Fury8 camp in North Carolina

[billvon 3,059]

Just got back from a Fury8 camp at the Paraclete tunnel, and was very impressed by their facilities. They have an elevator! A shower! Team rooms! And of course a massive tunnel. It was sorta shocking to see the power display while they were running it at freefly speeds - 1.2 megawatts.

We managed to do most of the randoms and most of the blocks from the 8-way pool as an 8-way. For others we'd put 6 in and do the center plus one side, then we'd swap out the side and put the other side in. I learned a lot, mainly because it's actually possible to make mistakes and be out of position in a tunnel that size. Temperatures (high 90's and humid) were sorta uncomfortable, but you can live with that for an hour.

Towards the end we started to get a little punch-drunk and started spending more time launching things from the net, booty flying and knocking each other over than training, but it was still great fun. (Well, at least for us; I think the tunnel rat was getting a little worried.) Amy and I logged about 210 minutes total from our training, being fill-ins for other teams and spending about 30 minutes doing 4-way for fun.

The staff at the tunnel were great; they reminded me of the people at the Perris tunnel right after it opened. Even the whuffos were friendly and always wanted to chat. (One saw Chris Irwin and I wearing white suits and decided that the white suits were what instructors wore, which I thought was funny.) Thanks to Paraclete for letting us fly there and thanks to Fury for all the effort that went in to setting up a camp for 20+ people.

[VanillaSkyGirl 6]

That sounds amazing! Thank you for the informative post, Billvon. It sounds like both Fury and the NC tunnel presented you and your crew with a fantastic time.

I would love to opportunity to attend a camp in this tunnel. Prior to it being open to the public, I was invited to fly 4-way by a friend in the NC tunnel for an incredibly low price. Sadly, I was in graduate school with presentations and papers due, but there will be other opportunities.

Thank you again for all of the great info!

[napalmboy 0]

I was at this camp as well and have to agree with Bill; the camp and the tunnel were both amazing. I was one of the low-timers with no 8-way experience, but Fury was extremely accommodating and turned my time into a 4-way camp instead. I flew about 10 minutes of 8-way, which was fun, but ultimately spent most of my 2.5 hours flying 4-way.

The tunnel and facilities are awesome, and I'd absolutely go back for more in a heartbeat.

Well, the door was open...

[billvon 3,059]

>I flew about 10 minutes of 8-way

That was you! Amy and I were the two people that Fury pulled in to do the 8-way with you guys. I thought it worked out pretty well.

It was impressive watching both you two guys improve over the course of the weekend and watching the lower-experienced 8 way group get better. They went from having problems avoiding collisions to turning most of the blocks smoothly. Really shows the power of the tunnel in terms of intensive coaching/training.

[napalmboy 0]

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That was you! Amy and I were the two people that Fury pulled in to do the 8-way with you guys. I thought it worked out pretty well.

Yeah, that was me! I remember meeting Amy and Angie, but I don't think we were ever introduced. I thought the 8-way went pretty well, too, but ultimately we decided that we needed to work on being more precise and on-target with our movements and we'd get more practice with that doing 4-way.

It's just fantastic how quickly everyone can learn in the tunnel. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have some world-class skydivers to fill out your 4-way team, either.

Well, the door was open...

[anthonyfellows 0]

Paraclete is the only tunnel I've been to, but my experience there was awesome. I've seen pictures and video of other tunnels ... and then I saw Paraclete.

I know what you mean about the staff. Everyone there was super friendly. It was a great place to go for this struggling aff student who couldn't arch before the visit.

Serious relationships turn into work after a few weeks and I already got a fucking job :)
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H.A.F. = Hard As Fuck ... Goddamn Amateurs

[bob.dino 1]

Bet you didn't do 19s in there .

It's a great tunnel, though as a rear, I spent a lot of time against the glass. Being the solo flyer in a 2 is more an exercise in "fuck, where's the space" than anything else...

...it kinda helps to have Kirk running the place. Did you use him for coaching, or was it all the Fury crew?

[billvon 3,059]

>Bet you didn't do 19s in there.

I wanted to do 19's in there; kept pleading my case for them. But Chris and Christy, bruised and battered after two days in the tunnel, kept nixing them.

>It's a great tunnel, though as a rear, I spent a lot of time against the glass.

I learned to fly with one knee folded under me and the other leg out all the way to the side to keep me up. Bizarre but it worked.

>Did you use him for coaching, or was it all the Fury crew?

Nope, mostly Fury. (We spent some time just fooling around as well.)

[MakeItHappen 15]

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I learned to fly with one knee folded under me and the other leg out all the way to the side to keep me up. Bizarre but it worked.

Doesn't that defeat the purpose of WT training?

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Make It Happen
Parachute History
DiveMaker

[bob.dino 1]

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Doesn't that defeat the purpose of WT training?

Nah. If that was the only way you flew, there'd be little point. Even if contorted at the back of a B (Stairstep-Diamond), you're still getting practice in:

• Seeing across the formation


• Being aware of the keys


• The moves to and from the point


• The rest of the points in the skydive


• Keeping your moves small


• ...plus other stuff I can't think of right now...

It's not perfect, but it's still very very effective.

[billvon 3,059]

>Doesn't that defeat the purpose of WT training?

Yes and no. Wind tunnel training often requires you to fly very close to other jumpers and fly in odd body positions; this comes in handy when (for example) you're learning to do diamond/bunyip. You have to remain close during a partially blind turn, and the artificial confines of the tunnel helps reinforce this.

In terms of body position, though, it can indeed teach bad habits. I've learned most of my advanced RW bodyflight in tunnels, but I occasionally noticing myself falling into "bad habits" (i.e. turning by dropping both knees, which is a trick you can use in a tight tunnel) that might come from flying in a tunnel.

In some ways this is the huge advantage of doing 4-way in an oversize tunnel. You don't need to do the sort of contortions to fit in the tunnel that you might have to do in the Perris tunnel - and you can be out of position, so you learn not to be out of position.

However, in the case mentioned above, I was just filling in to complete an 8-way for two coaching students, so the focus was more on providing a complete 8 way for them, rather than learning to do 8-way ourselves. (You'd never do a vertical to go from a snow/offset to an hourglass in the air, for example!)

[raymond_jones 0]

In terms of body position, though, it can indeed teach bad habits. I've learned most of my advanced RW bodyflight in tunnels, but I occasionally noticing myself falling into "bad habits" (i.e. turning by dropping both knees, which is a trick you can use in a tight tunnel) that might come from flying in a tunnel.
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how is that a bad habbit if you can fly it straight down the tube? do they judge your skydiving body positions before and after docks now too?

"your the shit till you eat it !!!!!!!! damn that wall hurts..."

[billvon 3,059]

>how is that a bad habbit if you can fly it straight down the tube?

There are body positions that lend themselves to more power and precision on RW moves, especially 4 way and 8 way block moves.

Generally the mantis is a good position, with head way up, arms below and in front, legs close together, knees up, feet back. If I'm in the tunnel I sometimes tend to drop and spread out my knees to "fit better" - and end up with less power in turns and turn/translations. (less leverage.)