craivn

One of my passions in the sport is to jump with AFF students and other low-timers to try to contribute to the growth of the sport, at least on the microscale of my dz. Because of frequent jumps with newbies, I have an AAD in all my rigs, and however much I may like the Argus unit, I cannot use it in any of my containers. On top, I know of at least one major dropzone that banned the use of Argus regardless of the container manufacturer. I read the letter on the front page of http://www.argus-aad.com/ and I completely understand the frustration. However, and I'm sure I'm not alone in this request, it would be great to know what Aviacom's plan of addressing the issue is. Should I keep the unit and wait for recall or some type of action that would convince container manufacturers to re-open the use of Arguses? Or should I shelve it and go for something else? Thank you for your advice!

Congrats on the jump(s)!!! To add to words of encouragement of others here, Type I diabetes should not preclude you or anyone else from skydiving, or doing any other sport for that matter, as long as you have it under control. I, for example, have Type 1 Diabetes, and have been in the sport for 8 years with over 1300 jumps, I'm an S&TA and an AFF instructor at my home dz. You need to watch out for your highs though, as excessive sugar can lead to some long-term health issues. What helped me is the use of Humalog type of insulin, which is very fast-acting, but does not stay in your system for too long. Also, be sure to keep a set of sugar tablets in your jumpsuit, just in case you feel a low coming ;) Have fun and be safe! Ilya

After reading more about BPA rules, I undersand the picture a little better. Since they don't have their regulations book posted online, I second someone's earlier suggestion for you to talk to someone at BPA first. Also, I looked up info on Civil Aviation Authority (British equivalent of FAA in the US), and like FAA, they do issue restricted medical certificates to people with insulin-dependent diabetes. You can go to this website, and then click on Diabetes link. http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=49&pagetype=90&pageid=7099 As I mentioned, I got my 3rd Class Medical from FAA, which basically consisted of a standard 3rd class medical exam, plus a statement from my diabetes-treating doctor, latest 4 results of my Hemoglobin A1C, and a note from an eye doc, stating that I don't have any retina problems. If you can get even a restricted Private Pilot Medical from CAA, I doubt that your skydiving organization will give continue to impose obstacles between you and the freefall (again, you'll need to check with BPA on that as well). Feel free to send me a private message, if you have more detailed questions about this subject, or just post your progress here, as I'm anxious to contribute in any way I can to increase the world's skydivers' count! Blue skies P.S. General info on the Private Pilot medical and contact info can be found here http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=49&pagetype=90&pageid=528

Hi, I've had type 1 diabetes since the age of 18 (I'm 35 now), and always had good control of it (A1C in 6.2 range). I've been jumping for 8 years and have over 1300 jump to date. I am an AFF instructor with about 400 student jumps, been on record jumps, competitions, big ways, DEMOs and many other exciting low and high profile jumps. I'm also a private pilot with a 3rd class medical certificate issued by FAA under medical exception rule of Part 67. (You don't actually need FAA medical unless you are a tandem instructor). Bottom line - if you're in good health, and control your diabetes well (i.e. monitor your sugar, eat properly, don't miss shots) - you have a greed light in the sport!!! Email if you have more specific questions. Ilya

Sure you can, you can do frame grabs off the video. Quality sucks, but you can still get 'em True, though I found that frame-grabbed stills don't sell all that well, since you can only get a 3x5 print out of those at best. But if someone wants to buy those from you, I don't see any problem, as long as you make them aware of the quality issue.

I agree, but only if your competition is unwise. Smart competition never competes on price, and instead, should match the increase! As long as the increase is reasonable and the consumer can still bear it (which appears to be true in our case of separately-sold stills), then it will become the new accepted price, and the video guys will have extra cash for fun jumps, new camera, or whatever else they might fancy!

If you look at some of the replies here, a number of DZs do charge a fair amount extra for stills. So, I don't think the industry decided which way to go just yet. So, if more folks will ask $50-60 for stills, this will become the defacto standard, and the industry will have no choice, but to go that way. Traditional thinking of "lower price will get you more business" has never been a wise decision. For example, Cypres was $800 in 2000, now it's $1300., PD reserve was $700 then, and now it's $1300. Tandem prices and even jump tickets have been on the rise. Thus, it looks like, the industry is moving "up", not down! So, why not move with it so that you can afford your next rent increase (unless you really don't care about money). As far as handy-cams go, you cannot generate stills from those, so that's outside the scope of this discussion.

I agree that it's all about supply and demand. In my experience though, the demand curve in the skydiving market is relatively inelastic. So, if you increase or decrease the price (within a certain range limit, of course), whether it's for tandem jumps, video or stills, you won't see much change in demand (unless, of course, you drastically drop the price of video; then everyone will want one). So why making it a commodity, if you can make it a premium service, and thus, maintain the volume and achieve extra revenue?

