DualHawk

I still have Paul's Captain America action figure in my truck. Here is a picture of Paul on his 300 jump. Your still in our thoughts and prayers Paul. Gone but not forgotten. Respectfully, Tom

What I will miss most about Charlie is his sincerity. When he spoke to you, it came from the heart. It didn't matter what the subject; parachutes, yard work or just life in general. He was like that with everyone as far as I could tell. Life long friend or new jumper on the DZ, when you were talking with Charlie or just hanging out, he was always sincere. I will also miss the way Charlie treated people. He was always helping others. It didn't matter whether it was helping pack a parachute, running down the road in his van to pick up stray jumpers, helping set up a tent, or even helping carry groceries to a barbeque, if Charlie saw that you could use a hand, he always stepped in and helped. You never had to ask for help, because he just did it, and he would never accept the "thank you" that would follow. He treated us all well like that. I'm really going to miss that about Charlie. I made 3 jumps with Charlie over the last few years. All hop n pops. All unplanned. Just hopping on a last minute load. "Hey you want to launch a two way?" he'd ask; "Sure thing" I'd say, and out we'd go. I say this only because 1) I used to brag to Mary that I had made 3 jumps with Charlie to her O jumps, and 2) because seeing Charlie in freefall reminded me of why we all skydive. Those jumps were maybe 15 second delays, yet every second of the delay, Charlie was grinning ear to ear. It makes me smile as I think back to those jumps. So those are two of the things I wanted to share about Charlie. Two of the things I will miss the most about him. Charlie was an original recipe, that's for sure. A real life American Bad Ass, but there was also a kind, caring side of him that Mary and I were fortunate to see quite often when we were with him. Sally, our thoughts and prayers are with you. Mary and I will be flying up on Saturday for the memorial and service. Respectfully, Tom

Hi Damien! Admittedly, my opinion is probably going to seem a little biased...lol, but here it is: I have owned/jumped a number of different brands of containers over the last eight years and have found them all to be comfortable and most were freefly friendly. There really isn't a bad container on the market these days. With that said, from a rigging perspective, what I love most about my Quasar II container is that we are using "Super VII" Type VII webbing on our harnesses and our containers are made out of 1000 Denier Cordura, so the Quasar II is a super tough/durable container. Aesthetically. I am a big fan of the thin, low profile container design. And as a freeflier (when not doing tandems...lol), I really like the free-fly friendly pin protection. If you have any specific questions, please feel free to give me a call at (407) 859-9317 or an email at tnoonan@strongparachutes.com. Whether you pick the Quasar II or not, as long as whatever system you choose is properly fitted, properly maintained and free-fly friendly, you will be in good shape. Best regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises ps- I am planning a trip back out to your drop zone this summer, look forward to making some jumps with you!

Hi Rhys, Sorry for the delay, out of town longer than originally planned. Yes, your correct, we lengthened the Y Mod relatively soon after the initial version was implemented. As for any older ones in circulation, we have the Y-Mod installation instructions with the new lengths online at www.strongparachutes.com. Best regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises

Hi Rhys, I am in an internet cafe in Ecuador at the moment so I don´t really have the time to answer your questions in detail, I will reply again early next week when I get back to Orlando. Best Regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises

Well, I carried (by hand...lol) 60 copies of the DVD to Barcelona, and left with only 1 copy...lol It was great meeting all of you out there, and thank you for attending my tandem seminar. Including the DVDs I mailed before I left, I believe I was able to get 89 copies of the Side Spin Phenomenon out into the field to instructors and safety officers. I received a few more requests while I was away, those are leaving tomorrow. Best regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises

I just finished typing the last of the labels, all the DVDs are in the mail. I'm off to Barcelona! Best regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises

