Doug_Davis

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Posts posted by Doug_Davis

  1. neflier

    I was on the Anthem over New Years. There was no option to purchase additional time. They did not have the capacity to give everyone who wanted it their free 1 minute.

    After being unable to book online, I was one of the first to board the ship. The first thing I did was go the the area to sign up. They told me I was lucky as it had been sold out for a while, but a few additional sessions were just added.

    So book early and don't expect more than the 1 minute.

    It was kinda cool to be in a tunnel looking out over the stern of the ship.



    Thanks for the accurate review. That kills any desire I had for wanting to do it.

  2. DJL, makes some very good points.

    Additionally I would add....

    Marketing and advertising dont have to cost you dollars out of your actual budget. Personal recommendations are one of the strongest and most reliable means of selling a product. I know. I formerly owned the largest canoe and kayak retail and whitewater training center in the state Kentucky. 50-60% of my customers walked in my door because they had friends who paddled and wanted to join them. Of those 75% of their friends were former customers of mine who recommended our store and trainers.
    How do you use this for tandems? PARTNER WITH YOUR FUN JUMPERS.
    Tell your fun jumpers who are going to tell their friends about their sport and where it is they jump, that for every 5 tandems they send through the door they get a free lift ticket to full altitude. Or 5 free pack jobs. Reward them for sending customers your way!
    On safety day at your DZ do a special reward for the local fun jumper who sent the most throughout the year. New helmet or reserve pack or something extra special.

    Use the tandem customers themselves....
    When someone calls to arrange a jump, tell them if they bring a friend who also jumps they both get 10% off or a free DZ t-shirt (they wear the free t-shirt and advertise for you).

    Use donations to local non-profits. Every community has local nonprofits from environmental groups to community theaters to city's orchestra...and they are always holding silent auctions or trying to fundraise. Donate a tandem jump or a ground school course and first static/aff jump to their auction/fundraiser. It gets you seen and noticed by new people.

    Use social media. Try and post a picture on your facebook page for as many of your tandem customers as you have every weekend and make sure to tag their names in it so all their friends and followers see the picture as well.

    Christmas time...make sure people are thinking of your business when they start thinking of Christmas presents. Either rent a booth in the local mall to sell gift certificates for tandem jumps (make sure you have a flat screen in the booth playing video from jumps) or pay to set up a static display (old square main and mannequin hanging from the inside ceiling of the mall) with information on your website and phone number and that you are offering a Christmas promotion.
    Like this:
    https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/da/00/77/da007776d7232ae2e526cc86b0c9369c.jpg

    If you ARE going to use Groupon be smart. You can negotiate a better than 50/50 cut. I always got 60/40 and after I made them some money I negotiated to 70/30.
    Also you can "adjust" the base price before they slap on the 50% discount the customer gets to make it a more profitable deal for you.

    For example our normal beginner 4 hr kayak course was $60. But for Groupon we used $75 as the base price and gave them 50% off that.

  3. According to Facebook there is a...

    Davis Wadsworth who has their profile and face hidden:
    https://www.facebook.com/davis.wadsworth?ref=br_rs

    or a David Wadsworth who is a skydiver but I dont think he is in NC:
    https://www.facebook.com/david.wadsworth1/photos

  5. According to all the reviews the video quality is better on the AS1000 versus the AZ1, but the smaller AZ would of course present less of a snag hazard.

    Guess I could fabricate something for myself.

    Drives me nuts there are like 50 bazzilion mounts for the GoPro, and no one has come up with a single one for the AZ1 yet. [:/]

  6. Im trying to decide between the Sony AS100 or the AZ1VR (mini).

    As of right now the AS100 is larger but I can get a side hinge mount for my G3 Cookie and I can order a flat front lens for use while scuba diving or kayaking as the standard curved lens on the waterproof housing causes some serious distortion.

    Has anyone heard anything about creating a side mount for the smaller AZ1 similar to the one Cookie made with the AS30 and AS100?

  11. Cooolwyp


    One question I ask... If you saw a bunch of other people able to do it successfully and safely, would you do it?



    No, not based on your design. Lots of people proxy fly wingsuits 5' off the ground every year too, and lots of them died this year as a result.

    Even if using a rear airborne launched platform such as a skyvan or casa, which eliminates the take off low ground risk, what happens if the person flying the wing does an abrupt climb in altitude and destroys the rear tail control surfaces such as the rudder or elevator with the tow line?

    I would be more inclined to try it with a rear air launched type design, but would still be concerned about the hazards of launching an inexperienced flier and the potential for damage to the plane.

  13. chuckakers

    ***14 jumps under my belt so far and I have a new-to-me jumpsuit with booties. I've been tucking the booties up both because they're way too long and because I want to learn to fly myself without relying on gear first. My choice is to wait until I have 50 jumps, then try them out for a few jumps and decide which way I want to go regarding using them or not.

    Some folks say what I'm doing is right. Learn to fly myself before adding anything extra. Then, it'll be adding a new skillset when I decide to start learning to fly with booties, but I'll be competent enough to not need them.

    Other folks say that once I learn booties I'll have to unlearn bad habits I've picked up without them.

    What are your opinions about newbies using booties? For it, against it, what's your reasoning?



    Don't over-think it. Booties are typically very easy to get used to, even for noobs. Get them altered to fit properly and go jump your ass off.

    BTW, my son was a dz kid and had his own jumpsuit before starting AFF, so he did his entire student training with booties and never had a problem.

    +1 No point in waiting till 50 jumps.

  15. Because it happened 20+ years ago? I doubt Im on the FBI most wanted list. And just for the record in Florida it wouldnt have been felony assault, since the victim wasnt a minor, I didnt use a deadly weapon, nor did I have a prior conviction for battery or assault.

  16. mereanarchy

    yup, I saw that, part of the reason I wanted to post. There is always a deeper story...



    15 and 18? Youthful indiscretion, especially if the girl consensually participated, as the attorney alleged.
    13 (the age of the 2nd victim) and 18? Oh fuck no. I will crush your nuts with a hammer. I had some 18 year old high school senior and life guard at the local pool try that with my little sister when she was 13, asked her to sneak out of the house. I put the kid in the hospital. I was never arrested and charges were never filed.

  18. stayhigh

    He has a thing for calling out names.

    What's my name again Doug? It's not slim shady.




    Keep up with the conversation. Scumpot wasnt refering to my post.
    Look carefully at who exactly he quoted. :S

  20. normiss

    What happened to innocent until proven guilty?



    Still alive and well.
    But in this case the accused has had two accusations against him, both in public, from two different families, both with multiple witnesses. And I didnt "out" him, all I did was post a publicly available news article.

    And he himself admitted in a text message with another member of the skydiving community, that has since been made public, that its okay because their havent been any accusations form within the skydiving community. So great, he's smart enough not to shit where he eats, that doesnt make it okay though.

    I bring my two and a half year old daughter to the DZ with me. As I know there is no cure for pedophilia, I would want to know if this guy was there.

  25. woppyvac

    $428?! The flipping equipment prices of gear just keeps climbing and climbing... sheesh.


    I cant speak to their production costs, so cant intelligently comment on their retail price. But compared to other helmets in other market segments (motorcycles, downhill skiing, etc) that do provide a much much higher level of safety and protection and at a comparative or even less expensive price than what is commonly available in the skydiving world....one could surmise the price for standard ABS plastic is a bit high.