PWScottIV

FYI, we've contacted 50, yes fifty, skydiving equipment companies and most of them have agreed to send things like 50% off coupons, gear, and lots of other stuff... So, if you like free stuff, then THIS is the place to be on the 30th! Gravity Waits for No One.

Every time you load this thread, you increment the "views" counter. Same here. I've viewed this thread three times, but only have one "no" vote. How many times have you loaded this thread? It doesn't show unique views. That being said, overall I believe night helicopter jumps are exceedingly rare in skydiving. There was a place near here that did them once or twice a month for a few years, and I have a lot of friends who have done them. I never did because helicopter jumps tend to cost way too much for what I get out of them, day or night. I do love night jumps though, and just did my 8th and 9th last night. I know, and I did mention that above. But in reality, most jumpers are probably only going to check this tread out once on average... Even if you consider two views on average, we're still looking at only 4%... Like you said, no matter how you look at it, night helicopter jumps ARE very rare as far as recreational skydiving goes. Gravity Waits for No One.

Or you could just tell him it must be an ID ten T error. Gravity Waits for No One.

Thanks! Gravity Waits for No One.

Thanks! I loved the couple night jumps I've done from planes, but I'm sure it's gonna be way cool to jump from a helicopter! Gravity Waits for No One.

550 views and 12 "Yes" votes... Still right at 2%... Seems like that value is staying remarkably stable. Gravity Waits for No One.

Here's the kicker... Our DZO, Pete Goulding, is focused much more on passing on the savings to the jumpers! You're right, he could make a killing with this machine... Only $14 for fun jumpers and, the unofficial price we've been discussing for tandems is $100. Which should do a pretty good job of sucking up much of the potential customers in the area. And to top it off, Pete's an awesome guy. Gravity Waits for No One.

It wouldn't make sense to vote for each time you did one, because the question was "have you done one", not "how many". Yeah, my 2% estimate may be off... However, 25% isn't even close. I personally think it works pretty well to look at the page views as "No" votes. I'm guessing anyone who comes into the thread and HAS done a night jump WILL vote... It's the viewers who haven't done one who are not going to bother voting. Also, think about how many skydivers you know... Then think about how many you truly believe have done a night helicopter jump... You know it's not many... You know it's not every one in four, right? I probably only personally know less than 100 skydivers myself, but to the best of my knowlege none of them have done a night helicopter jump. The aircraft we're jumping is the FoxHole Aviation FX-950. it's based on the 182 airframe, but that's where the similarities end. It has over 40 major modifications and is the result of over 4 years of re-engineering and coordination with the FAA... It is not just a boring old 182. Gravity Waits for No One.

Were they cool experiences for you? Gravity Waits for No One.

And where/when did you do your jump/s? Gravity Waits for No One.

375 views and 8 "Yes" Votes... Still at about 2%. Gravity Waits for No One.

Yep, the hangovers are gonna run half way into the next week... Good thing I don't get hung over Gravity Waits for No One.

God is doin a new thang: http://youtu.be/1ppisOulgG0 Gravity Waits for No One.

Not a very accurate accounting of the skydiving community. What percentage of jumpers log on to this site? Sparky It's true, I have absolutely no idea of how many non-skydivers read this forum, nor do I know if they accurately represent the whole of the skydiving community... However, I bet more than 50% of the people reading this forum are skydivers... Even way over estimating like that, only 4% of skydivers would have done a night skydive in their lives. Also, it's not a very accurate indicator, but if you search on google for various word combinations/compositions of essentially "helicopter night jumping", nearly nothing comes up. In addition, on all of YouTube I could only find one helicopter night jump video. Gravity Waits for No One.

Ok, so we have over 300 views... And 7 "Yes" votes... Therefore, it looks like about 2% of skydivers have done a helicopter night jump. Gravity Waits for No One.

What is that? According to the FAA it's a 1960 Cessna 182C. The Foxhole Aviation FX-950 N8779T Skydiving Jump Aircraft is built from the 182 airframe, but that's where the similarities end... There were over 40 modifications, some of which were major... Including a more powerful engine, different propeller, modifications to the airframe, windows at the floor to assist with spotting, a rigid non-roll-up door, etc, etc. Gravity Waits for No One.

Where did you do them? Gravity Waits for No One.

Skydive Paso Robles is definitely one of the most enjoyable places I've jumped so far. Great people. Great facility. Amazingly low ticket prices. Peter Goulding "Pete" is the DZO of Skydive Paso Robles. The enjoyable, fun jumper friendly atmosphere can be credited to Pete's pleasing demeanor and vision for Skydive Paso Robles. Pete has been involved with skydiving for over two decades and is a master rigger examiner. -Scott

Ok, so, I know waaaay less than 25% of jumpers have done night helicopter jumps... I've spoken to several jumpers with thousands of jumps, and some who've been in the sport for a decade or more and they don't know anyone who's done one. Gravity Waits for No One.

Like I already mentioned above... The point of this thread is 100% to find out how many people have made night helicopter jumps... I guess your vote is NO, considering that you didn't bother voting. Does the link bother you? Gravity Waits for No One.

Ok, so looks like that's 3 for yes and 200 for NO... Gravity Waits for No One.

What is that? There's only one so far, but they're working on going into production on them. Two newspapers have done articles on it and our new dropzone recently and it's about to be shown in several aviation magazines and parachutist. Newspaper articles: http://medsparkllc.com/docs/PasoRoblesPress_7-8-11.pdf http://medsparkllc.com/docs/SkydivePasoRoblesArticle.pdf Gravity Waits for No One.

Actually, my main interest is REALLY to find out how many people have made night helicopter jumps... I didn't feel posting the link would be a problem... Does having the link in there bother you? Nope, doesn't bother me a bit. But then again I think calling an asshole an asshole is ok, but thats outside the rules, and when I do that, a greenie will come along and delete or lock it... lol, well let's hope nobody perceives my post as the same thing as calling people assholes. Gravity Waits for No One.

Sweet! That sounds like a fun one! Gravity Waits for No One.

Actually, my main interest is REALLY to find out how many people have made night helicopter jumps... I didn't feel posting the link would be a problem... Does having the link in there bother you? Gravity Waits for No One.