ast4711

Your ideas Intermediate, Advanced, Open Class..... First of all: I am in now way somebody who ever attended a swoop-contest, nor do I think I may participate in one someday... But I constantly look at this scene with interest - maybe as someone who looks formula-one from his sofa. For me, your ideas would make sense, because I understand the idea that someone who is not heavily sponsored and has access to the newest mods and toys, but is also talented needs to have a chance to compete in a fair environment! Otherwise... IF somebody is highly talented - how "easy" could this guy step up to the factory teams with their 1st class equippment? just my thought.... alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

how did you get the m3 screws fasten?? If at all, I would think, you could adapt the holes to M4 threading, but that would mean that the m4 screws will break at a much higher force than the original 5/32 would..... :-( You are right, everyone should use the "correct" system :-) alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

I had the same problem with mine, only difference: I live in Germany. As you may know we have the metric system everywhere and screws with US thread are hard to get, and US thread made of nylon is impossible :-( My Solution: Use M3 nylon screws (will find them everywhere) and put some cord thru the hole and then thread the nylon screws as normal. The cord will fill up the space because M3 is a little smaller than 5/32. Works great! alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

now that you say, you are right about the integral 3 ring - at least this is what I know about strong too... But anyway. I find it hard to speculate on gear type by the provided pics only... alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

I`ve seen this snaps on different rigs, and I know they are on a strong i regulary jump with too. So I would not be that shure.... alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

If you have photoshop cs1 or cs2 you need the camera-raw plugin downloadable on adobes website. Maybe you have the plugin, but your camera is not supported. You can find out if you camera is supportet by a newer plugin on adobes website also.... With the plugin and my 20d it works fine. alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

First of all, thanks a lot for all the opinions!! To clarify the purpose of my post: I currently considering buying a new tandem system and want to have the best for my money..... It seems there are some canopies that get very good review: SIGMA, A2 and ICARUS. Everybody who tried the HOP was greatly impressed by its performance too, but I think, I will not go smaller than ~360. I need a reliable, easy to fly all around workhorse for the next couple of years.... My favorits are the above three, as they were before my post, but I have a better understanding now - at least I think so. From the avove, I only know A2 first hand. thanks for all responses!! alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

Tonto, congrats to these pics, shure they will get a very prominent place in your house :-) I have 4 kids, oldest is 7. I took them in the plane on some occassions (just sitting them in a tandemharness prepared but we were shure not to jump (except emergency). They have asked to do that by the way, I would never push anyone to either fly or jump, it must come from themselves.... But how did you deal with the ear pressure? I experienced that this is the only negative impression they got. I explained and practiced that with them before, but they were not really able get this right. If they want to fly again, I try to get a hop-n-pop lift with max 1500m because of this. To come back to the original question: I would take my own son/daughter on a tandem if they _relly want_ it, but I think not before they are 9 or 10 years old, and again, it must come from them!! Once I had a 8 year old girl - we did not know each other before - and she enjoyed it a lot. But as her father I would have refused to let her jump with a total stranger, he even wasn`t in the plane... But I must say it went perfectly. I took very long time for briefing and explaining just everything, which she liked. It helps if you have kids by yourself by the way. alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

I read about the HOP330, but my feeling is that it might be a little to small - at least for me.... What about heavier passengers on null wind days? alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

The posts I found on this were all rather old.... So my question is: Considering all modern ZP Tandem Mains, which one is your favorite and why? alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

No, it was an ironic question. I saw a number of potential problems in the Video. Dropping the skyball was my last concern.... But I am shure you did as well.... alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

No worries other than that? alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

I just played around a little and found Photomatix Pro (www.hdrsoft.com) useful. There is a free Demo available... alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

Lazlo, Dragon, have you tried that with PS-CS2? it complains that the dynamic range is not large enough to create a usable HDR image... saved 7 Version with exposure from -3 to +3 in CameraRAW before. alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

Hi there, did anybody try HDR (high dynamic range) techniques in skydiving photography? I read about and will try it on the next occassion, but from what I know yet the ammount of motion during the time required to take 3 shots might be to much.... Any experiences? alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

I´d suggest, to tell them what you see, especially under canopy. Let them know the altitude and everything else... alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

same one here.... he offered to send a check, so far it was obvious. But does anybody know how long it takes to clear a check and to be 100% shure it does not turn bad? alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

Same here: some day, I broke the display of a maybe one or two years old pro-track and mads sent me a new one within days after I returned the broken one. L6B customer service rocks! alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

Wow.... I`m still waiting to have somebody like you as passenger :-) alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

I did not think, that this is so common. If I would start BASE, I would be glad to have some skydiving experience, but thats only my personal opinion... Thanks for all your replies! alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

I have had toggle pops before too and I know how they feel but belive me, this one was very different and there was no way to get it under control. I am not saying that I am not happy with my cf-II, I would recommned it to everybody who has the required skills, but I say that every canopy will spin you up more than you like it at some time. alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

Hi, someday I met a guy doing his first AFF Jump. He was very nervous in the plane, you know the typical student showing emotions. In the bar that evening he told me that it scared him a lot but he did a couple (don`t remember how many) base jumps in norway before and for some reason I belived him. What do you think, how likely does someone enter BASE without skydiving experience? alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

Going off-topic...: I had a very "funny" mal on a 119 crossfire II (WL1.7). I am still not shure about it, but I think, I did not stow the left brake correctly, so that it either was not stowed at all or opened immediatly, while the canopy still in the bag. It resultet in a very fast spinng with, literally hundrets of linetwists :-( Up to that day I thought I never expected this from a crossfire, but now I am convinced that every canopy can (and will!) malfunction in a very unpleasant way. Just try it out and let one brake unstowed :-) Dont forget to post the result.... alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

Cool... that helped me! thanks!! alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de

Yes exactly. Without standing higher than the top plate... alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de