Wind tunnel 10hrs

[Scarebus380 0]

Hi
I'm new to forum and to skydiving.
Not sure if I'm posting in the right place?
I have just completed my A licence but due to DZ clousure I'm going to do tunnel time.
My question is, I'm not a natural skydiver, I want to do 10hrs tunnel time in the next 8 weeks, as a very novice skydiver, to what skill level does anyone think I can achieve with 10hrs and would they recommend it, or can bad habits be picked up in tunnel flying?
Thanks for advice, and also to say skydiving is ADDICTIVE!!!😃

[Scarebus380 0]

Sorry, found the correct place to post

[BigMick 6]

Hey man,

I was sit flying after 2.5 hours and I'm currently starting head down (4 hrs total) and I started tunnel flying at around 40 jumps, but it all depends on how much time you want to spend on each body position and how fast you can learn. I would suggest to learn how to be stable at a body position and find someone that you can share the tunnel with to save some money and practice. That's what I do.

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

I've heard of tunnel instructor courses that take about 15 hours. I'd think you'd be able to do most if not all the various freefly positions in 10 hours of training.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[RichyR 0]

I'm sure you'll get very good at tunnel flying. The issue you'll have is integration into the air - particularly if you're not jumping lots in between e.g. Exits are really important and take 100s of jumps to perfect. I think it'd be much more benefit spreading it out over 6 months or a year.

You'll find that FF is MUCH more tiring in the tunnel. An hour in one day will be very tiring.

You may also want to hold off a bit to see which discipline you want to follow. No point in wasting the time doing loads of FF if you decide to become a hardcore 4-way competitor, and vice versa.

[decompresion 2]

Quote

"No point in wasting the time doing loads of FF if you decide to become a hardcore 4-way competitor, and vice versa."

Please explain this point. I would like to know why you think this before I strongly disagree with you.

There are no dangerous dives
Only dangerous divers

[hillson 0]

RichyR

An hour in one day will be very tiring.

People do multiple hours in a day all the time.

[tred 0]

decompresion

Quote

"No point in wasting the time doing loads of FF if you decide to become a hardcore 4-way competitor, and vice versa."

Please explain this point. I would like to know why you think this before I strongly disagree with you.

because freeflying doesn't help if he decides to do 4 way and 4 way doesn't help of he decides to do free fly

[adamUK 3]

If you're static flying then yes. However mix it up with low speed belly carving, back carving, layouts and flares and it's much less grief on the body. When we do VFS I can do about 20 minutes a night before my body explodes but I've easily done 90 minutes in a day working on low speed dynamic flying.

[RMK 3]

You've just got your A License; now plan to spend around 6,000 on tunnel??

I think it's a waste and a "piss away" of your money. Use your money to travel other dropzones and do some "real" skydiving.

Tunnel is OK for brief periods and can be a good training tool; but is like comparing sitting on a stationary bike in your living room compared to a ride through the countryside.

I actually find it laughable that people list their tunnel hours with some kind of odd pride here (it's not really a feat/accomplishment) it's just money expenditure.

"Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to attend his classes"

[Deimian 43]

RMK

You've just got your A License; now plan to spend around 6,000 on tunnel??

I think it's a waste and a "piss away" of your money. Use your money to travel other dropzones and do some "real" skydiving.

Tunnel is OK for brief periods and can be a good training tool; but is like comparing sitting on a stationary bike in your living room compared to a ride through the countryside.

I actually find it laughable that people list their tunnel hours with some kind of odd pride here (it's not really a feat/accomplishment) it's just money expenditure.

I completely disagree. I like more skydiving than tunnel, but IMO tunnel flying is a sport on its own and lots of fun. Sure, if you are going to belly fly it is not that exciting, or if you are into swooping or CReW you can't do shit in the tunnel, but if you are into free and dynamic flying the tunnel is heaps of fun. Just because it is indoor and the chances or injury are lower it doesn't mean it is any worse than "real" skydiving.

[mjosparky 3]

decompresion

Quote

"No point in wasting the time doing loads of FF if you decide to become a hardcore 4-way competitor, and vice versa."

Please explain this point. I would like to know why you think this before I strongly disagree with you.

What you need to do is get comfortable belly flying first. When you do try FF and you mess up, as you will, the default position is belly flying. And on all jumps all jumpers revert to belly flying at one of the most important parts of the dice, the opening. jmo

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

hillson

***
An hour in one day will be very tiring.

People do multiple hours in a day all the time.

Sure, when they're used to it. I can do 20 minutes in a day without being too sore the next day. I might be able to pull off half an hour if I'm not doing anything strenuous. Much past that I won't be able to fly by the end of it. Admittedly I'm not in the greatest shape, but I'm pretty comfortable in the air now.

