djd

A new tunnel the same spec as paraclete will be opening in Singapore the 2nd quarter of next year..... i was talking to the owner the other day at Bedford Bodyflight, so that will put a 16 n half foot tunnel in Europe , usa and Aisa.... how cool will that be. with these bigger tunnels, tunnel flying seems to be changing again, as with the change in power and wind speeds flying changed, now with bigger tunnels tricks seem to be getting more laid out and new stuff is popping up all over the place. this can only be a good thing for our sport...heres to some serious Ninja action coming our way soon....lol...

Have to agree... i flew in Vegas and had such a good laugh.. and when i saw the instructors doing there thing i was really impressed... as they will tell you its more acrobatic than a fast tunnel but boy do you learn how to move... dont get me wrong i love fast tunnels but i will travel for any tunnel. i flew in an 8ft tunnel a little while ago, it was slow and different but i still smiled all day after... if you really love body flying you will do it any where.. ;)

dont worry as yr muscles get used to it yr body position gets better and you generate more lift making the whole thing easier.... well done with the back flying it really does help doesnt it... ;)

its all about time.... hey jen im in XP 1st may you gona come flying...? dave..

Not seen you fly so its hard to be accurate. if you know how to transition from yr back to a sit and sit to yr back it helps to keep you off the net all the time, fly on yr back....pop up into yr sit then as you sink transition onto yr back again so keeping you off the net. it means yr also practicing yr back flying half the time yr in the tunnel rather than being in a sit position standing on the net if that makes sense. i guess it also depends on what tunnel you fly in. ie: wind power... try learning a cpl of different things too share the love so to speak then go back to sit flying, its all about time....;)

Anybody going to be around during this time that wants to come flying.....? I dont have any time booked yet, but will make do with any gaps they have no matter what the time, if anyone wants to get some rotations or just buy bulk and jump in and out thats fine by me.... plus i get bored drinking beer by myself and it would be cool to meet some other tunnel flyers.... Dave..

seconded....

Not so fast sunny boy.... there was a lot of tunnel flyers around before the IBA came along.... (of which i was not one )BUT consider this a polite warning... you wouldnt want to be waking up in the morning with a horses head next to you.... and I KNOW which room you are in downstairs.... LOL...and we do have some Italians here...so you never know... (if i could add music it would be the godfather tune) but i cant spell de der de der de der de deeeeeerrrr (repeat as many times as you like)

Unfortunately having a round tunnel causes its own problems when it comes to having a mirror, Having a mirror has been dug up a few times at our staff meetings, but with so much work already being carried out downstairs on the leisure facilities i think it wouldn't get to far up the list of priorities. We do have a mirror just above and to the left of the exit door. Looks like the world challenge is going to be Awsome, I reckon the Free Flying rounds are gona blow peoples minds....lol... Look forward to seeing all of you there..

Well said..... I flew in vegas and had the most fun i have ever had in any wind tunnel my cheeks hurt when i came out i was laughing that much.... to say you cant learn in these tunnels is just plane wrong, in a fast tunnel you learn to cheat body positions so much that it sometimes doesnt matter about body position as you will always have enough lift...in a slower tunnel you really learn to open up all yr body flying positions .... the tunnel community is a pretty small one in reality lets all kiss and make up.....lol

Dont watch this on youtube ... its good but ....... go to skydivingmovies.com much better quality. the vid is awsome guys a big thanks totally inspiring... went straight into the tunnel after work to try a few new things, like that exit out the door backwards... that gets yr pooper going the first time you try....lol.... well done to you all looked like a lot of fun...

Now that looked like a lot of fun.... ;) so cant wait to fly there....

LOL i love these comments from skydivers.....normally before they get in the tunnel and bounce of the walls....before the "New tunnel instructors" give them a few pointers..(For Free by the way) and they all end there session saying what a great time they have had... As an instructor i learnt head down, back carving, blind carving most my transitions and so much more from Bernd, He has 7 maybe 8 Aff jumps at Perris Valley. But he does have over 11 years running and instructing in tunnels.. I think this whole Forum Post lets people know there are ALWAYS two sides to every story.. and some people just cant see the big picture.. blue ones and fluffy landings......

Hiya Kim. I work at Bedford Bodyflight, and can say i have tried out a lot of different types of suits. It all depends which tunnel you want to fly in most so to speak, if its a more modern powerfull tunel then suits become less important, if its the less powerfull tunnels then suits can become all important while you are learning, IMO.....(that is MY opinion....lol) Oragan make an awsome ZP tunnel suit Easily the most powerfull i have tried to date.. (I have 1) i love it Tony Suits make a tunnel suit that is really good just a little less lift than Oragan's but Value for money you cant beat.(I have 1) Looks really good but a little bit more fragile than Oragans Fabien from Boogieman, also makes a very nice tunnel suit and has a new material that is apparently (really really) powerfull, i have seen this on Fabian Riedell's suit but not flown it, it feels like very corse cordura... his normal freefly suits are very nice but i have to work a lot harder to fly it in the tunnel(I have 1) As for using them for skydiving i personally keep my tunnel suits for the tunnel...and sky diving suit for just that.. one thing is for sure what ever suit you buy the tunnel will eventually eat it....lol more so with ZP if you hit the net a lot as it slices straight through. If you are Slight to medium build female you will prob get away with a normal suit for both.. hope this hasnt bored yo to tears, and helped a little ...lol Dave

I do know some people that are awsome skydivers Notably Tim Porter whom has never been in a wind tunnel and doesnt want to.. He can fly rings around most people i know in the sky, The 2 sports are very different but both lend a hand to each other. Some of the best flyers in the world will tell you tunnel flyers do not make great skydivers at first... they tend to have no awareness of others around them and try and dock from too high all the time ( its a tunnel thing) these things have to be learned over time in the sky. but normally with a bit of good coaching good tunnel flyers will pick most things up quickly but on the other side of the coin if you are of a high standard of freeflying in the sky that will translate pretty quickly into tunnel flying... especially in the big tunnels like Bedford and Paracleete, where you have more time to react to what is happening before you hit a wall as long as you enjoy yrselves who cares....

