Meet USPA Executive Director Ed Scott
January 2008
A Parachutist Staff Report

After serving as USPA’s director of government relations and group membership for 11 years, Ed Scott became USPA’s new executive director on December 10, replacing Chris Needels, who retired from the position after almost 14 years.

After making his first skydive in 1975, Scott’s passion for aviation grew along with his new hobby. Soon after, he graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 1980 with an aviation degree. He then spent nearly seven years working at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, learning the ropes as an aviation advocate specializing in airport and airspace issues. His next stop was the National Association of State Aviation Officials, serving the interests of the 50 state aviation agencies. While there, he successfully lobbied Congress to nearly double the percentage of FAA airport funds divvied to the states.

When he came to USPA in 1996, he took on the organization’s ongoing battle with the IRS over that agency’s decision to apply the federal ticket tax to each jump. Within the first year, USPA won language in the Congressional tax bill telling the IRS that skydiving was not air transportation and therefore not taxable. More recently, he helped guide two formal complaints resulting in FAA decisions solidifying skydiving’s right to be on federally funded airports.

The Parachutist staff recently sat down with Scott to figure out where he’s coming from—and where he’s going—when it comes to skydiving and USPA.

What’s your skydiving background?
I began jumping in 1975 with the Tennessee Tech University Sport Parachute Club. My static-line first-jump course was three weekends long, and I had to pack my own first parachute unassisted. After my first 2-way with Beezy Shaw, I was heavy into 4-way. I learned 8-way from two Cessnas. My first non-Cessna jump was at the 1977 Turkey Meet at Z-Hills, doing 10-way speed stars from DC-3s. I became a static-line jumpmaster and started a college club after I transferred to a school with an aviation program, a decision I came to after becoming a skydiver.

Before I started a professional career, I lived in a hangar for four months while packing parachutes and jumpmastering. (Thanks, George Kabeller and Betty Hill.) I’ve owned three rounds, a Paradactyl and three ram-airs and have just over 1,200 jumps at 24 DZs in 13 states.

What do you feel are your strongest strengths and experiences that you bring to USPA?
First, I have wide experience with—and many contacts within—many aviation associations, the FAA and TSA. I’ve testified before Congressional committees and successfully lobbied new bills. Second, I like new ideas; I like to figure out better ways to get things done. Finally, skydiving changed my life for the better, and I want more people to experience how that can work for them too.

What programs are going in the right direction for USPA?
We’re about to finally complete our instructional progression with the Advanced Instructors Course. We’ve secured agreements with the tandem manufacturers to merge our programs for the benefit of all. We’ve had two important airport-access wins with FAA formal complaints. Our member services are improved, and the redesigned Parachutist is a hit. None are cause to rest, though; we’ve got more to go.

How financially secure is USPA?
The good news is that USPA is very stable, with reserves over $2 million, yet we have the smallest and most efficient staff since 2000. Importantly, membership is finally back to steady increases this year. However, USPA can’t yet consider adding new programs or services without figuring out how to pay for them. Of course, the easiest way is to continue adding new members and keep them satisfied so the renewal rate remains high. That is the leadership’s task, but every member can help by introducing others to our sport and encouraging them to join USPA.

What do you see as the big areas of concern for the organization?
Our future. It’s getting harder for many of us to jump as much as we’d like. It’s getting harder for DZs to be profitable and even just stay in business. Now, there’s talk of user fees and pay-as-you-go airspace. We need to ensure that air traffic control stays first-come, first-serve. To do that, we need more skydivers, more members and more voices.

How can USPA members play a more active role in preserving our sport?
We can be more welcoming and encouraging to all who try skydiving. It’s only after they become a skydiver that new people find out what great, fun and intriguing people we are. If that were evident sooner, I think more first-timers would come back. We aren’t using our board to its fullest potential either. I think every board member wants to hear more from members. Many more members need to care enough to vote in the biennial board elections.

What does USPA need from DZOs to better serve the industry?
Commitment. Commitment to providing the public and our members the safest operation they can. Commitment to helping more of their first-jump customers become skydivers. Commitment to overall better customer service. Many DZs already do these things, but more DZs can do better.

