still to be sent out, pending a new supplier, not sure if they got them...

MEL's excuses have been ranging from his other job as a nuclear engineer to house break ins to bad suppliers. I can understand a single case, but time after time? I also have very little patience for people that promise a lot but deliver nothing. If he'd tell me that he could get my stuff back to me in 2 months, but then get it to me in 6 weeks i'd be a LOT happier then if he'd tell me I could have it in two weeks but then get it to me in 6...

Mark, if you're reading this, please, take notes. It doesnt matter if your other job is your main source of income and rigging is just something you do for fun. No matter what - you ARE running a business and people ARE relying on you. Serious people, competitors, people who need their canopies for a living. You cannot expect them to be happy if you promise them things but deliver them in such bad manner. I say all this with respect for your expertise and not to badmouth you but to hopefully get you to see the point. You can see in my prior replies that i praised your work, but lately there have been just too many unhappy campers...

[JohnnyZ 0]

If you guys are looking for an alternative, Kirk at Para-Concepts (Skydive Chicago's gear store) did a great job installing HMA's on my JVX and my Velocity... And it took him only 2 or 3 days on both occasions. He's making RDS's too.
I wouldn't deal with the b.s. that it sounds like you guys are going through. Do what you say you're gonna do... That is, if you want to stay in business very long!

[superstu 0]

http://www.peaengineering.com/rds.htm

highest quality RDS i've jumped and you can get it in a reasonable time frame.

Slip Stream Air Sports
Do not go softly, do not go quietly, never back down

[berchtoldaj 0]

I am currently jumping PEA sliders as well. I wouldn't hesitate to give one to my mother, even though she wouldnt know what to do with a slider let alone a $300 removable one?!?
The design does some things I have failed to see from many other after market manufacturers. It provides a design that closely resembles that of the sliders the canopy was engineered and tested to open above, one with the grommets inside the perimeter of the border. Second the designs seems to be much less suseptible to manufacturing flaws than other designs.
Proof is in the results though, personally I've never been smacked by one or had a cut away with it on, and thats what I jump on both my rigs. Like Sex over my head..........

************
Watch out for planters.

[bbl 0]

The customer service was amazing with peaengineering. Scott at PEA got me a slider next day. Beautiful openings. Thanks again Scott if you are reading this.

[eUrNiCc 0]

As of now, is anyone making a RDS specifically for the JVX other than Paraconcepts? I heard Mel has one available, but I haven't seen any pictures yet.

Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.

[CanuckInUSA 0]

Quote

As of now, is anyone making a RDS specifically for the JVX other than Paraconcepts?

Unfortunately I can't answer this question, except to say that I have an RDS for my JVX from ParaConcepts and I am very happy with it's design and it's performance.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[skykeith 0]

I hav pd style rings an one completed slider for a 96 and smaller, I use on a jvx 85 , 83, 77 ect....
[email protected]