Crisis diverted....lol The 100 Side Spin DVDs that I made came THISCLOSE to being shipped to Barcelona on me before I could set aside the ones I planned to mail out to those of you that requested them. I caught them going out the door, crisis diverted...lol Anyways, thank you all for your emails and pms here on dz.com. I believe I was able to reply directly to most of you. If you sent me an email or a pm requesting a DVD and haven't heard back from me, it's only because your message hit my blackberry at 3am...and then got lost in email limbo...lol I will be putting them all in the mail tomorrow. Best regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises

Hi Andrew, it's a 47 minute video, so I'm pretty sure that it would be too large of a file to email. Ironically enough, we have also converted the Side Spin Video to a Pod Cast, and I just reviewed the first file on my IPod. Short term solution is the DVD sent snail mail. Long term, we will inevitably post it on our website (most likely in March after PIA) and provide password access on request for download. We want every tandem instructor, tandem examiner, DZ Safety Officer, National Federation Safety Officer and every S&TA out there to have access to this information. Best regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises

I just got 100 copies of the Side Spin DVD back from the printer today. I will be handing them out at our booth in Barcelona. If you won't be at PIA, and are a Tandem Instructor/Examiner/DZO Safety Officer or S&TA, and you would like a copy, let me know and I'll mail you one. For anyone that has already sent me their contact info from the other thread, the DVDs should be mailed out by weeks end. Best regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises tomnoonan@strongparachutes.com

The weather does not look promising for drops tomorrow. We waited as long as we could to see if it was going to improve, but it looks like Saturday will be a wash for AATV drops. We have RESCHEDULED the AATV drops for the next day, SUNDAY, JANUARY 20TH at Lake Wales. We have also arranged for the Phantom Brigade to do a Static Line Demo jump out of the Casa for Saturday, that is STILL A GO, so come on out and meet the Phantom Brigade. Best Regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises ps - It was great to see all of the Great White North Boogie attendees that came by for a factory tour. If you have to be on the ground in bad weather, Strong Enterprises factory isn't a bad place to be...lol Thanks for stopping by, the staff (all 90 of us!) enjoyed your visit and look forward to you making a return trip to see us again next year. Next years pint glasses will be.....

We're dropping the 2 Seater ATV at Lake Wales that day. We're going to arrange a separate day next month for the Solo ATV and Trailer. I won't argue with you, packing a 1200 square foot ram air main canopy definitely requires a little more effort than a typical sport main...lol Depending upon how many people are there, we may be able to put some fun jumpers in the front of the Casa to ride up with us. You'd get a front row seat as the ATV drives off the tailgate. It really is an amazing sight to see these AATVs up close. While on the ground, the AATVs will be available for people to inspect and we'll be available to answer any questions. It's also a nice photo-op too to get pictures sitting in the AATVs. If any of you guys end up there please come over and say hello. Best Regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises

For anyone interested in seeing our Airborne All Terrain Vehicles (AATVs) in action, Strong Enterprises staff will be at the Florida Skydiving Center in Lake Wales, FL on Saturday, January 19th, 2008 doing two AATV drops. Best Regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises

We decided to drop a second AATV, so we have post poned the drops from Sunday November 25th, 2007 to tentatively Teusday November 27th, 2007 to prep the second vehicle. We are just waiting to confirm the Casa will still be available Teusday and then we'll finalize the date. As soon as I have confirmation either way, I'll post another update. Best Regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises

