lewmonst

did i tell you I got my AFF rating? Jumped every day for the last 2 weeks... Yeah, ok, I'll get started on that necklace now. No charge this time . (sorry!) peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

Cmon, man, you know what I'm talking about. That adapter thingy??? peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

You seriously overestimate the strength of "average" people, Dave as you are "ape sized". Very few average-sized people with 200 pounders strapped to the front of them are going to be able to use the risers of most tandem canopies. Likewise, there are a lot of tandem instructors out there who simply can't completely flare (with flare toggles and toggles in hand) older and/or larger tandem gear, particularly after a long day of meat-hauling. I don't ever need help landing with my Firebolt 350, an Icarus of any size, a Cobalt 350, or a Sigma 370, but I regularly used my passenger/student on old 421's, 500's, and even EZ 384's. I am far from weak, but could still absolutely see the benefit of some 2 to 1's. I agree with monkeychucker completely. I would guestimate 60% of men could do it or learn to do it, and maybe 5% of women (Not trying to be sexist here, seriously, we all know the strength advantage men have). I am a big strong girl, and it is hard for me. I work out, I do all those arm and shoulder exercises, and it's still hard. I can do it, but it takes a lot. I will have heavier passengers help (if their competent), and I train them and practice with them up high, especially after a long saturday. Otherwise, my arms get tired. I could see the benefit of 2 to 1's (a pulley advantage we're talking about here, not two little passengers!). The only thing I could see against 2 to 1's, is that the stroke of the flare is long already, and it would take an even longer stroke to use the pulley advatage. So even if they could incorporate them safely, I don't think our reach would be long enough to get a full flare. I've also recently talked to a Tandem Course Director who did not rate several people because they didn't have the strength to land the canopy on their own. You are ape-sized, Dave, but we won't hold that against you! peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

I've avoided replying to this thread but it's about time to throw in a few thoughts. With a hanggliding business, I think the best plan is to start with JUST stills. You could easily mount a digital still to the wing with a wide angle lense and get some beautiful shots of the customers. And in 10 minutes when you land you can have them ready to print, show them the images on a LCD and print if they choose to buy. I've seen bungy-jumping and whitewater rafting companies do this very efficiently for a good profit. And I would say print them on your own. Film is old school and you won't get any feedback if you hand over a roll of 35mm. Digital is the only way to go. You also don't want to handout your image files, period. You can get a real photo-lab quality 8x10 printer for less than $1000. And you will pay it off quickly. What's that cliche, something like "when emotions are high, customers buy"... Basically, if you can sell on the spot, you will sell a lot more than, "oh hey, just run over to the lab down the street and they'll do it for you in about an hour..." Oh, and don't do video grabs, the technology is not there yet. Yeah, this will be a work flow process that you need to figure out. It will, though, be much easier and much more profitable than video. Video would be a LOT more work for less return. For the stills, show the customer maybe 4 or 5 good ones and if they decide to buy, print them without much or any manipulation at all. Yes, photoshopping is a skill, but you can learn a few tricks and get a shot ready to print in 5 minutes. It doesn't have to be perfect. I had proofs ready for viewing within 5 minutes of landing from a jump, by the time someone dropped their rig off to a packer and walked over, they could see the images to choose from. It would be easiest if you had a seperate salesperson to deal with this, but you could do it yourself in between customers. Then, once you've started making some profit on the stills and have a good process figured out, you could tinker around with video as well. Not flaming at all. Just my two cents. If I had a hang-gliding businees, I'd be all over selling stills. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

you're a wannabe http://www.exitshot.com

This Blows. wtf! I actually already am a paying customer in hotmail, the $20 for the much bigger storage and all that, and I still can't get it to work. This is just dumb. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

It seems intuitive in outlook to load a hotmail address, but when I try, it says error in scripts and permission denied... any clues??? thanks! lew http://www.exitshot.com

Do you mean from google? http://www.exitshot.com

My tandem passenger and I watched the whole thing from about 3500 ft. Glad you're ok, thanks for the show. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

Always ask yourself what your goal is. What kind of videos do you want to make? How long, how much rendering? What do you want to do with the photos? That's a big investment, do you have big plans? peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

Sunpath replaced my main lift web at no charge when I said it was too long. I was measured by a gear store on a reputable dz. Mirage has good customer service too. I'm guessing by your profile you got the rig from Mirage. I'm sure they'd make it right. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

just curious, do you really mean anyone, or any guy, or any tandemmaster? peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

I completely disagree with that blanket statement, as a teacher and a sister. Sometimes that happens, sometimes it doesn't. Nature vs. Nurture. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

don't forget SHAGG!!!!! and be aggressive!! and btw, you need to update your profile! Congrats again Babe! love lew oh and good luck on jeopardy, i have no trivia to contribute. http://www.exitshot.com

Just a practice jump, the evaluator actually opened around 4k and the container opened but the bag stuck. So i punched the container 4 or 5 times and the bag finally released around 3k, just as he was about to pull his cutaway handle. Prior pin check showed color, so pilot chute cocked. Post inspection show some, but not much, kill line shrinkage. He landed without incident. Anyone else ever actually punch a student's or someone elses container on purpose? Did I save him from more than a reserve repack? The thought of the real potential for a main/reserve entanglement had he pulled his reserve is very scary... The funny thing was, this was the only practice jump out of about a dozen that he actually pulled for himself at 4k, and I was main side, just about to track after he threw out when I realized it wasn't opening. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

That's asuming you will stay belly to earth with linetwists, which is not always the case. A true spinning mal can have you rapidly flipping over or rolling with the spins. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

Students? That's not a good idea. Besides the fact that it's an FAA violation. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

http://www.exitshot.com

No, see, you're not reading everything I wrote... I did call them, back when I was looking for one. So I'll ask again, did you call them? If not, then don't claim they have one. This is silly. Neither of us need one anymore. I was hoping your claim to actually have found one (New, not on Ebay, and NTSC, NOT PAL) for the others on here looking for one. By the way, the one you posted a non-clicky link to, is a PC330E, which is the PAL version. The seller dodges the question by saying "I believe it works with both pal and NTSC". However, for anyone really still looking for one, there actually are a few 330's on ebay right now if you want to take your chances. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

no, he needs to stay away from Katanas and hay. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

Vignette is when the wide angle lense used creates an affect where the corners of the image are lost (black). Looky here: http://www.royal-lens.com/vignette.htm Firewire can be a verb or a noun. "to firewire" (when we talk about it with skydiving video) is to transfer digital video from one source to another (camera to camera, or camera to computer, etc...). A "firewire" is commonly said refering to the cable itself we use. More here:http://www.dvgear.com/firewirequickref.html peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

Let me repeat what I said earlier: Did you actually call them or try to order one? I did. And unless something has changed in 3 weeks, no one had any. give us a phone number of any of those places that you have already called to confirm who actually have one in stock. I'd be willing to bet you that they do NOT in fact have any. But they will try very hard to sell you a 350. peace lew http://www.exitshot.com

tell us then, what role is that? http://www.exitshot.com

yeah? where? Help us and post a phone number of a place that has it in stock. Lots of places online still list it, but the fact is it's discontinued and they are out of stock but have not updated their websites... I hope I'm wrong, because I know several people who'd jump at the chance to buy one if they could find one. Let us know if you have any info we don't. Thanks lew http://www.exitshot.com

I knew that already. I LOVE my Neptune, and highly encourage everyone to try one. Check out the Neptune here: http://www.alti-2.com/neptune.htm peace lew http://www.exitshot.com