Rotorua have two skydiving centres, one on the north island and the other on the south. They have been operating since 1990, have managed nearly 200,000 tandem jumps and to the best of my knowledge haven't had a single fatality. I've done many jumps with Kiwis over the years and they are extremely safety conscious. Certainly, the equipment used by the centres are 'state of the art' and the instructors will be fully qualified. Go for it!
Skydiving, tandem bicycling, snorkeling, bondage, ceramics, reading a good book. There are many things a couple can do with each other.
Tandem and AFF instructors typically are paid $30 to $35 a jump. If Florida with a year round season, instructors can make 1000 to 1,500 jumps a year, so on the low end for a full time instructor in Florida $30,000, on the high end $50,000. There are also part time guys who maintain a day job (so they can afford to eat indoors), then work on the weekends. Again it depends on how many working jumps he does.
If by 'business owner' you mean 'dropzone owner - DZO', then the costs can vary a lot depending on which country you are based in, which association you belong to and what type of jumping you are offering as you primary means of income generation. Some examples:Typically the tandem skydive is the most profitable form of skydiving and the main stay of many operations. In New Zealand for instance, you will find very little sport (experienced) skydiving. Its mostly foreign tandem skydiving instructors.The profitability of a tandem skydiving oepration can be reduced if the aircraft offered is a big turbine (e.g. Twin Otter) as they have higher running costs than a piston aircraft (e.g. a Cessna 182). This cost is mostly associated with the cost / maintenance of engines.If you are wanting a lot of experienced jumpers to skydive at your dropzone, then you will have to offer altitude. This means a minimum of 13,000ft and a fast turnaround, again a reason to run a turbine aircraft. Many tandem only operationsOne of the important things to note is that the role of a DZ can change from year to year. Some of the influencing factors are currency exchange rates making team training cheaper or more expensive in a country, the development of a new line of business (charity group parachuting), the closing down / opening up of a dropzone nearby which creates new opportunities.
That depends on which country you live in. The best way to find out where to skydive is to look for you National skydiving association. For example in the UK, its the British Parachute Association. They hold a list of all parachuting centres (also known as dropzones). Another way is to use a search engine and type your location, for example 'skydiving Yorkshire'. The vast majority of dropzones have websites and they should appear when you search. If you are looking to do just a single skydive, it is recommended to do a tandem skydiving jump as your first. This is where you are harnessed to an experienced instructor and you can experience freefall for up to a minute. Edit: I would add that the first jump method is not "recommended." True, the vast majority of first jumps are done with the tandem system these days. That said, what is best for any particular student depends on the student and his motivation. You can also make a first skydive through Static Line, Instructor Assisted Deployment, and Accelerated Free Fall. Every method of first jump has it's advantages, no method is the best, but many skydivers will tell you that one is better than another. People will push one method over another generally for business reasons, personal opinion, or ignorance of the other training methods. Have a nice day! Martin Myrtle Air Capital Drop Zone
Normally, two. There are usually only two seats on a tandem bike.
Five
Try advertising yourself at local parks or skate shops. If your willing to relocate during the summer woodward skateboarding camp hires instructors. You can check that out a woodwardcamp.com that would be a great job. It is a good place and you get to skate the parks. Lakeowen is another skate camp that hires instructors. That is also during the summer. You can now get Certified and be eligible for insurance through Skateboard Instructors Association or www.skateboardia.org. SkateboardIA breaks down the initial moves you will teach into thee basic steps and actually teaches you how to teach using the intial Prof Skiers model. 16 hours for certification. Earn extra money having fun. Good luck!
Two
5
Tandem in this sense means two. So there are two people in the Kayak
In 2011 the DSA records 47000 Approved Driving Instructors.