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Strong Enterprises will be doing two AATV (Aerial ATV) drops out of a Casa on Sunday morning, November 25th, 2007 in Lake Wales, FL, and Ted Strong would like to extend an invitation to all local skydivers to come on down and check out the drops. We have a few factory videographers, but will also be hiring additional videographers to help chronicle this latest drop session. If you are a videographer local to Central Florida and would like to be a part of our drops, please feel free to send me a PM with your video resume. (Any videographer chosen will of course receive a full briefing as to the Do's and Don'ts of skydiving in close proximity to a manned vehicle.) We are bringing the 2-Seat AATV, and our driver will of course be Ted, with a couple of lucky factory workers riding right seat on the drops. If you like what you see, you can always encourage Ted (hint...hint...hint) to bring the fleet of AATVs to the next World Freefall Convention so some lucky fun jumpers can log "Kawasaki AATV" in the "Equipment" section of their log books. I apologize if this is considered product advertising, but people ask all the time when we will be dropping locally, and Ted wanted to give you all an opportunity to see it live, and of course ask any questions you have about the AATV system. Even if our jump roster is full for videographers, we always welcome additional photos and video from the ground. So, if you need an excuse to get out of the house this weekend after Thanksgiving, come on down to Lake Wales and watch Ted Strong drive an AATV out of a Casa. If I can answer any questions, feel free to contact me via email (tomnoonan@strongparachutes.com) over the weekend. I'll be out of town until Sunday, but will be checking email daily. Best Regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises (PS- I suppose technically this could/should be posted in the Events forum, but I thought given the uniqueness of the AATV, that I would post it here first, and if it's considered too specific for this forum, that a mod could move it. Thanks!)

Thank you Andrew, and I agree with you as well. We are actually in the process of drop testing such a system and plan to make that feature available on Dual Hawks shortly. Best Regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises

My point in that comment was simply that including the sport side in the discussion there have been more than a few fatal cutaways over the years where it was reasoned in the post incident evaluation that had the jumper had an RSL, they would have survived. My original comments were definitely Pro RSL. Yes, I believe that the possibility exists that use of an RSL may have made a difference. I don't expect to change your mind. I am simply offering a view from our perspective. If you disagree, I will certainly respect your position. Best Regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises

Hi Johnny, To be fair, the below quote does not tell the whole story: The Service Bulletin only offered instructors a choice in whether they chose to use an RSL or not. Based on the late 90s incident of the RSL riser breaking, we felt compelled to give our instructors the option to disconnect it, we certainly didn't require it or standardize the practice. What occured on that jump was that a tremendously asymmetrical deployment overloaded the RSL riser to the point that it broke. The other riser on the system and a sample of other current risers at that time were subsequently stress tested to 5000lbs and all passed. In 20+ years, we have never seen prior, or since, an asymmetrical opening such as that. I ask you only to consider this. In the 20 plus years in it's current configuration, there was only the one assymetrical opening that resulted in such an incident. The overall history of the system has shown that broken risers are just not even a remotely common occurance. Once in 20+ years did it result in an incident. I mean, look at the industry as a whole, how many incidents are there where it was concluded that the person would have survived if they had an RSL on. Anytime you add a mechanism to a system, while it may prevent one scenario from occuring, there is always the possibility of another unforseen problem arising from that change or addition. Between Ted Strong and Bill Morrissey, they collectively have around 100 years of skydiving experience between them. Together they have spent the last 20+ years analysizing the Dual Hawk and it's components. Again, I understand that everything I type can be "point-counter pointed", my only hope here is to get across the idea that no perfect system exists, and that we must treat any system we jump (sport or tandem) with respect and to understand how our systems work. If I can answer any specific questions, please feel free to contact me at 407-859-9317 or email me at tomnoonan@strongparachutes.com. Best Regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises

