Tunnel prior to AFF?

[Braz933 0]

Having read the "Failing AFF" thread, I was wondering if it would be worthwhile for me to spend some time in a tunnel before doing AFF? I figure that would expose, and give me a chance to fix , any stability issues ahead of time. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Braz

[Andy_Copland 0]

Thats the instructors job to help you with in the air, might be tossing money away if you turn out to be a stable kinda guy. If you find you have problems then why not think about utilizing the tunnel?

Edit: Not that it would ever hurt your AFF, but talk to your instructors about it if you do. Im thinking from a poor mans perspective

1338

People aint made of nothin' but water and shit.

Until morale improves, the beatings will continue.

[Deisel 35]

Also talk to the school first. At my DZ a tunnel trip is now included in the FJC for exactly that reason. I've heard nothing but positive reviews from the instructors.

The brave may not live forever, but the timid never live at all.

[kelpdiver 2]

how far out of your way do you have to go to find a tunnel? You don't have a location listed for you, or an intended DZ.

It certainly won't hurt, but barring known problems, I wouldn't suggest driving 500 miles to do it.

[ryoder 1,380]

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Having read the "Failing AFF" thread, I was wondering if it would be worthwhile for me to spend some time in a tunnel before doing AFF? I figure that would expose, and give me a chance to fix , any stability issues ahead of time. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Braz

If I was starting today, that is exactly what I would do.

When I did the Airspeed 3-day tunnel camp a couple years ago, there a a guy in the class who was doing that. At the end of the camp he had 1 hour of tunnel time. The difference between his first 10 minutes in the tunnel, and his last 10 minutes was huge. He went on to AFF after that. His ID is "tomvailco".

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[Braz933 0]

I'm in Marlborough MA. SkyVenture (http://www.skyventurenh.com/) in Nashua NH is what I had in mind. About 1 hour away from my house.


I have not chosen a DZ yet, but I have checked the web sites for all the DZ's near me, and none mention anything about tunnel time as part of the AFF process.

I figure it can't hurt...and would be money well spent if it gives me an edge going into AFF. I will definitely run it by the instructors at whatever DZ I choose before doing it though.

Braz

[jpw2o05 0]

If it were me, I would not go to the tunnel prior. Sure, it would probably help with your skills, but I feel like it would take away from the experience. The best part of AFF for me was jumping into the unknown, not knowing if I would be stable, or if I would do lots of flippies. Just my two cents.

[fred 0]

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I'm in Marlborough MA. SkyVenture (http://www.skyventurenh.com/) in Nashua NH is what I had in mind. About 1 hour away from my house.

Wow. I'm very jealous.

I'm not very experienced, but I say go for it. Do enough tunnel time to learn to fall stable, do turns, and basics. I (in my low-jump-numbers-non-instructor opinion) would suggest you don't do too much, as you don't want to get too far ahead of the progression. There are a lot of skills in skydiving that aren't taught in a tunnel (altitude awareness, landing patterns, canopy control, exits, landings). And those are as, if not more important in saving your life than knowing how to fly your body and turn points.

If I had it to do over again, and had a tunnel nearby, I'd do enough time to feel comfortable, but not overly confident.

[DougH 270]

Skydive U had a Tunnel AFF progression, don't know if they still do this.

I believe it started with a level 1 jumps, and then moved into the tunnel for a little bit.

Personally I did level 1, then I got some time in the Orlando tunnel while down in Florida for business. I think it helped, and by then I knew I wanted to continue before I plunked down the $$$ on the tunnel time.

I would go do your level one first, then run the idea by your instructors.

"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

[Synapse 0]

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I figure it can't hurt...and would be money well spent if it gives me an edge going into AFF. I will definitely run it by the instructors at whatever DZ I choose before doing it though.

Braz

I say go as much as you can.

My AFF course (Skydive University in DeLand) came with 20 minutes of tunnel time before the first jump. That allowed the instructors to spend less time and energy on teaching you how to fly your body during the AFF levels and more time on how to fly the canopy and land properly. Their thinking, which I agree with, is that the majority of people are getting hurt under good canopies, so lets take care of the body flight part up front so that we can focus on canopy control.

So the way I see it, having tunnel time will make AFF a breeze and you will come out of it a better flyer, so where is the downside? Besides the obvious financial burden of course. Hell, I kept going and had 6 hours in the tunnel with only 33 jumps! Sure did help with getting on those 4 way jumps I wanted.


-syn

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain
a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty
nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin

[gsxrjumper720 0]

I was fortunate enough to spend time in the tunnel at about 12 jumps, it really helps with your body mechanics, but don't think it's going to be an end all to any problems that may occur on an actual jump. A tunnel is designed a bit different then the sky, as it has walls where the air is forced up, where as the sky does not. This may not sound like a big difference, but it really does make a big change on a jump. If I had to do it all over again, I would jump first. Find a DZ with an experienced staff and try the sky for yourself. The tunnel will help you with your body position and progression, but cannot compare to that first time you become a "Puller". From one rookie to another, Enjoy the sky and learn as you go. Don't be the brown noser who has already read the book before the class ever started :)

Life is way too short not to enjoy every minute of it :)

[bodypilot1 0]

The tunnel is great to learn before doing your AFF. I've had several student fly in it before doing my private course, and it works fantastic for your progression.

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[bluepill 0]

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Having read the "Failing AFF" thread, I was wondering if it would be worthwhile for me to spend some time in a tunnel before doing AFF? I figure that would expose, and give me a chance to fix , any stability issues ahead of time. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Braz

IMO I think it is money well spent. In addition to highligting any stability issues it will expose your body and senses to the FEEL of the wind.