What are the first things on your plate as the new executive director?
We’ll continue efforts to enhance e-commerce to make it easier and quicker to join, renew, change your address and buy USPA products. We’re working on a new, friendlier and more useful web site. We’re going to beef up our government relations efforts and gain more influence too.

What are some of the longer-range goals for the organization?
To generate more skydivers and increase membership. We’re going to look for new products and services that skydivers need and want that we can provide. We’re ripe for online learning and testing features. We’re also going to solidify skydiving’s right to airspace and airports.

Any changes you’d like to see in the magazine?
I’d like to see Parachutist cover more people, DZs and interesting goings-on. People seem to like the “back in the day” articles. Every issue should have something appealing to beginners and 10,000-jump old-schoolers. To do this, we need more of our members who enjoy writing and have something interesting to write about to get involved and support their membership publication.

In the past few years, Chris Needels focused on sport promotion at a national level, specifically coverage at the USPA Nationals. Do you plan to continue those efforts or switch to a different focus?
The USPA Nationals is our showcase event, so we’ll continue using the media to help promote it. Finding a major sponsor is the real goal, and we’re getting closer. Apart from nationals, we should continue our national and regional media outreach, which results in positive skydiving stories in dozens of print and film media that reach hundreds of thousands of people.

What’s the value of USPA’s group membership program, and how does it affect individual members?
Skydivers can’t do much skydiving without drop zones, so it’s in USPA’s interest to assist DZs with access issues and unnecessary regulation. In return, we ask DZs for group member dues and to abide by our BSRs. The fact is nearly all legislation and regulation is aimed at operators, not skydivers. By helping DZs, USPA is helping provide more places for skydivers to jump and keeping DZOs from passing unnecessary costs on to us through higher jump prices.

Is USPA here to help DZOs, the jumpers or both?
The skydiver members are first—always. If there was ever an issue that pitted the interests of skydivers against the interests of DZs, USPA goes with the skydivers. But we can and do provide invaluable help to drop zones. To withhold that help would mean fewer DZs and costlier jumps. How would that benefit skydiving?

With jumpers continually pushing the envelope in every direction, is it USPA’s job to step in to stop unsafe trends through more regulation, or should USPA act more in a mentoring or guiding role?
It depends on the specifics, though I think the current board’s tendency is to develop and disseminate the guidance first. If that doesn’t work, you take the next step. Most everyone agrees that the Basic Safety Requirements need to remain basic; you can’t put everything in there.

Where would you like to see USPA go from here?
Some jumpers think USPA makes them join. To an extent, they’re right, since we ask group member DZs to require membership of licensed skydivers—though on their own, most DZs would require membership and insurance. Instead, it would be great to have a skydiver want to join USPA. With the board’s help, we’d like to get there.

What are your plans for increasing membership?
First, we can do better at helping skydivers understand how USPA succeeds in keeping airports and airspace open while minimizing government intrusion. Next, the board has already endorsed a plan to regenerate college skydiving clubs. There are a few now, but there should be many more. We also want to look at how to partner with wind tunnels to make it easy for a non-skydiving wind tunnel customer to give our sport a try. We’re working on ways to help DZs and instructors offer more motivation and encouragement to their first-jump customers so that more of them come back to skydiving.

Anything else?
Thirty-two years ago as I got ready for my first jump, my mind was of course entirely on the present—not on the future. I had never been in a small plane before … Did I remember my emergency procedures? Would I hit a good arch when my jumpmaster slapped my leg? Would I follow the panel correctly and land on the airport? The club had required that I join USPA for the insurance, but I knew little more about the skydiving association.

Thirty-two years later, I need to thank those that began my journey to this point. So … thanks Curt Houston for being my instructor and David Hill for teaching me how to pack a parachute. Thanks to my jumpmaster Lee Fortier for giving me the confidence for me to climb out. Thanks Buzz Ansley for guiding me down with the panel; as I PLF’d at the edge of the peas, I knew I would become a skydiver. Thanks King Morton for setting the example as USPA’s Area Safety Officer. And thanks mom and dad—who only found out after the jump—for letting me pursue my dream.

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