I don't know if I can offer a totally unbiased opinion...but I will certainly try. My personal philosophy on current tandem systems is this: The current tandem systems offered by all manufacturers work well when they are properly maintained and when the instructors are well trained. As a result, any system can only be as good and reliable as the people using them and the people maintaining them. I understand there will always be positive and negative opinions on every system out there, and that's okay, as different people have different likes and dislikes. I won't debate the systems here, as I feel that it's not a professional thing to do, so I will only speak on behalf of the Dual Hawk, the Strong Tandem Program and tandems in general. Tandem systems consist of three basic components: 1) The Tandem System 2) The Tandem Training and 3) The Post Purchase Manufacturer/Owner-Instructor Relationship 1) The Tandem System Aside from upgrades in materials used over the years, the Dual Hawk has seen very few changes over the years, and that is for a good reason. From it's original inception, it simply has worked very well. Ted Strong is very conservative in his views and approach to tandem skydiving, and as such, in years past, the thought here was "We don't want to come out with a new system simply to offer a "new system", we want to make a system that incorporates all of the strengths of the Dual Hawk, while addressing the concerns of our customers. The current Dual Hawk, was and continues to be, a safe, reliable and durable tandem system, and that is why we didn't rush to put a new system on the market. To be fair, the thing we hear from time to time regarding the system is it's look. It's simply an older looking system, not as stylish as some of the other systems out there. Admittedly, we have never placed that much weight on looks over safety and functionality, so if the Dual Hawk has suffered in looks to some, to be a safe and functional tandem system with over 20 years on the market, then we consider that to be an acceptable trade off. 2) The Tandem Training: Admittedly, we have probably lost some of our market share simply over the number of other manufacturer Examiners in the field today, training more instructors on other systems. Strong Enterprises Tandem Program was run for many many years by Bill Morrissey and he personally approved and trained every Examiner for our system. They went through extensive background checks, and we never put more than one Examiner any geographic location to ensure that our Examiners remained highly current. Did we suffer from lack of Examiners in terms of sales? Sure. But I would ask, would a tandem candidate prefer a tandem course from an Examiner that was holding 3-6 courses a year, or one that held one course a year or less? By purposely keeping our Examiner pool small, we increased the currency of the courses they held, and that, in our mind, currency is critical in being an Examiner. 3) In terms of the relationship between Strong Enterprises and it's customers, I think most, if not all of our customers would agree that we are always available to them for training questions, general questions, maintenence questions, sales, or simply to talk about anything tandem related. And if Ted Strong is in town, he is known to spend hours on the phone with his Instructors and Examiners when they call in. That framework of customer support is critical to the long term safety of tandem jumping. Having just recently been out of the country, I had the opportunity to inspect 15 year old Dual Hawk systems that were all still in exceptional condition because of the of the continued interaction and support that we provide our customers after the purchase is made. So, that pretty much sums it up for me. While I realize that this is an open forum, and every sentence that I have typed can be "point-counter pointed", I would hope that it can be appreciated that as a manufacturer representative, I choose not to engage in debating the other systems out there. Like I said in the beginning, all the tandem systems out there are good systems and suitable for tandem jumping. We all choose to buy what we buy based on a number of factors. Your a Strong fan? We thank you for your loyalty and suppport and will continue to provide the best services and training that we can. Your a Sigma or Vector fan? That's cool too. Fan of another system? It's all good, there is plenty of room on the block for everyone, and diversity in gear choice is a good thing. To answer the original posters question, as was said earlier by others, I would suggest to pick one system and stick with it for a few hundred jumps, and then get cross trained to the other. Either system choice you make will be the correct decision, as long as the gear is properly maintained and you recieve good training. Either system, your heading into a rewarding and exciting new endevour, congrats! If I can be of any help in your decision, please feel free to contact me here at the factory at 407-859-9317 or email me at tomnoonan@strongparachutes.com. Best Regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises One other closing thought I wanted to share. We have a photo sequence in our conference room here at Strong Enterprises of Ted Strong doing a live "drogue in tow" Cyrpes fire drop test from many years ago before they were allowed to be placed in the Dual Hawk tandem system. Ted has always believed so strongly in protecting his Instructors and Examiners that he is always the first person to test jump a component placed in his system, including the AAD.