I am not sure if there have been any studies on this but I would be interested to know if tunnel time prior to AFF has any effect on Sensory Overload occurences.

SO occurs when the 5 senses are bombarded with signals. So my thinking is if you can aquaint some of these senses to the FEEL of the wind prior to a jump then MAYBE it might help avoid an SO during a jump.

I dont know enough about that though, so would be interested to hear other thoughts.

BP

[popsjumper 2]

The basic skill you are learning on your AFF Lvvel 1 jump is freefall body position. We call it the "Neutral" position. Tunnel flight will teach you that much, much faster than actual freefall. They will even teach you to fly in a "pull" position simulating actually pulling your PC/ripcord or whatever system you will be using.

A couple of sessions in the tunnel and you will learn to start a turn and how to stop a turn which is what the focus is on Level2

This will benefit you for your Level 3 jump as well where you will be practicing hover control and heading maintenance.

Levels 4-5 are all about turning and stopping on-heading.

Levels 6-7 are all about stability recovery. You may not want to do this activity in the tunnel. Purposely de-stabilizing yourself could lead to injury in the tunnel.

What the tunnel can't teach you very well is Forward Movement and tracking simply because of the limited space available. They CAN teach the body position and help you with stability if the tunnel instructor holds you back from actually plowing into the walls.


I personally know a very well-known freeflyer who completed AFF in 1 jump. Yes, he was a tunnel rat for a long time before he ever left an airplane.

So, I am whole-heartedly in favor of tunnel time as a training tool. It's there. Use it. It's cheaper than leaving an airplane plus you get to practice for 2 minutes at a time at least.

Many tunnel rats go on to do skydiving after becoming proficient in the tunnel.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[Braz933 0]

I have done 2 tandems. I know they don't count for anything, but it did expose me to some of the elements. The first was definitely a sensory overload experience. The second time, I was much more collected and aware of what was going on. The instructor allowed me to pull (on his signal of course), and fly the canopy for a bit.

Thanks for all the advice. Keep it coming!

Braz

[marcandalysse 0]

Yes, if you have the cash!
The tunnel instructors will know what you'll need, you will practice stablitly and practice pulls etc.

"The reason angels can fly is that they take themselves so lightly." --GK Chesterton

[LloydDobbler 2]

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Having read the "Failing AFF" thread, I was wondering if it would be worthwhile for me to spend some time in a tunnel before doing AFF? I figure that would expose, and give me a chance to fix , any stability issues ahead of time. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Braz

I'd also vote for 'yes'.

I fly with a group of people in the tunnel every Thursday night for 1/2 hour - one of the girls in the 'league' has made one tandem jump, but hasn't been through AFF (she plans to next spring). She's currently doing very well with her sitfly in the tunnel (and her backfly beat the heck out of mine ). She's so good on her belly, she'll likely speed through AFF.

Now, you obviously won't get to that level with one tunnel session...but in my experience, every bit of tunnel time is time well spent. Even if you have 500 jumps, there's always more precision stuff you can dial in.

My girlfriend had a real hard time getting through AFF-3 (the release dive), where she kept spinning. After multiple tries, it wasn't until she flew 10 minutes in the tunnel that she finally worked it out. Since then, my thought has been 'if you can already fly stable and on-heading by the time you get in the sky, you'll be that much ahead of the game.'

Of course, it may be that you wouldn't have a problem staying on-heading. But still, I can only think tunnel time would help.

Signatures are the new black.

[ladydyver 0]

i did 10 min of tunnel before I started AFF....I thought it was helpful for me...I had already done 3 tandems and had 2 iad jumps though. since i have gone back and done 1 hr and 15minutes in addition to what I had done prior to jumping.....all of which was extremely helpful.

DPH # 2
"I am not sure what you are suppose to do with that, but I don't think it is suppose to flop around like that." ~Skootz~
I have a strong regard for the rules.......doc!

[Couloirman 0]

a lot of the guys working the tunnel are instructors. tell them exactly why you are there and they will focus your tunnel time toward aff specific goals. do practice pulls, look at your wrist a lot, turns on heading, etc... i failed aff level 4 cause i was a spinner, went to the tunnel for 10 minutes, then crushed my remaining levels. definitely go do as much tunnel time as you can. if you do 10 or 15 minutes, at $10/min, and it prevents you from failing even one aff level, then it paid for itself.

[chrismgtis 0]

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if you do 10 or 15 minutes, at $10/min, and it prevents you from failing even one aff level, then it paid for itself.

Our of curiousity.. you got your tunnel time for $10/minute? Doesn't it normally cost around $18? I've only flown in one tunnel so I don't know.

Rodriguez Brother #1614, Muff Brother #4033
Jumped: Twin Otter, Cessna 182, CASA, Helicopter, Caravan

[beerline 0]

I had about 20 min in the tunnel before ever starting my aff. It made a huge difference. I had my basic body position and movement down before ever stepping out of the plane. i completed my aff in 3 or 4 jumps, I dont remember exactly. Spend the time and money its worth it.

[Schwarztod 0]

How does one go about locating a nearby wind tunnel. I know for a fact that none of the DZs in my area have them.

[popsjumper 2]

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How does one go about locating a nearby wind tunnel. I know for a fact that none of the DZs in my area have them.

Google "tunnel skydiving".

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[Schwarztod 0]

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Google "tunnel skydiving".

I tried that to no avail. The closest I could find was in Orlando. From the link on your signature (skydivethefarm.com), it appears you are also in the Atlanta area. Do you personally know of any nearby?

[diablopilot 2]

For you, there will be SkyVenture Facilities in Orlando, and Raeford North Carolina, and a FlyAway facility in Pigeon Forge Tennessee.

Anyone know if L1 is still operational?

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