Thanks to all of you who answered to the main point of my post and shared their tips and experiences of doing/selling videos and stills. It looks like some of the DZs in Europe (and fewer in the US) have already embraced the "added value of stills" at $50-$70 on top of the video. So hopefully others will move in the same direction soon. I fully agree that the ability to "sell" stills is unique to every operation, and depends on the dynamics of the place, the customer profile, and of course, the quality of the product. But, if one can earn double the rate that he/she gets for doing video by selling stills, it may be worth making the time for the "sale", by, say, having a packer (if there's one who you trust ), or even letting another videographer take the next customer (again, if there is one ). As far as what's reasonable... 6-7 years ago, $1/gal of Jet A, a brand new PD reserve for $750, and $10 staff rates were reasonable! The reality changed and if a happy tandem customer is willing to pay $60 for a set of stills that he/she likes (on top of having paid $250-300 for a jump with video), that seems "reasonable" to me, so why give the stills up for $20 (or worse off, for free)! That seems to be the new reality, so why not embrace it, just like the sport embraced $2500 canopies, and the fact that you don't EVER have to break a femur to be called a real swooper, jump a round to be called a real skydiver, or shoot a freefall video with a VHS camera to be called a real videographer!!!

Any video guy or gal who has a still camera, should think about charging extra for tandem stills!!! Please read my story (it's a bit wordy, so please be patient)... I started shooting video a couple of years ago at a small Cessna DZ in Texas. No one there had a still camera, so the DZ did not offer stills along with the video package. Sometime later, I got a new helmet with a Sony HD video and an Olympus E-410 still camera (a great 10MP SLR that weighs only 12oz. btw). When I showed the photos to the tandem customers, most of them gladly paid $20 cash + $5 for printing/shipping for a single 8x10. Many asked for 2 photos. So, I started offering a CD with about 100-150 pictures including family/friends ground shots, before/after shots, plane ride smiles, and of course the freefall grins, for $60 cash (or $70, if they go through manifest). 4 out of 5 customers ended up buying the stills, on top of having already paid $90 for DVD video! Sometimes I have to be a bit of a sales person to make the sale, but the pictures most of the time sell themselves, as soon as the customers look at them!!! But at the end of a busy Saturday, a $200-300 of extra cash in the pocket is always nice to have (and no, I don't jump in Hawaii). Most DZs throw in digital stills for free in addition to the video, which, in my opinion is a foregone income for both, DZ and videographers. The rationale is simple: most of tandems who want to purchase video will do it regardless whether you offer stills along with it or not. So, why not "add value" by charging more for stills? In addition, as a camera flyer, if you're going to put additional strain on your neck by having a still camera, shouldn't you get compensated for it? Any experienced jumper who has their picture taken by a professional camera flier will gladly pay $20 for a formation picture with them in it. Why should tandems get their stills for free? Forgive me for a long-winded note. It's my FIRST post to this group, so I'll be bringing beer this weekend!!!

This is a copy of the email that went out to all Austin area jumpers: Fellow jumpers, On behalf of Skydive Temple, myself, and all of us who knew what happened, I am delivering this sad news to our jumper community that Dave Sebesta past away last Saturday, March 17, 2007 around 5pm while he was being airlifted to the Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple after a hard landing under a spinning canopy. He will be remembered as a great friend and fellow jumper with positive attitude and passion for the sport! He passed away surrounded by his friends and doing what he loved!!! Those wishing to say goodbye to Dave can do so on Wednesday, March 21 between 4pm and 8pm at the "All Faith Funeral Services" on 8507 North IH-35 in North Austin ( http://www.allfaithsonline.com/nlocation.html). It is my understanding that his oldest brother John will have a speech at 7pm, and anyone who wish to speak of Dave will have a chance to do so after that. I propose that those of us who can make it by 7pm, arrive a few minutes prior for the speech. Dave was not married and did not have any children. He's survived by two of his brothers and one sister and our thoughts are with them. Blue skies, Ilya S&TA, AFF-I Skydive Temple 1-877-EXIT-282 P.S. Dave also had two dogs that we're trying to find a home for. If anybody is interested in adopting them, they are currently at Mark Mark's house, and he can give you more info.

SSM is among the largest tandem dropzones in the country, averaging about 150 tandems per weekend. Those who pay a premium (tandem and AFF students, and there are lots of those around) have priority to get on the Super Otter (the only available aircraft), which is a solid jump plane with recently upgraded Dash 27s, taking up loads and loads of tandems to 10,500 on every load. One can also enjoy CASA jumps during SSM's annual Halloween boogie. There's some FS and Freefly coaching available (by Lynn and Todd, respectively) at a small additional cost. Both are great coaches in their respective disciplines. As for safety, the S&TA and/or DZ manager are watching you from the ground! If you do anything stupid, like fly over the runway below 500 feet, or land cross-wind, you will face one of them in an unpleasant face-off, which will make you want to drive back to your home dropzone". Those, for whom San Marcos is the home dz.., it's only a matter of time before you'll be forced to find a new home, as unfortunate as it sounds...