The PD Blog

So long Beezy, thanks for the good times.

On Friday October 27th, our friend Beezy Shaw left this world for a brighter and better one.  We first met when I started traveling to boogies and events for PD, but had of course heard of him before that.  As Beezy used to say, "I'm famous, didn't you know?" and then chuckle when the person he was speaking to didn't quite know what to say.
I think the first time we spent some time together was in Rantoul, where him and Chris Martin were like peas in a pod, manning the Precision RV and tent.  I took an instant liking to Beezy, his friendly manner and easy going attitude, always ready to share a beer or two and tell stories.  I found his southern drawl absolutely irresistible, that combined with his story telling skills and unique choice of words always had me laughing. 
Beezy and I may have worked for competing companies, but always in a respectful and friendly manner.  We shared the philosophy that our customers should jump the canopy that best fit their needs and likes, and both did our best to help them find that canopy.  Beezy didn't hesitate to refer people over to the PD tent if he wasn't able to accommodate them - always with a smile, being the gentleman he was.
Beezy touched many lives and was genuinely loved by the skydiving community.  He worked with students and introduced many a jumper to the sport.   More importantly, he then did his best to keep them safe and didn't hesitate to lay down the smack when needed, Beezy style.   
Beezy was a proud father and a husband, our deepest condolences to his wife and kids.
Check out dropzone.com to read some of the memories jumpers from around the world are sharing. 
Beezy - we will miss you dearly.  Thanks again for the good times.  Put some beer in the fridge and keep it cold, we have a lot of catching up to do when we meet up again.
Oh, and I hope that the Chattanoogan.com doesn't mind that I borrowed the picture of Beezy from them, I just didn't have one handy.  If they are anything like Beezy they'll be ok with it, and he always did say that Tennessee folks were some of the nicest in the world!

The HEAT is on....

Ever heard of the UK team HEAT?  The acronym stands for High Extreme Acrobatic Team and refers to six energetic young men (of all ages); Alastair, Smudge, Sooty, Spence, Stu and Wez.
They are great bunch of guys with a lot of experience across several disciplines of skydiving but have now started to focus more and more on high performance canopy piloting.   Those guys all fly the PD Velocity and are active competitors.  They competed at the last UK Nationals, and even used their Velocities in the 2-way sequential event.  Yeah you read that right... they competed in a canopy formation event under Velos!  While we think that is a bit on the crazy side (definitely in the "do not try this at home" category) we can't help but being a little bit impressed by their overall performance at the meet:

• Canopy Piloting:  Gold, Silver and Bronze
• Classic Accuracy:  Silver and Bronze
• Freefall Style: Gold, Silver and Bronze
• Formation Skydiving, 8-way: Silver

The HEAT guys also have some fun videos posted on their "Cool Stuff" page, for your viewing pleasure :)

PD Reserve in action!

Roy Muller, one of our sponsored instructors sent us these photos he took of a PD Reserve in action.  Looks pretty nice doesn't it, delivering the gentleman under it to a tip-toe landing, somewhere in California.  Well done, sir!

 

If you haven't flown your PD Reserve yet, we HIGHLY recommend that try out a demo.  Having some knowledge of how your reserve flies & lands is going to come in very handy when you are faced with a malfunction or have to deploy your reserve for any reason - especially if your situation requires you to land in a less than familiar area.   
Just fill out this handy little form here and take one for a spin.  And if you are curious about the new PD Optimum, we offer demos of that one too!

Hammering Customer Service

Customer service is a funny little thing.  You don't really pay attention to it much until the day you need it, and then it becomes a HIGHLY important concept.
There was a bit of an issue with my cable connection this morning and I tend to get very cranky when I don't have Internet.  The fact that it was a Monday didn't help either.  So I called the cable company and after a short wait, I was put through a friendly guy who diagnosed my problem and a couple of hours later a service rep was at my house changing out the faulty piece of equipment. 
My little cable incident got me thinking about customer service in general, especially after a friend sent me a link to an article about Mona "The Hammer" Shaw and her recent battle with Comcast.  If you haven't read it yet I'd recommend taking a look.  Not that I'm endorsing hammering, but I'm sure many of us can relate :)
At PD, our take on customer service is pretty simple: it must be top notch. We put a lot into our canopies, huge  emphasis on R&D, the quality of materials and construction etc - so it would just be silly not to back that up with the best customer service we can provide. 
Or at least we try. Granted we have our moments at times - but we do try very  hard.   So if you ever need help with anything that has to do with you PD product, please don't hesitate to contact us.  If we don't perform to your expectations, do let us know (or if you have a really good experience we'd love to hear about that too!).   And please leave the hammer at the front door....   :)

Z-Hills gearing up for winter

Since the PD factory is located pretty centrally in Florida, we are lucky enough to have a fairly easy access to many dropzones.  Most of them only an hour or two away - big, fast planes anywhere you look!  (Yeah we are spoiled :) )
One of those DZ's is Skydive City, Zephyrhills, FL and their latest newsletter just came rolling into our in-boxes.  Z-Hills is a fun place to visit - if you haven't been there yet we can definitely recommend that place as a great winter destination for cold skydivers.  The facilities are excellent - our favorite part is of course our trusty dealer - the Sunshine Factory - located right on the dropzone.
Coming up on the Skydive City calendar you can find events like the annual Halloween Party, Thanksgiving Boogie with all the usual fun (10-way speed, 8-way & 16-way, Dodge Ball and Fight Night, Ranch-style - put on by the one and only Bruce Chapman).   
PD will be at the Thanksgiving Boogie with demos, seminars and all the good stuff.  We don't plan on getting in the ring though, but will be on hand to assist anyone that might be having a fight with their canopy.  Simply stop by the tent and see our tour reps for a peaceful resolution.
Hope to see you there!

