hchunter614

If they stay booked without advertising then why spend the money on it?

In the FJCs that I teach I also mention that they should expect another malfunction if they are able to clear the horseshoe and to be ready to either try to fix it (if above the hard deck) or execute EPs if at or below the hard deck.

In student training we teach that if a pilot chute goes out the door, whoever is attached to it also goes out the door. If it's yours, you follow it out. If it's someone elses you push them out.

I would say that if a lawsuit can result from using a radio the same lawsuit can happen because of using paddles. "The school choose to use an outdated, inferior method of communicating with the student." You can paint any picture you want using any method there is.

It knows that the cell tower you're connecting through is in a specific area code and routes you according to that area code instead of the area code of the cell phone.

The only way you ever get better at anything is to push yourself, be it jumping with people that are better than you or playing against a team that is better than yours. If you're never pushed, you never advance. I think you have the right attitude (listen to and accept their help) and shouldn't be too hard on yourself. Also, don't be afraid to speak up and be honest if you feel the dive plan is just too far above your skill level. One thing I always have problems with is dive plans that include a lot of different points (not the same 3 or 4 repeated but turely different points) so I ask if we can break the jump up into a couple of tries and aim for getting the 1st 4 or 5 points successfully then add the others. Good luck and have fun!

I hope you don't kill someone else trying to "learn the hard way". Seems like you're only concerned with yourself not your fellow jumpers that may be in the air with you.

Don't do too much prep. There is only a limited amount of information that you'll need for your first jump and that will be covered in your FJC (First Jump Course). The AFF training program is designed to present limited amounts of information when a student is ready for it and then build on what was previously taught. Also, each instructor/DZ has different ways of teaching the material. There will be plenty of time for you to learn.

The bigger concer is the little Cessna that is flying below the clouds like they should be for VFR, not some "yokel without a radio at 13K".

I never said I exit if I can't see the ground. If you read the post I was replying to (RustyOaks) it asked "How good of a scan for air traffic do most people do in clear air anyway? Does the cloud really change much?". That was the point I was addressing.

If I'm spotting I lay down on my stomach and stick my head out of the door to check for traffic when the door opens.

Not only can you not see the ground but you also can't see any other aircraft that might be below the clouds.

Did you check the USPA website or The Parachutist? CHeck out page 40 of the April 10th issue of Parachutist. It has exactly what you're looking for, pie chart and all.

Sangi, Why don't you take a week and go back through all of the posts in the incidents forum and then look for posts by the people that the incidents are about. You'll find more corelation that you'd like to admit. I remember a saying I saw on here (although not exactly so I'll paraphrase)... "When you start skydiving you start out with 2 buckets. One full of luck and the other empty of skill. Every jump you take a little luck out and hopefully move it to the skill bucket. If your luck bucket runs out before your skill bucket is full then you're going to be in a world of hurt" Also remember that you might not kill yourself but you may kill a friend that you're jumping with. Could you live with that?

You thank what ever diety you believe in that you got his cutaway and not his reserve (and deployed his reserve over the tail and killed him like happened last year).

Another issue is that some people don't use the tape to mount their GoPros, they drill holes in their helmet and use nuts/bolts. In fact of all of the jumpers I've seen at my DZ that have the GoPros, none of them have used the tape, they have all bolted it on. Guess what, those aren't going to break away like the sticky tape will. I think it's only a matter of time before we have a fatality from someone using one of these cameras.

If you received a 1099 for the income you made from being an instructor you can use Schedule C (Profit or Loss From Business) and deduct your training expenses from potential profit. You need to have receipts to prove the expenses. NOTE: I am not a CPA so check with your tax professional.

But The Beach is only a summer attraction. The 3 water park resorts in Sandusky are indoor and year round with much of their business during the winter months. Therefore you would have tourists year round.

Why not Sandusky? Cincy only has Kings Island and 1 indoor water resort (Great Wolf Lodge). Sandusky has Cedar Point and 3 indoor water resorts (Great Wolf, Kalahari and Castaway Bay). I think that you could draw quite a bit of business from those indoor water resorts in the winter months. Taking a little trip to the wind tunnel would break up the stay at the resort. Also Chicago is only a 4 hour drive plus you have at least 10 other major metropolatin areas within a couple hour drive. Sandusky is much more of a tourist destination than Cincy is. (But I'd be a happy camper if it was in Columbus - lol - hell I'd be happy if it was in the state)

Just got back from Florida. On the trip from Columbus (CMH) to MCO the rig went right thru Xray. On the way home today the screener stopped it and asked if I had the X-Ray card then sent it for a swab.

Actually Sandusky would be a good location. There are at least 3 indoor waterpark resorts that are usually fully booked over the winter months. Not to mention all of the bored skydivers that can't jump during the winter months.

I sold a canopy to GravityGirl when I downsized and she was a pleasure to work with. Would use her again in a heartbeat.

Did anyone take the time to check out proskydiving.com? I did. Check out the info under "For DZs" "How much does it cost? It's free to sign up and there are no monthly fees to be a PROskydiving Network Dropzone. PROskydiving only charges for actual sales. Only if a customer purchases a jump package or redeems a gift certificate for your dropzone will you be charged. We've designed our system to allow you to set your own listing price for both jumps and video options. For purchases that originate on PROskydiving.com, redemption rates are based on a fixed 80% of the total sale. In addition, dropzones can receive an extra 5% redemption bonus (for a total redemption of 85%) per purchase if an official link back to PROskydiving is maintained on your dropzone's website. For reservations that originate from your dropzone's website, fees range between 4.9 - 5.9% based on estimated annual volume. PROskydiving covers all credit card fees and SSL security. Reimbursements are made via check or ACH bank transfer once a week." So it seems like their fees are similar to slyride. I also checked out godaddy.com to get an idea on the cost of their shopping cart. I had a detailed breakdown typed out but hit the wrong key and lost it so I'm just going to give the summary here. My calculations were based on $239/tandem, 5 tandems sold online/weekend, 20 weekends for a total of 100 tandems booked online = $23900 godaddy.com Shopping cart fee - $9.49/mo = $113.88/yr Yearly hosting fee - included in shopping cart SSL fee - $29.99/yr CC Fees - $180/yr + $.20/trans + .0253 (2.53%) of total trans ($180 + $20 + $604.67) = $804.67/yr Grand total using godaddy.com = $948.54/yr Grand total using proskydiving = $23900 x .2 (20%) = $4700/yr Difference = + $3751.46 by using godaddy.com godaddy.com percentage cost = ~.04 (4%) proskydiving.com percentage cost = .20 (20% as stated on their website) I do not see any advertising being done by proskydiving.com. I did some google searches (using locations listed as proskydiving sites) and none of the searches showed any links back to proskydiving.com.

I stow my brakes after I land (before dropping the toggles to prevent as many twists as possible) then set them when I get to the packing area to help the packers out. I try to remember to untwist the brake lines at the end of the weekend so that the twists are not set in but that doesn't always happen.

I believe he was meaning "Open Forum" as in one that many people frequent. Open also meaning public. You've been posting in an "open forum" this entire time.