I did 4 minute rotations last time I did 20 minutes in there, and was getting tired toward the end of it. I also did 10 minutes straight with no breaks down in Eloy and around the 8 minute mark my arms felt like they were going to fall off, and I was as sore for days afterward as the first time I ever flew in the tunnel. It was still fun trying it, though!

The idea of doing an hour of anything that's actually work in there, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to do it. But different strokes for different folks and all that.

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[Joellercoaster 6]

RMK

Tunnel is OK for brief periods and can be a good training tool; but is like comparing sitting on a stationary bike in your living room compared to a ride through the countryside

No offence to you, but you have no idea what you are talking about. Especially in this thread... the OP is proposing to do something fairly unusual (actually not even that unusual, let's say "modern" instead) and you are wheeling out the tired oldskool skydiver cliches. If you want to actually get good at a skydiving discipline nowadays, the tunnel is where you do it. Some people decide to get good first, and skip the thing you and I did where we spend a hundred jumps doing low-quality skydives first

Original poster: RMK does raise a point - for that money, you *could* go and travel and do a bunch of jumps. But clearly you know this, because it is bleeding obvious.

In ten hours in the tunnel, you could:

Potentially get to a decent standard head up.

Potentially get to head-down if you push hard and don't polish much along the way.

Potentially learn to do 4-way to a medal-winning standard in Rookie class (don't sweat the exits issue too hard, I've seen national Rookie champions learn one exit).

Whatever you do, get a quality coach, preferably one in the discipline you want.

Or you could have a go at all of these things with a tunnel coach, get good at none of them, but be a super confident flyer in freefall for your jump numbers. Then go and have some really good jumps when you do get back in the "real" air. But be aware that your freefall skills will be stronger than people with hundreds of jumps, and people might still be stuck in the "jump numbers" vein when you're trying to get on skydiver. No biggie.

Oh, and there is a (small but non-zero) problem people sometimes have with a lot of tunnel time, which is to mistake how much canopy flight needs attention. Be aware of it, and know your limitations - your skills will be out of balance that way. Again, not a huge deal as long as you know it's coming.

Also let us know what you end up doing and keep us posted!

--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?

[Hooknswoop 19]

Quote

What you need to do is get comfortable belly flying first. When you do try FF and you mess up, as you will, the default position is belly flying. And on all jumps all jumpers revert to belly flying at one of the most important parts of the dice, the opening. jmo

There is a lot of poor ideas in this thread, but this one is dangerous. The default position is not belly flying when free flying.

Derek V

[Bealio 0]

Haha! Good catch! Horrible advice.

[wan2doit 6]

Agreed X 2 - I've only got 5 hrs in the tunnel over 2 years or so but have always been told backflying is the default especially from sit and head down.

I know most folks learn belly 1st but bakfly is what saves one most of the time as they progress to the more complicated skills at higher wind speeds.

Plus confirm anything you read here with a real coach - preferably level 4.

Maybe google Int'l Bodyflight Assoc (IBA ), tunnel coaches etc. to learn more b-4 doing the 10 hours since it is a large $$$ investment that u want to get the most out of.

[RMK 3]

Joellercoaster

the OP is proposing to do something fairly unusual

I don't believe anything offered in a "shopping mall" setting is particularly adventurous or provides much of an accomplishment - indoor skiing, indoor rock climbing, indoor skydiving ... all the same sanitised experience. I'm involved in several outdoor hobbies and juggle my time between them.

I too have a fair amount of tunnel time; I'm just a proponent of getting out doors and doing it for "real".

If you want to have fun and are ready to part with 6 grand, I think it's a disservice to the OP to tell him that dropping it on an account at the tunnel is a great idea. Fuck, he can learn to be a pilot for that price.

"Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to attend his classes"

[Joellercoaster 6]

RMK

I don't believe anything offered in a "shopping mall" setting is particularly adventurous or provides much of an accomplishment

I think that's fine, if you apply it only to yourself. But your feelings about what is "accomplishment" are, if I may say so, not useful to the experiences of others.

Some people don't give a shit about what other people think is "adventurous". Some people want to be good.

I know a few people who just fly in the tunnel (even though some have skydived). Some with hundreds of hours of tunnel time. I know a lot of other people who spend way more time in the tunnel than they do in freefall (including me). Most of those people make me look like a bumbling amateur in the tunnel and in the air. They fly... and they are happy because of their great level of skill.

According to you, those people are doing it wrong. I'm sure they'll totally change their minds though when you point that out.

Quote

I too have a fair amount of tunnel time

No... you really don't.

Quote

I'm just a proponent of getting out doors and doing it for "real"

That's great, if it makes you happy. It has nothing to do with anything though.

--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?