New Royal Caribbean Ships promise an onboard Windtunnel

[Remster 30]

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This is probably a stupid question but what happens inside a tunnel if it is pitching around? Is the flyer unaffected in that they are relative to the flow rather than what's going on outside?

It does seem like Bernoulli's principle would cause the flyer to stay in the center. At least in theory.

I disagree. Let's say the ship tilts 5º to one side. At that point, the wind flow is 5º off of perpendicular, but the pull of gravity is still straight down. I.E. the wind flow is no longer aligned with the pull of gravity. So gravity is going to pull the flyer down at a 5º angle relative to the wind - like being in a track position with the upper body tilted downward. And the jumper will slide towards the wall on the downward-tilted side of the tunnel.

If I could draw a picture it would be a lot easier to see. But I can't draw...

Imagine that ping pong ball balanced in a column of air from the hair dryer pointing straight upwards. Now slowly tilt the hair dryer to one side. What's going to happen? The ping poing ball will be blown off to the side in the direction of the tilt.

In all reality though, a ship that big probably is unlikely to be tilting much, and the flyer will likely be unaffected by such things.

Mmmm... Maybe we're both wrong. But I'm curious about how applicable the principle is to very un-aerodynamic things like bodies....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgHvC55AKig

Remster

[sirenoremac 0]

10 feet is big enough to do 2-way belly or vertical, just very tight rw :) I've done three ways at iFly Hollywood, and it's not much bigger, though I don't know it's exact measurements, I think the longer axis is between 10 and 11 feet at the net. I've done two way belly and back right on the net with no problems.

[DigitalDave 0]

Theoretically, the ship could turn upside down and the flyer would remain in place if the lift generated by the air speed difference between the flyer and the walls was greater than gravity.

But ya, I kinda doubt a human would produce a nice, laminar flow.

[jumpwally 0]

I think its time for Bill Von the Science Guy !!!

smile, be nice, enjoy life
FB # - 1083

[BigBUG 0]

from the moment I heard this in the news, I was waiting for this physics discussion :)

as a tunnel instructor and PhD in ship architechture I will keep my mouth shut - just not to spoil the fun :)

[Trafficdiver 8]

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from the moment I heard this in the news, I was waiting for this physics discussion :)

as a tunnel instructor and PhD in ship architechture I will keep my mouth shut - just not to spoil the fun :)

Put it a liquid surface that can roll independently of the boat?

[angle228 0]

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from the videos I saw of them flying, this tunnel is open air.

BTW, the wife and I are avid cruisers with Royal Caribbean, we have already booked our Quantum of the Seas cruise.

"A new feature on the Quantum-class is "RipCord by iFLY", a skydiving simulator set in a recirculating indoor recreational vertical wind tunnel.[17]. Reservations for RipCord will be able to be made online in advance of the cruise. All the features of the Sports deck are complimentary, although Royal Caribbean will charge for pictures and videos taken of RipCord participants"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum-class_cruise_ship#Activities

better be sure and book your time before setting sail! Its on wikipedia so you know its true

I am fucking your mom right now

[angle228 0]

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/connect/videos/show-video/quantum-of-the-seas-live-preview-event/

go to about 56 min and there is a little explanation on the tunnel.

I am fucking your mom right now

[BigBUG 0]

actually this is a worst thing you could do :)

any so-called 'free liquid surface' have a negative effect on ship's stability. Most of the attempts to create a 'heave and roll insualted' part of the ship, starting from Bessemer's Salon Steamer, ended up as failures. This concept just do not work - anything that swings (or, in case of liquids, runs) free from one board to another only makes the ship loose its stability.

We have now a system that efficiently works against the heave - it is big and bulky, called Active Heave Compensation and used primarily on drillships, diving vessels and offshore construction platforms. But to fight against the roll we should rely on ship's general systems like active keels and general roll countermeasures (gyroscopic or hydraulic). Good thing is that the behemots like cruise ships are rarely a subjects of serious roll, and, if the sea state is that serious, no one will be allowed to any activity on desk.

[davelepka 4]

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Good thing is that the behemots like cruise ships are rarely a subjects of serious roll, and, if the sea state is that serious, no one will be allowed to any activity on desk.

That's the real answer. If there was any real movement of the tunnel, you wouldn't be able to fly in it very well, unless you were damn good at side-sliding, and could time it with the movements of the ship.

Let's remember that the airstream is pushing you up against the force of gravity. It's direction of force needs to be exactly 180 that of gravity for you to be able to fly 'stable'. If you tip the tunnel to one side, you could sideslide along the airstream, provided there's enough velocity to hold your weight when leaned way over.

If it was on a ship that was rolling and pitching, you would need to counter those moves exactly, or gravity would pull you off the side of the airstream (or into the wall of an enclosed tunnel).

It's a neat idea, but gravity and the airstream need to remain opposites for you to 'fly', and when the ship (and tunnel) move, gravity remains constant.

