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Rdenig18

Longest time spent in tunnel without breaks.

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Hello everyone. New skydiver here. I have spent 15 minutes in the tunnel over the weekend and immediately booked 30 more minutes. However, I'm am a little intimidated because I was told that this time would run constantly. So I decided to reduce this time to 20 minutes and it has me wondering. What is the longest you guys have gone without a break in the tunnel? By the end of the 15 with 1 minute breaks I was pretty tired, but still had more to give. I'm a little worried that I wont be able to use all of my time flying. We will be working on belly flying, just the basics. They wouldn't allow me to schedule it in intervals. There is definately some fine print when it comes to tunnel flying. Has anyone else had this experience and if so how did you fair? 

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To answer your stated question, I have never gone more than 2 minutes a session in a tunnel, and usually I am in there for 60 to 90 seconds per session.  I believe most belly flyers are the same.

To answer your unstated question, most of us do not book a chunk of time to fly ourselves --- usually we find others to split it with.  For example, back when I was still actively training on a 4-way belly team, my team and I (or our coach) would find another team to split a block of 30 minutes with.  The tunnel would be on for 30 minutes straight, but each team would rotate 90 second blocks actually flying, so that we had time to rest.  After ten sessions each, the tunnel would shut off, we'd get out, debrief, then prepare for the next session.  We'd do this 4 to 8 times a day.  And we were TIRED.

If you're planning on flying 20 minutes with 1 minute breaks, that's a lot of tunnel time you're paying for that you're not flying.  Additionally, even flying 10 1-minute sessions with only a 1-minute break between, might be a bit ambitious if you've only ever done 7.5 minutes of tunnel in your life --- you don't fly well when you're tired.  But regardless, try to find someone else to split the time with, unless money is not a concern for you (and even then).

 

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I would regard it pretty strange to do 20 minutes straight but I have seen people do 30 minutes straight when working on low speed dynamic in the past. This isn't all belly though and is a little easier on your body as the load is spread out between belly and back.

Typically when I fly 20 minutes (in a 30 minute session) we work the rotations so the others on the session break my time up. A typical rotation might be 8 x 2.5 Minute blocks for me and 5 x 2 Minute Blocks for the other flyer, there will be some consecutive time at the end in that case, but breaking it up helps massively with getting tired.

If you're the only person on the session, you could aim to to do a rotation of 2 mins on, 1 min off to give the body a rest and debrief quickly with your coach (if you have one). You definitley have the right to dictate when the tunnel is on or off during your session if there are no other flyers, don't forget you're paying good money for that fan to be on!

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A number of years ago I booked a half hour (was on a business trip alone). My timing was flexible, and I called the DZ and asked if they had anyone I could alternate with so that I didn't spend 30 minutes straight. it was a win-win as far as I was concerned -- got most of my time solo, then decided to do some 2-way with the other person.

Wendy P.

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I've only done 15 min blocks. 1:40 x 9 with i fly customers flying breaks. There was one night I went, me and my coach were the only ones there and it was 15 min of time,  but it took a  30 min block. They just turned the tunnel off if there wasn't anyone flying on my breaks. I did 30 min of fly time once, but it was broken into 2 15 min sessions, again flying minute 40's and i had a 2 hour break in between the sessions and halfway through the second session i started flying like crap because I was so tired.

I have heard of people doing an hour in one day, but usually its fly 20 minutes 2:00 x 10 with minute breaks in between, and then an hour long break, and repeat 2 more times. 

I think it depends a lot on what you are working on, your own personal ability.

Most of the time though, people will split a 30 min block, because it makes it cheaper for everyone and you get more out of it because you dont get suuuuuuper worn out.

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I believe there are multiple answers to your question. If you are a newcomer to the tunnel then I would not recommend flying 30 minutes straight. You will likely get tired and not get the most bang for your buck.

As others have recommended, it is best to see if you can find someone to split it with so you can break up the sessions in blocks. I have flown all different types of blocks from 1 minute 30 to 3 minutes and my preference is the 10 blocks of 1:30. In my experience, this duration was optimal for giving 100% while in the wind and enough recovery in between to repeat at 100% again.

With that said, as you progress it is definitely possible to fly much longer straight. Different disciplines will make it harder. For example, flying belly for 30 minutes straight will be a breeze relative to flying head up when you get there. I have flown belly, head up, and head down for 30 minutes straight and my advice is to not do this unless your #1 priority is to build up a feel on the wind. I think at your level you will be better suited with good coaching and breaks between blocks.

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Agree with everyone, most I ever did is 15 mins in 30 mins session, 2,5 minutes x 6 session is my preferred set up. I did 5 hours in 5 days tunnel boot camp last year, which was tough for the body. Now I prefer not to do more than 30 mins per day, usually splitting it into two goes with at least 1 hour break in between them. 

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