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flytodeath

Is a windtunnel worth it for AFF?

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Hey there. I'm looking at dropzones to do AFF and obviously there's a big jump in price when there is a windtunnel available. My question: Is windtunnel training that much more beneficial? It seems like it would be but I have only had one tandem jump and don't really know anything. What are your experiences? It certainly doesn't seem like it could hurt. Is it worth an extra $200?

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I did 6 min before my aff and i introduced another person to skydiving and had them do 10 min before it aswell.. i totally think its worth it and it helps you not to fail levels in my opinion.. mostly it helps get you over the initial idea of floating on the air :)

Good luck on the AFF course!

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Had my son do 30 minutes, he breezed through AFF, the instructors just basically were there from what they said.
One thing a tunnel does not teach is altitude awarenes.
Experience is a difficult teacher, she gives you the test first and the lesson afterward

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Skydiving costs:
Getting to A license - $1500 to $2500
Gear: Rig 4000 (includes first reserve pack, shipping...etc) , suit 200, alti 75, helmet 200
100 Jumps after A license: $2500
gas: $18 each time you go (based on 30 mpg, 75 miles each way, $3.5/Gal)

Just getting started = $8600 to $9600 in the first 125 jumps
This does not include: food, beer, boogie fees, video, coaching (post license), license fees, tunnel time, reserve repacks, Regular packjobs, water training, videos, pictures, speeding tickets and many other incidentals.
(If you think my math is off, I checked my records and the first 128 jumps cost $10,237)

$200 are a drop in the bucket and not a factor in making a decision.
Prepare to spend at least $5000/year (about 150 jumps a year)

Skydiving is an expensive hobby. There are much cheaper ways to get your thrills, impress the ladies, find meaning in life, have an adventure, fill a hole in your soul, get a personality, die or main yourself, make friends, get out of a funk, have a midlife crisis, check an item of a bucket list, find your tribe, be part of a small club, learn to master your own body, learn from your mistakes, learn from other's mistakes, be a rebel....

It is not just money, it is time.
Skydiving will also alienate you from some people. You will spend your weekends at a dropzone while your friends are out socializing and trying new things. The explosive high from the first few jumps will transform into the high of getting better and succeeding, but if you are just in it for the adrenaline and the "rush" your tenure in the sport might be short lived.
Waking up every weekend in the season at 6:30am and driving an hour and half to the dropzone. Sitting on the ground while the winds are too high for a student and driving home too late on Sunday to hang out with your wuffo friends.

And you are already off to a rocky start. Zero jumps and you are already asking for advice on the internet. The internet is the number one worst place to learn to skydive. Because even as you read this you must be aware that I could be full of shit, making honest mistakes, misleading you on purpose, drunk, and idiot and all of the above.
Close the browser, delete the link to this page, delete your account and call a dropzone. Call 20 dropzones. I will even give you the numbers to some of them:
9256347575: Bay area
8566294600: Crosskeys
6192168416: san diego
5204663735: Skydive AZ
8137839399: Z hills
18665867872: Chambersburg
3867383539: Deland
2815953772: Spcaeland
9784339222: pepperell
5409436587: Orange
9512459939: Elsinore
Call any one of these and say "I would like some advice from an instructor, S&TA, or DZO" tell them your story and listen. I repeat "listen". In three hours on the phone you will get more information than three years on the internets. Better yet, go to a dropzone.

Furthermore:
You will be lucky if there is one dropzone close to where you live. What choice do you have? You take whatever is available at that place. You could do a destination course. Travel to a busy dropzone, pitch a tent, hand over a credit card and don't leave till you got what you came for. You are young, you will survive

Welcome to the sport!
There are no dangerous dives
Only dangerous divers

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My low jump chump advice...

Advice: worth it

Better advice: put the money towards Cat B / C1 and then go hit the tunnel.

I did 15 mins before my Cat A and wish I'd spent the money after a jump or two. A bunch of other low timers I came up with did the same thing and our general consensus is that we all would have spent the money after a few jumps instead of before the first one. Granted, we have easy access to a tunnel and rated coaches but whatever.

I definitely think the tunnel is worth it (I have about 6 hours) but spend your money on a few AFF jumps and figure out what you need to work on.

As others have said, though...$200 isn't even a rounding error when it comes to skydiving costs.

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I have more jumps than posts (but not many) and I think that tunnel time early in my AFF helped a lot. The confidence and awareness made me much more comfortable in the air and I was able to absorb more of what my instructors were signalling or telling me back on the ground.

Have fun, there's nothing like it!
Alcohol never really solved any problems. But then again, neither did milk.

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Hey there. I'm looking at dropzones to do AFF and obviously there's a big jump in price when there is a windtunnel available. My question: Is windtunnel training that much more beneficial? It seems like it would be but I have only had one tandem jump and don't really know anything. What are your experiences? It certainly doesn't seem like it could hurt. Is it worth an extra $200?



FlytoDeath, hullo. If i may please add my experience as a recent AFF graduate.
By no means is this any advise as i'm still new but I hope my experience will shed some light to your question. This was my reply to a similar topic.