WOW a real loaded question.... not that everybody on dropzone has an opinion on everything.... Ok give everybody a small PD Lightning dump out the door and see who's best........i bet there are some old guys out there that would seriously kick arse and leave the younger ones trailing... Well you did say Pilot... and that is definitely not restricted to Swooping... Anyway i still say the PD Team are the nuts.... lol

I would have to say i agree but there are arguments for and against..... We only let people we know use this type of stuff in our tunnel. Teams that go to the effort of organizing rig wraps for the tunnel (That i have encountered so far) are pure professionals, dedicated 4 way teams that are on the top of the pile in which ever country they are coming from. (and there arnt many teams using them) I think all teams i have encountered so far Represent their countries have sponsorship and are always aware of the public image they are giving out... In short Professional. They are aware these are not play things that just add to the excitement of tunnel flying, its harder work for starters. They tend to just put the rigs on go to work doing there thing, take the rigs off and have some fun, there is no freeflying or messing around whilst they have there tunnel rigs on. On a Business side it makes sense to let the top teams use them. If yr tunnel lets them and other tunnels dont then you will get the trade, after all, while we all love flying and enjoy what we do its just a business after all. Can i add.. .. just because a team turn up with rig wraps doesnt mean we are going to let them fly with them. well not on my shift anyway....lol On the safety side, yes i agree putting anything in the chamber that can come off is a no no.... I flew a man holding a 35mm camera the other day worth quarter of a million pound (thats half a million dollars) the lens alone was 30 thousand pound....for a test screening... Risk versus reward i say.

....LOL just a play on words but A minor issue......its there to stop an opening Absolute... I think we would shit a brick if anything even looked like it had opened inside a wrapped up rig.... how ever i have seen them on fast trax and on airspeed's rigs and they do look pretty good and cover all the base's

My advice in a non doctor way would be DONT DO THAT>>>:) on a serious note i went to the doctor the other day and said hey it hurts when i touch myself on the shoulder, it hurts when i press on my arm, my leg and my hip.....whats wrong with me he said yeah you have a broken Finger.......

Hey women hit their prime later anyway so i know which age group i look for.....LOL

LOL I know loads and loads of experienced jumpers with thousands of jumps that are complete passengers under canopy,and with no awarness of anybody around them...They fly there bodies well enough in the sky though... .everybody learns differently and at different speeds, some dont like aspects of the sport so choose not to learn that part better(although they know they should) If these young guys and girls learn this fast then there is no reason why they wont do exactly the same in parachuting when it comes to it, i also know they will have enough very experienced skydivers around them to give good quality advice and keep them safe... Looking forward to seeing them fly at Bedford in March, hopefully we can get loads of us all flying in there together...

Ok on a serious note which is unusual for this forum...lol... I have had my entire arm go completely numb, was back in perris october 06 when i was doing my instructor training...was down to belly flying topped out winds and a few other things chucked in. This has also happened more recently (2 weeks ago)in Bedford. A student new to tunnel flying a getting back into skydivning, his arm went completly dead, was all floppy and non reactive to anything, very strange to see and im sure he wasnt to excited about it either... Long story short mine was fine within a few hr's His we believe was a similar incident, i have been told this can be down to a trapped nerve in the shoulder, it just happens with some body positions we get in while belly flying (if youre very spread wide with yr arms allmost cross like) So while i say not to worry to much about it, i am no doctor......if it concerns you, get yrself along to a profesional which was exactly the same advice we gave him....Since then i have heard of it happening a few times in various tunnels..and peoples best advice is to make sure you stretch well before going flying... hope this helps a little.... god without feeling in my thumbs how would i play on my X Box......Nightmare thats doesnt bare thinking about.......LOL... on a good note it has never happened to me since....

LOL thats funny.... see the pic of steph and yes she is a hottie Fair play.... and i am sure yr not to old for any of the guys too.... ......

erm no i dont get the gist...i am asuming steph is a girl then... if not sorry steph... I am sure our tunnel is no different, but tunnel egos can be a dangerous thing...best not stroke them too much... LOL especially the new skydiving young ones... I know all instructors that have a sense of humor will understand exactly what i mean... lol lol gota go drink more wine now.... night night yall.... xxx

LOL LOL .... trust me not all instructors are in great shape. You get what i call tunnel fit after a while, you're body just gets used to it, i have seen very "unfit" guys and girls do hrs in the chamber with little difference in there flying. Oh and on the instructor thing.... I dont know many instructors that Dont wake up in the morning with aches and pains all over...i guess all the flying does have some price to pay......and thats getting beaten up all day by students LOL but its worth it...