Jun 20, 2012, 4:32 PM
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Building/Owning Wind Tunnels
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Hi there! I'm 100% new to posting at Dropzone, although I've been lurking here for a few days now, gathering all kinds of info on vertical wind tunnels I'm constructing a short story, in which my main character will own a tunnel. My goal is for the VWT to be realistically and respectfully presented in my story. I'm hoping one or more of you – especially owners of VWTs – might be willing to answer some questions for me. They mostly concern the logistics of owning an enclosed tunnel in a residential area (In a sprawling country setting where there's considerable space between residential homes). My character will be financially endowed so money won't be an issue. I'm open to messaging my questions to you if stating them here is too cumbersome. Thanks in advance for your help
Hi there! I'm 100% new to posting at Dropzone, although I've been lurking here for a few days now, gathering all kinds of info on vertical wind tunnels I'm constructing a short story, in which my main character will own a tunnel. My goal is for the VWT to be realistically and respectfully presented in my story. I'm hoping one or more of you – especially owners of VWTs – might be willing to answer some questions for me. They mostly concern the logistics of owning an enclosed tunnel in a residential area (In a sprawling country setting where there's considerable space between residential homes). My character will be financially endowed so money won't be an issue. I'm open to messaging my questions to you if stating them here is too cumbersome. Thanks in advance for your help
Hi there! I'm 100% new to posting at Dropzone, although I've been lurking here for a few days now, gathering all kinds of info on vertical wind tunnels I'm constructing a short story, in which my main character will own a tunnel. My goal is for the VWT to be realistically and respectfully presented in my story. I'm hoping one or more of you – especially owners of VWTs – might be willing to answer some questions for me. They mostly concern the logistics of owning an enclosed tunnel in a residential area (In a sprawling country setting where there's considerable space between residential homes). My character will be financially endowed so money won't be an issue. I'm open to messaging my questions to you if stating them here is too cumbersome. Thanks in advance for your help
1. Would owning an enclosed wind tunnel in the back yard of a rural, residential area be feasible, or would it be too much of an energy suck for the owner's home and the other residents (creating black outs)? Note: The houses would be spread out, as in a sprawling country setting.
2. In my story, sometimes the owner wants to spend time flying without anyone else around. Is that possible, or does someone else always have to be there to control the stream of air (or otherwise monitor the tunnel)?
1. they don't use up that much power to create black outs.
2. Some people have wind tunnel in their back yard. and No they don't have to have someone in the control room to control power. So yes you can fly naked all you want and have sex in various positions.
2. Some people have wind tunnel in their back yard. and No they don't have to have someone in the control room to control power. So yes you can fly naked all you want and have sex in various positions. Even some commercial, closed windtunnel types (a la SkyVenture) have a set up that lets the tunnel instructor be the one on control of the system, from the anti-chamber (ie, no one has to be in the control room).
1. they don't use up that much power to create black outs.
2. Some people have wind tunnel in their back yard. and No they don't have to have someone in the control room to control power. So yes you can fly naked all you want and have sex in various positions.
Phew! A lack of blackouts is fine news for my tunnel owner. If my character has a bunch of windy tunnel sex, I'll be sure she (and her multiple studs) are wearing a sturdy helmet and not a simple hair net. ... I've been hesitant to create a wall-to-wall tunnel in my character's back yard because my research so far has only revealed residential owners who own the open air type tunnel.
Thanks for your help!
(This post was edited by ShellyBella on Jun 21, 2012, 12:49 PM)
2. Some people have wind tunnel in their back yard. and No they don't have to have someone in the control room to control power. So yes you can fly naked all you want and have sex in various positions.
Even some commercial, closed windtunnel types (a la SkyVenture) have a set up that lets the tunnel instructor be the one on control of the system, from the anti-chamber (ie, no one has to be in the control room). So if my character gets sick of her whining toddler and wants to avoid hacking him to pieces with her weed whacker, she can just go into the back yard, saunter into her foam-padded chamber of bliss and float her problems away (temporarily), without anyone else's assistance? That sounds hot. Thanks for giving her the green light
2. Some people have wind tunnel in their back yard. and No they don't have to have someone in the control room to control power. So yes you can fly naked all you want and have sex in various positions.
Even some commercial, closed windtunnel types (a la SkyVenture) have a set up that lets the tunnel instructor be the one on control of the system, from the anti-chamber (ie, no one has to be in the control room).