This is just my experience using the tunnels and transitioning it to AFF.

For every minute I spent in freefall (or each jump) i spent 8 minutes practicing in the tunnels. Usually i'd practice in the tunnels the day before an AFF level qualifying jump so that i'd retain some muscle memory.

The techniques I learned in the tunnel were the same techniques I flew in AFF..i just needed to let the tunnel instructors know i was practicing for an AFF jump...They even gave me the same hand signals and made sure i checked my wrist as if i were wearing an altimeter.

A bad habit in the tunnel, that the tunnel instructors kept reminding me of, is that i kept my knees bent too much. I told them i wanted to make sure i wasn't touching the walls. So in AFF i had to consciously make sure my knees were not bent so much.

As slotperfect(he's an instructor/admin from the post i replied to) mentioned i do agree the tunnel is relatively harder to fly. However, that being said, from my experience if you can hold a stable position, for example, in the tunnel, it will be much easier in AFF.
slotperfect also mentioned "The biggest thing I notice is that when the students are in free fall on their release dives they spend a jump or two moving around the sky quite a bit because they don't have the walls of the tunnel as a lateral reference." This held true for me too as evident on my debrief videos. The first 2 release dives i was moving around the sky. HOwever, on the 3rd release dive i was stable as a rock. Don't know why this is true, but as slotperfect mentioned, the first 2 release dives for me were spent flying around.

From my experience the more time i spent in the tunnel or jumping the more relaxed i got. I guess it comes naturally after awhile.

Overall, for me, i think the time I took in the tunnels helped me pass all AFFs. It was either practice first before performing an AFF jump or just make an AFF jump. I thought of each AFF level as the final test to move on to the next level or as the qualifying jump. For me tunnel time was to learn and make mistakes and an AFF jump was not the time to learn but to perform and show the instructors you can perform the required moves.

Hope to see you out there soon, good luck, and Blue Skies.

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We have a wind tunnel close to our DZ, and 5 min tunnel time is included in the price. It's too soon for us to say if it's helped reduce the AFF-level repeats (the tunnel is quite new), but we haven't had a lot of repeats this year! I think it definitely is positive for most people, but it's not a "sure thing" that will guarantee you to pass all the levels. We've had students that just doesn't seem to "get" it, that end up doing more tunnel than what is included in the AFF-course.

If you can afford it, I'd go for it. Wind tunnel is a great tool.

EDIT: Just want to add that I didn't do any tunnel before my AFF course, and I did fine. I've done 6 hrs tunnel now though, it's awesome.

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We have a wind tunnel close to our DZ, and 5 min tunnel time is included in the price. It's too soon for us to say if it's helped reduce the AFF-level repeats (the tunnel is quite new), but we haven't had a lot of repeats this year! I think it definitely is positive for most people, but it's not a "sure thing" that will guarantee you to pass all the levels. We've had students that just doesn't seem to "get" it, that end up doing more tunnel than what is included in the AFF-course.

If you can afford it, I'd go for it. Wind tunnel is a great tool.

EDIT: Just want to add that I didn't do any tunnel before my AFF course, and I did fine. I've done 6 hrs tunnel now though, it's awesome.



I agree, it's not a sure pass or a guarantee but it's worth the investment to get the practice before an AFF.

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I almost feel like the tunnel is a harder place to learn for a new jumper. In a skydive, you have pretty much the whole sky and it doesn't really matter if your body positioning is perfect.
Where as in tunnel...you're fighting to keep yourself centered and you're having to do a lot more.

I noticed from talking to people that fail AFF, it's always level 4 they seem to have to do over...So I would almost suggest do the first 3 levels, THEN do a tunnel, then go back to AFF.

I never had to redo any of the levels and I have never seen a tunnel. Just remember to ARCH! and relax and stay focused :P

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I spent 6 minutes in the tunnel after failing my level 2. It definitely helped me with turning and holding a heading, although it still took some time for my eyes to adapt to the big blue sky instead of the guy 10 feet away in the video booth. It's also pretty fun in its own right. Up to you, though.

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gas: $18 each time you go (based on 30 mpg, 75 miles each way, $3.5/Gal)



Planning a house purchase next to the dropzone: priceless! There are a few places here where you could walk over to the dropzone in your bunny slippers and bathrobe, while sipping on your morning jo, and all the people who own them seem to hate the airport. I wonder if any of them would be interested in a trade...
I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

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planning a caravan purchase next to the dropzone:




fixed, that way you will have enough for tunnel time and jump tickets.

Just spent 3 hours this week in the tunnel at Singapore and am knackered. My 13 yo son now has 20 minutes and is addicted.

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I was struggling during AFF, had to repeat some levels, was frustrated and thinking of quitting. Did 10 minutes in the tunnel, and nailed every other AFF level. Yes - definitely worth it and a big help.
"We saved your gear. Now you can sell it when you get out of the hospital and upsize!!" "K-Dub"

"

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