Hi Lance, The SET-366 was designed with 2 purposes in mind. 1) Address the toggle pressure that a 400sq ft tandem canopy generates, and 2) Keep the soft, reliable openings that the SET 400 are known for. Okay, now that the sales pitch is out of the way...lol, in the SET 366, we were able to lower the toggle pressure and also lower where in the flare stroke the pressure builds up. It builds up lower in the flare than a 400, typically just below the shoulder level. People are stronger pushing down, than pulling up, so we aimed to lower where in the flare the pressure builds up to below the shoulders and I think we did a good job at that. Yes, the recommended limit is 450lbs, but speaking from personal experience, I did a number of test jumps at 499.99lbs...in all kinds of wind conditions, including no wind, high humidity days, and recorded a number of stand up landings at 500lbs in no wind. We chose to limit the weight to 450lbs, as Andrew said, as at 500lbs, there is a good amount of forward speed on the SET 366, and given the various size and shape of heavier passengers which would tend to push you towards the 500lb limit, it just made sense from a conservative approach to limit it at 450lbs. As far as the canopy itself, most of the demos we have sent out haven't come back, as they get bought on the spot, so we are feverishly trying to keep demos in stock, so to me, that says that we're doing something right. Ultimately, tandem skydiving and by default tandem canopies, need to be about safety and reliability first, and then "fun to fly" second. Keeping that in mind, we believe that the SET 366 accomplishes those objectives, and so far most of the people that have demo'd and bought the canopy feel the same way we do. If I can answer any specific questions for you, I'd be happy to. Please feel free to email me at tomnoonan@strongparachutes.com, or call me at 407-859-9317, M-F 9am-5pm EST. Best Regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises

I can't give you a specific date, but it is on it's way. I'm not sure if the name will still be Elan, but I think when it's done, you will be very pleased with the results. Best Regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises

Hi John. Ted Strong and I both agree with you that increasing education is the key. The only problem is that it is not a concrete answer to potential future poor harness fitting. No matter how well any manufacturer trains thier instructors, people are still capable of forgetting something, or worse simply not agreeing with manufacturer methods, and doing things their own way. Both scenarios leave the door open, ever so slightly, for to the possibility of another passenger being ejected from a poorly fitted tandem harness in the future. The Y-Mod closes that door. I agree with you that the harnesses work as intended without the Y-Mod when properly fitted, we and UPT both went 23 years without a single passenger being ejected from their harness, and then it happened twice in a years time. Since then though, even with increased education, I have still ocassionally seen instructors on all systems, ours, UPTs, and others, boarding aircraft with passengers improperly fitted or wearing loose harnesses....Simply throttling up education alone isn't working for any manufacturer. (There is even another thread here on DZ.COM about poor harness fitting during a tandem course, so it's even being taught incorrectly it seems.) So, that's the story behind the Y-Mod, it's a phyisical solution that was set in place to offset the possibility, however remote, that if an instructor fails to properly fit and secure their passenger into a harness, it won't create a life threatening situation. If anyone has any specific questions, please feel free to call me at 407-859-9317 or email me at tomnoonan@strongparachutes.com. Best Regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises

It has always been my understanding that USPA Instructor Seminars, were the instructor equivalent of the yearly "Safety Day" seminars for fun jumpers. At my old home DZ, every year we would have a Safety Day meeting for everyone, and then a staff specific open forum Instructor Seminar for all ratings holders to go over any changes that year with the ISP, or any other rules or regs changes to BSRs that affect each rating discipline. Our meetings were held by our S&TA and typically the most senior instructor in each rating would discuss that ratings information/refreshers. Best Regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises Okay, just found the official verbiage on page 222 of the SIM in the Glossary section under "R": Rating Renewal Seminar, USPA: A meeting of USPA Instructional Rating holders to exchange information, introduce and discuss new ideas, and to develop, improve or assure, the quality of skydiving instruction. (Phew....we were doing it right then all those years...lol)

Hey Steve, As promised, here is the link, now on the USPA Website. The USPA tandem rating process, as outlined by USPA, for "manufacturer only" rating holders to obtain their USPA Tandem Instructor rating. http://www.uspa.org/licenses/ratings.htm#future Best Regards, Tom Noonan Tandem Director Strong Enterprises