[excaza 1]

Hopefully they figure out how to power it reliably. They already can't power their boats well enough to keep the sewage from backing up

[IMGR2 0]

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Hopefully they figure out how to power it reliably. They already can't power their boats well enough to keep the sewage from backing up

I believe you are refering to Carnival Cruise lines. I cruise at least twice a year with RCL and have never seen or heard of an issue.

And earlier, yes I talked to Skyventure and its a 10 foot recirculating. Early cruise bookings start for Crown and Anchor members in 2 weeks. I am anxiously awaiting to book my first cruise on the Quantum.

[Remster 30]

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Hopefully they figure out how to power it reliably. They already can't power their boats well enough to keep the sewage from backing up

I believe you are refering to Carnival Cruise lines. I cruise at least twice a year with RCL and have never seen or heard of an issue.

And earlier, yes I talked to Skyventure and its a 10 foot recirculating. Early cruise bookings start for Crown and Anchor members in 2 weeks. I am anxiously awaiting to book my first cruise on the Quantum.

We expect a full report!

Remster

[IMGR2 0]

Well it will be a very long wait. The ship will be commissioned the end of next summer and will be relocating from Southampton England to Cape Liberty New Jersey. It's an 8 day cruise that my wife and I will be on and 8 days of free tunnel time. I can't wait. Will definitely let you guys know how it goes.

[angle228 0]

Any new word on how this is going to work as far as how much time a person can book/how much the time is going to cost (other than the cost of the cruise)?

I am fucking your mom right now

[airdvr 210]

IMGR2

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That said, it's probably an awesome gig to be a tunnel instructor on the ship!

Oh yeah... Bluehair after Bluehair... Oh yeah, the glamour!

HEY! I take offense to that. The wife and I cruise on Royal Caribbean at the least twice a year. Tons of fun and its safe to say 70% of the passengers are 30's and 40's.

That's ok with me though, the less skydivers on the ship with me, the better I look. Lol

I'm constantly amazed at the negative perception of a cruise as being for old peeps. It's a great vacation experience. Nothing like waking up every day at a new location. Great for families with smaller kids. They can't go anywhere and can't really get into trouble. The ships do a great job of keeping them occupied whilst mom and dad get to enjoy a bit of vacation without the ankle biters at their feet.

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[mattjw916 2]

I was never really interested in going on a cruise before... but put a freaking wind tunnel on a ship... SOLD!

I am on the booking site as we speak.

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[chemist 0]

wind tunnel cruise? anybody figure out the limits on the tunnel time?

[chemist 0]

BigBUG

from the moment I heard this in the news, I was waiting for this physics discussion :)

as a tunnel instructor and PhD in ship architechture I will keep my mouth shut - just not to spoil the fun :)

those ships are so big I doubt there is any sway when the sea is calm. Even if there is minor sway from the waves I bet it would be easy to make small corrections inside the tunnel to keep yourself stable.

It's not like it's going to be violently rocking back and forth.

[mattjw916 2]

"space permitting" would my guess... whuffos won't be able to knock out big blocks of time like skydivers and tunnel rats can and a large portion of the population isn't on board with "extreme" type activities or are just plain gigantic and can't fly

a 3 night cruise on the ship costs less than an hour of tunnel time out where I live so it seems like a nice little vacation to try out the whole "let's go on a cruise" thing...

honestly, at some point diminishing returns sets in and you're going to want to do something else anyway... like roller skating, which I also love, and as luck would have it there's going to be a rink on board as well

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[IMGR2 0]

As far as I have been told the tunnel is no cost but that could change. You will have to schedule your time. I think once they figure out how many skydivers are going to show up they will probably put some kind of cap on how much time you can fly or start charging.
I am not too worried at this point because the wife and I are regular cruisers with Royal Caribbean and there is going to be a ton of other things to do on this ship as well.
For those who are curious the ship is still being built and trial runs are scheduled for summer of 2014. The first cruise you can book is a Relocation cruise on November 2, 2014 from Southampton England to Cape Liberty New Jersey, After that she will have regular departures from New Jersey for a while till she gets relocated.

[cpoxon 0]

My next question is staffing. I wonder if they are going to train up staff that are already employed on the ships (entertainment staff?) who may multi-task in other roles or whether they are going to recruit from the pool of tunnel instructors that are already trained to work in the "regular" tunnels.

Skydiving Fatalities - Cease not to learn 'til thou cease to live

[IMGR2 0]

They are training Royal Caribbean employees.

I'm sure they would hire already made instructors but I doubt any of them would want to live nonstop aboard ship for 6 to 12 months at a time which is a requirement.

[PhreeZone 20]

That being said I would not expect many of the staff to be IBA rated for anything past level 1 or maybe level 2 so hopping on board and trying to learn Head down is probably not going to happen since they would not be trained up to that point from the sounds of it.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[skycat 0]

PhreeZone

That being said I would not expect many of the staff to be IBA rated for anything past level 1 or maybe level 2 so hopping on board and trying to learn Head down is probably not going to happen since they would not be trained up to that point from the sounds of it.

But if you bring your own tunnel instructor you know cause you are married to him, I think you would be good to go. Well that is if they let you fly HD at all, I wonder what the top speed on that thing will be.

Fly it like you stole it!