Rover

The $70 rebate is fuck all for places like NZ that are AAD mandatory and people are grounded and unable to work for weeks on end. Compensation for loss of income would be more appropriate! 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

You could do nothing and try landing it but having done alot of downplanes I wouldn't recommend that. So I say chop it. 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

QuoteHey dude, welcome to hauling beef. If there is one thing you have to know about doing tandems, it's that summer time is coming... Watch out my friend. You'll get yourself in trouble with comments like that!! 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

If providing the passenger with a handle (and thus an active role in saving his own ass) is "madness" then I can't imagine what you think of AFF... arguably the best, most effective way to teach skydiving. Why is it madness? what are you afraid of? the guy dumping at 12000'? so what? You betcha. I jump near the a rather large body of water called the Pacific Ocean. Wind is also a feature here. If the main was out at 12 grand there's a good chance that I and my passenger would become fishfood. I agree with you. AFF is an effective way to teach skydiving. The student has his / her own rig, extensive training, 2 instructors and therefore become partially the masters / mistresses of their own destinys. Lets keep it that way. I do tandems and introduce people to the world of skydiving. If they wish to continue, I refer them to my skilled AFF instructor colleagues. 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

Risk assessment and management is the comparison between the frequency of events and the degree of consequence. The alternative to risk management is risky management which is unlikely to ensure a desired outcome. The fact that I am able to grasp this concept may say something about my abilities and the fact that you can't maybe says something about yours. If you are prepared to add to risks rather than attempt to reduce them, that is your call. It in no way reflects on my decision making process. Although tandem may have been conceived as an instructional tool, time has shown it to be seriously lacking. Although older designs allowed the customer access to the drogue release, none of the equipment I use does. Why? Maybe as times have changed, designers have recognised that this concept was mistaken and have made changes to remedy that. You would need telescopic arms to activate a Sigma from the passenger position. Therefore I continue to maintain that as an instructional tool, tandem is extremely limited and as drogue throwers it is our responsibility to our customers to reduce the risk as much as possible while giving them an enjoyable ride. Accept it and move on. 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

It's about risk assessment. I agree that I need to teach my passenger the proper body position. It's in my best interests as every person I take out the door has the potential to kill us both. Therefore it's in 'our' best interests to do it correctly. I don't give my passenger an altimeter so maybe I'm neglecting them in not teaching altitiude awareness. But then neither do any other drogue throwers I know. As for allowing a passenger to have access to your deployment handles....madness. Only my hands go anywhere near my handles. After the main is open I have no problems with my passengers having a 'play' with the steering toggles but there is no way that they have any form of control of the landing. Tried it and been pounded in when the passenger froze half way through the flare. They have enough on their minds sometimes just lifting their feet up. That being said, I must be doing something right if all the comments made in my logbook by my 'pieces of meat' are to be believed. So back to the original point. Like it or not tandems have reduced skydiving to a carnival ride and have very little value instructionally. They work as a great introduction but other than that have very little significance. 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

Of course I do. Isn't that how everybody has them? 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

God knows he's not a tandem instructor!! A spin off from a thread running in the instructors forum but I'm getting a bit sick of the whole politically correct crap of 'instructor' and 'student' vs 'passenger' vs 'punter' vs 'cargo' etc. There are so many people out there stroking their egos and insisiting that they instructors. Maybe some are, but the majority of tandems are purely an amusement ride with a paying customer in front. If this makes you an instructor, then the guy selling dodgem car rides at the county fair is a driving instructor. So for those wallowing in their own self importance, get over it, chuck your drogues, get paid and get on with life. 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

Unless you work in a tandem factory like NZ where the turbines keep rolling and the machine needs to be fed. Tandems have gone from 'training' to 'amusement ride'. Don't let time get in the way of production. 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

Congrats on your rating and I am serious with my 'panic slowly' advice. But also 'wow' that you can get a tandem rating in the States at 500 jumps. Keep safe and panic slowly. 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