So if my character gets sick of her whining toddler and wants to avoid hacking him to pieces with her weed whacker, she can just go into the back yard, saunter into her foam-padded chamber of bliss and float her problems away (temporarily), without anyone else's assistance? That sounds hot. Thanks for giving her the green light My personal choice would have been to put the toddler in said chamber, but since it's your book, go ahead...
My personal choice would have been to put the toddler in said chamber, but since it's your book, go ahead...
Ah, but she wouldn't have made it to the chamber with her little munchkin in one piece. Why not, you ask?: Because to get to the chamber, she needs to traverse the lawn and she will inevitably encounter the shed. Inside the shed is that overly-tempting, well-maintained weed whacker I told you about. Her little swaddled, shrieking bundle of massive obligations will be dropped onto terra firma, ten feet from the sprinkler system and – gulp - whacked. (Whoa. That's not the kind of story I mean to write )
So if my character gets sick of her whining toddler and wants to avoid hacking him to pieces with her weed whacker, she can just go into the back yard, saunter into her foam-padded chamber of bliss and float her problems away (temporarily), without anyone else's assistance? That sounds hot. Thanks for giving her the green light
Why is your wind tunnel "padded". none of the new ones are. Do a "youtube" search for ifly wind tunnels and see what they look like
I think he is talking about those older style carnival style tunnels that they have just a big ass fan blowing you around.
And if that is the kind that is going to be in this backyard then the author should be aware that those things are VERY noisy. They are powered by a large diesel engine running at high rpms. Every neighbor within a half-mile will be calling the cops to complain.
Remster: No sparkles, no spangles, no glitter, no glam.
In reply to:
Why is your wind tunnel "padded". none of the new ones are. Do a "youtube" search for ifly wind tunnels and see what they look like
Squeak, thank you for catching my mistake. Having my character use padding in the tunnel would have been anachronistic, as my story takes place now, not when the first tunnel was invented.
In reply to:
And if that is the kind that is going to be in this backyard then the author should be aware that those things are VERY noisy. They are powered by a large diesel engine running at high rpms. Every neighbor within a half-mile will be calling the cops to complain.
John Rich, right. This is one of the reasons the owner of the VWT (in my story) lives way out in the country, with her closest neighbors maybe 1/8 to 1/4 of a mile away. Since she'll be building a more updated version of a VWT (w/out the padding), do you think her neighbors will still cry to the cops from 1/8 to 1/4 mile away?
(This post was edited by ShellyBella on Jun 22, 2012, 5:09 PM)
...do you think her neighbors will still cry to the cops from 1/8 to 1/4 mile away?
Yes. People who live in rural areas expect peace and quiet. They'll still hear that beast from that far away. An eighth of a mile is only 500-feet or so.
...do you think her neighbors will still cry to the cops from 1/8 to 1/4 mile away?
Yes. People who live in rural areas expect peace and quiet. They'll still hear that beast from that far away. An eighth of a mile is only 500-feet or so.
Darn. So then how about a 1/4 mile instead of 1/8? ... Or do I have to invent deaf neighbors on both sides?
Thanks for your help so far (everyone). Here are some other questions. If any of you can answer just one, great! Hopefully after getting these answered the tunnel will be accurately/respectfully represented in the story:
Permit: Is a special permit needed and how hard is it to attain?
Maintenance: How much upkeep of VWT is involved? How many people would be needed for upkeep, assuming it was opened for business 5 days per week?
Materials: What basic materials are needed to assemble a VWT (Obviously steel, glass, fans and a motor might be some)?
Time: Roughly how long do you think it will take to construct the wall-to-wall tunnel so that it's ready for use (after the ordered materials have arrived on site)?
Maintenance: I'd figure 10 to 20% of initial capital cost for any kind of large infrastructure like that. Rumours I heard for sky venture tunnels are initial capital and construction costs of 14 million. Say 1/2 cap 1/2 construction, that 7 million capital, so 750k maintenance per year would be my back of a napkin feasibility analysis cost.
Materials: lots of steel, acrylic for the chamber, and lots of concrete for he footings.
Also, you don't need a recurculating tunnel. A regular "puller" like Eloy or Orlando would work fine, although the recirculating ones are quieter.
I'm constructing a short story, in which my main character will own a tunnel. My goal is for the VWT to be realistically and respectfully presented in my story. I'm hoping one or more of you – especially owners of VWTs – might be willing to answer some questions for me. They mostly concern the logistics of owning an enclosed tunnel in a residential area (In a sprawling country setting where there's considerable space between residential homes). My character will be financially endowed so money won't be an issue. I'm open to messaging my questions to you if stating them here is too cumbersome. Thanks in advance for your help 
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