PD Birthday Shirt!

Yep - it's our birthday year - 25 long years in the skydiving industry!
We have spent the past few months celebrating with our friends and extended skydiving family around the world, doing events and having a good time.   We quite frankly don't feel to terribly grown up though.  Mature yes, but we still like to play and have fun (well what 25 year-old doesn't?!).

At the beginning of the year we designed a birthday t-shirt for our PD Tour Reps and staff to wear at events.  Since they weren't made to be sold or given away, only PD employees could get their hands on one (well maybe one or two leaked out, but that was not until after serious amounts of chocolate changed hands).
Personally we really liked the design, not just because we made it, but because it was totally sweet... and by sweet we mean you know what  :)      Evidently jumpers out there really liked it too, and by popular demand (literally), we decided to make a few more and make them available to the general skydiving population.   While supplies last, you can get your hot little hands on your very own limited edition PD 25 years anniversary t-shirt.   When they are gone, they are gone, no more birthday - no more shirts. 

The shirt is "athletic fit" - but not quite "European fit".   If you prefer a looser fit, order one size larger than you would normally wear, easy as pie :)   To claim your own, visit the PD Store.   

Hey, Hey - Wanna be a Rockstar?

Ever wonder what happens behind the scenes in PD's Marketing Department?  On a rare day in September (or was it maybe August?) all of the little marketeers were in the office and got talking about the upcoming PD Sweepstakes. 
Our graphics guy, Scott, wanted to make an ad so he sat us down and demanded ideas (he's a feisty one).
After a few minutes of staring blankly at each other, an idea started to form.  One thing we tend to agree on here at PD is that our Research & Development Department is pretty kick ass.  Rockstars if you will.  At the forefront of that department are our fearless test jumpers and incredibly detail oriented project managers, working hand in hand. So we thought to ourselves, why not bring attention to the amazing job those guys do?  How cool would it be able to bring a regular jumper to PD, and let him (or her) try being a test jumper for a day?!

Thats how that idea was born - and now we are about to do just that, with one very lucky PD customer :)  If you haven't heard about the PD Sweepstakes yet, you better check out the website.
To the right of here you can see the ad that started it all - coming soon in your favorite magazine. While you are staring at it, try to guess who the "outline" person is.  The first person to come up with the correct answer will get a PD t shirt in the mail - just leave your guess in the form of a comment here on the blog (with a valid e-mail so we can get in touch for the address)  :)
I'll even give you a couple of hints....  she is an PD employee, and many of you have no doubt talked to her when your canopy needed a little TLC!

Photos from Perris Fury

Ever heard of the team Perris Fury, from California?  If not, keep your ears open as those guys (and gal!) are talented skydivers and likely to do very well in the future.  In addition they are just a great bunch of people.
Perris Fury competed at the last US Nationals and finished in 4th place with a 21 average - not too shabby!
Their videographer (Nik Daniels) is not content with doing just 4-way, but can be seen filming CRW, doing VRW, swooping and basically jumping his little a$$ off as much as possible.   Nik just sent us a couple of photos he took recently - enjoy!

PD Factory Team buzzing by a CRW
formation in their wingsuits.

 

Uphill CRW....  :)

Chicks Rocking at Skydive Elsinore

Chicks Rock - one of the coolest boogies on the West coast - is going full swing.  Isaiah McCauliffe and Scott Roberts are out there on behalf of PD & Team Fastrax Swoop putting on a canopy camp for those interested.  They haven't bothered to call home today, but we take that as a good sign as they are probably being kept busy by people that like to fly their canopies!
The entire PD Factory Team is out there as well, wrapping up their training camp.  They (just like many other hard core swoopers) are in the final stages of preparing for the World Cup of Canopy Piloting, coming up in Sydney, Australia in just a few weeks.

With this event in California our very busy 2007 tour season draws to a close for the most part, although we will probably find another boogie or two to go to before the year is over.  This will give us some much needed time to do gear maintenance and relax a little before starting to plan the 2008 season.   

But - now it's Friday afternoon here at the PD Factory and it's time to prepare for the weekend. It looks like it's going to be just absolutely gorgeous jumping weather, so we hope to see some of you out at the DZ!     Stay safe and have a great weekend!

THe BEER blog!

Hi all - and welcome to the official PD blog!

We are happy to have joined the esteemed ranks of bloggers around the world and plan to keep this one alive and well fed for long time to come.   Here you will be able to read updates about what is going on at PD, what events we are visiting, what our sponsored athletes are up to etc.
You will also find tips and tricks pertaining to PD products and from time to time we will use these pages to share cool photos & videos - so many possibilities :)

Please feel free to get in touch with any ideas you might have for the blog - we look forward to hear from you!