Panic slowly!! 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=guestpass&id=rz7z3 Finally got around to uploading the footage. Don't know how to make a 'clicky'. Can someone help? Blue skies. 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

Ever jumped one? Easier to pack than a Racer. 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

Completely tore my ACL in 94 and never had surgery to fix it. I was living in Japan at the time and it would have cost me a fortune. Although I didn't jump for a long time afterwards I have done 2700 jumps - with some heavy tandem landings - since then with no problem. Good luck. I can feel your pain!! 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

My friend bought a camera helmet so that we can alternate between tandem and outside camera when not jumping handcam. I've got a flat top helmet with video on top and he bought a Cookie helmet with all the bells and whistles. I use a 'cheaper' .43 Kenko. I also have a 'cheaper' Kepcor .45 lens. For consistancy he decided to buy a Liquid .45. After viewing his first video effort my initial thoughts were that he had not zoomed back completely as his footage was no where as wide as mine. However this was not the case. The attached photos show the differences. There is a photo is with no lens, one with the liquid and the others from my 'cheap' lenses. When he contacted Cookie he was told that they would not refund his money as the lens was 'used' but would replace it with a .3 ( This is of no use as he has a .3 lens which he has loaned out to a mate and can get back ) Call me an idiot but I think that there should be an industry standard that would be consistant. I wear prescription glasses and buy them over the interweb. I would be very upset if one companys understanding of the specifications were different from anothers. I would also think that a 20mm Canon lens and Nikon lens would be very comparative. I also find it ironic that with my 'cheap' lenses I have full range of the zoom where the more expensive lens only has half the range. Overall quite frankly I'm not impressed. Does anyone have any comments? 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

For those of you in the UK. Les has left and is on his way to England for the 65th anniversary of the raid in May at 617 squadron so you might get to see him on your local news. 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

Yesterday, Les Munro 89, who is the last surviving pilot from the dambusters raid in 1943, did a tandem skydive in New Zealand. Also on the load was his 81 year old partner Christine. He is a humble man who shys away from publicity. The press was not invited. However I feel that he would have no issue with the wider skydiving community having knowledge of his latest exploit. I have a photo with him and my 5 year old son. In the future I'll give my son a book to read. I believe Peter Jackson - Lord of the Rings fame - is remaking a 1955 movie of the raid. Those of you who know nothing of the raid will be able to learn about it when it comes out. It is an epic story. 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

CT4 made by PAC in NZ. 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

Yeah, especially when your gear is involved in several close calls and at least 2 fatalities... Which gear hasn't been involved in close calls or fatalities. I'd wager for example that there have been more incidents on Vectors than Firebirds. Is that why Relative Workshop became UPT. I think not. 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

A spin off from another thread about linetwists but am wandering about techniques to getting out of linetwists with tandems. Had a nasty incident a week or so ago that took some time to remedy. How can the passenger help? Anyone had to chop because of linetwists? Which canopies more prone to linetwists? What do you do? Blue skies. 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

Be careful if you use a mouthwash after drinking a 'couple' as some are ethanol based and will make a breath testing machine blow its wad. I wonder how many people have been convicted for a DUI on the basis of fresh smelling breath. 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

There is no limit if you don't get caught!! 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

Done 1200 jumps on a Reflex with 1 reserve ride - catapult mode - and had zero problems with it. Reserve is easier to close than a Racer as the Reflex has 1 pin instead of 2. 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

On the TV news it was stated that the pilot requested a confirmation of his position from ATC before they jumped. ATC response was that it is not their responsibility to 'spot' the aircraft. Interesting to note that the lower airspace above the airfield is not controled therefore it is illegal to jump through cloud. Looks like the New Zealand Skydiving Association needs to have a good and thorough look at its procedures and ratings process. Not to be confused with the New Zealand Parachutes Industry Association which is the reglulatory authority of the vast majority of NZ skydiving operations. Go Gareth!???! 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.

Thanks, found the thread, and it backs up my own personal thoughts. 2 wrongs don't make a right - but 3 lefts do.