EP in a Tunnel

[bluepill 0]

I’m not sure if this is the right place to raise this or if it has been discussed before. Apologies if it has. (I couldn’t find anything on search)

I’ve been reading the incident forum recently, about hard cutaway pulls and the pros and cons of using pillows vs anything else. And also handles not being where you would expect them e.g. floating or being tucked under harness.

Now I can practice some of these scenario’s on the ground and I can also practice in a harness, but these are pretty much controlled environments. I.e. I set them up and have my feet on the ground or my ass in a harness a foot above the ground.

I was just wondering if it’s possible to replicate and practice EP scenarios in a wind tunnel?
E.g. By wearing a harness only with handles that can be adjusted to simulate floating, hard pull or different types of handles. And to be able to do this in an unstable environment. (Obviously the handles would have to never fully detach from the harness.)

I think I could benefit from knowing what it feels like to have to use 2 hands to pull 3 times on a cutaway and then go for the reserve handle and to be able to see just how long that took and understand what happens to my stability. Or searching for a floater in the wind, would possibly help.

At least that way I can have a simulation of what might happen in a less controlled environment and would give me a memory feel of something I could face.

Any thoughts? Is this already being done or is it a stupid idea?

BP

• Quote

[PhreeZone 20]

Tunnel can only simulate freefall, it would "help" for total malfunction training but what you are looking for is something that has the canopy out and you are going a lot slower than freefall speeds. Those issues will not be able to be simulated in the tunnel.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[stayhigh 2]

great idea.

are you gonna pay for that tunnel rig???

any company will make tunnel rig for you.
it almost cost as much as the real thing.

Bernie Sanders for President 2016

[diablopilot 2]

Tunnels simulate freefall pretty well.

Most malfunctions don't happen in freefall.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[LouDiamond 1]

Yes, this can be done. I do it primarily with military rigs where the main deployment is a ripcord. The rig is an exact replica but with handles sewn in place, same weight, etc. Flyers can simulate the usual gambit of scenarios from a normal pull, floating ripcord, hard pull and a total to include EPs (cutaway handle/reserve handle) while continuing to fly their body in a controlled manner.

Something similar could be done with a civilian rig but you would be limited to a normal BOC simulated pull and EPs for a total.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[danornan 79]

Be careful with a complete rig in a tunnel. About 20 years ago I watch a guy fly out of an open air tunnel with gear that was supposed to be tethered and a cable broke. I think they were checking out the tunnel for a movie, the canopy deployed and he shot out like he was in a cannon.

He went up about 75 feet before the canopy collapsed and he came down on a fuel storage tank. He almost died.

Dano

[LouDiamond 1]

Quote

Be careful with a complete rig in a tunnel. About 20 years ago I watch a guy fly out of an open air tunnel with gear that was supposed to be tethered and a cable broke. I think they were checking out the tunnel for a movie, the canopy deployed and he shot out like he was in a cannon.

He went up about 75 feet before the canopy collapsed and he came down on a fuel storage tank. He almost died.

The rigs I use in the tunnel are dummy rigs. No canopies, everything that could come off or open up is super tacked shut and the weight/material inside is so small that if it were to come out it would not harm the tunnel. The same goes for the ruck sacks I use in the tunnel as well.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[stayhigh 2]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpapAtcjR1I

this showes even dummys can kick out of linetwist.

after six year still don't know how to make it into clicky.

Bernie Sanders for President 2016

[david3 0]

Quote

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpapAtcjR1I

this showes even dummys can kick out of linetwist.

after six year still don't know how to make it into clicky.

[thomas.n.thomas 0]

From a theory point of view, I agree only a total will be a prototypic EP when in the wind tunnel. Is there any better way to practice partials? The harness is okay, and I can work through my EPs pretty quickly (slow is smooth, smooth is fast, get everything down to correct muscle memory), but I still have this apprehension that if I had to do it in the air, it would be completely different, more variables, and looking at a dynamic, flailing canopy/bag of junk while moving/tumbling is a whole lot different than a static harness.

I defer to those with actual experience, and even those with more than 5 jumps to convince me that this thinking is overly cautious, but I just have a hard time believing I would be nearly as proficient in the real crisis as I would with the training harness.

[diablopilot 2]

Take it from someone who has had 26 malfunctions requiring a breakaway, the first of which was on my #26th jump when I was still wet behind the ears, that if you drill in the harness, your head, and touch your handles in the order they should be used on a regular basis in the airplane then you'll do just fine when the real thing happens.

In fact you will probably be over and done with the procedure before you know it. :-)

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.