Last Call Bedford Vs. Airkicks

[Bodyflight.Net 0]

well.. no first hand info to challenge you with on the UK tunnels.. but I can't say I'm suprised.. I thought all along Bedford would be the 'best' airstream of the two, more traditional anyway.

added: if it were a blower...(and as efficient as it is now) I'd probably think it was the worlds best vwt and start figuring out how to move to the UK :)

[TrickyDicky 0]

surely its technically a blower? its recirculating so its pushing the air back through itself.

and with blowers, surely theres the potential there for a column in the middle that isnt as strong, with stronger air as you move out towards the edge.

UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs.

[nigelh 0]

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there are 2 reasons why Americans would not travel to the UK to train

From what i hear out here in Florida, there are American Teams conisdering flying to the UK to Train,

Nigel

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[Adriandavies 0]

..and Paulipod has said the same thing.

[mattjw916 2]

and when they do a cost-benefit analysis they will head to Eloy instead.

Let's see cheaper tunnel time, the best coaches in the world, cheaper cost-of-living in AZ, near-flawless weather year-round, jump-till-you-drop lift capacity... um yeah I'd head to Bedford to train.

NSCR-2376, SCR-15080

[4wayFly 0]

Ummm...cost-benefit analysis all well and good. But Bedford is a 16 ft diameter tunnel. So you're comparing apples with oranges (or apricots with watermelons?!). Teams like to be able to train the whole dive pool in the tunnel hence the attraction to overseas teams.

And as far as 'the best coaches in the world' goes...Airspeed boys and AZ locals Mark Kirkby and Gary Beyers are headed to the UK to coach 1-on1- and 4-way at Bedford June 7-12 anyway (Airspeed Odyssey just left).

But we will miss you, Matt

[Skytender 0]

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Hi Ross,

I don't understand the "why" of this statement... could you explain a bit more for me??

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Airkix's tunnel design by its very nature makes it 'easier' to learn stability, but on the down side, its harder to learn fall rate control than at Bedford - another essential head-down skill.

specifically,
what is it about the airkix design that makes it easier (than bedford I assume) to learn stability
and what is the problem with learning fall rate control at bedford?

I believe its this plus a bit more ross... Learning how to fall straight down and at your slowest fall rate.... its basicly the very basics of body flight for flying in a tunnel.... its the building block for learning range of motion....range of motion simply being body flight control.... so to learn the basics in a slower tunnel.... the basics of any posistion... just observations.... ;)

Hi Dawn

I didn't mean to imply that learning fall rate control was harder at Bedford - far from it. Rather, imo the control required at bedford is potentially more than at Airkix.

Airkix tunnel like all skyventure tunnels, spills more and more air out the mesh sides the higher up the tunnel you go. Bedfords tunnel doesn't. If your fall rate control is lacking, you'll reach a point where as you assend in the Airkix tunnel you'll naturally 'level out' as lift is reduced by the spilling air, and "hey - I'm stable". In bedford, applying the same technique will have you on the top net. So learn in Airkix gives you the skills to fly upside down. Learning in Bedford gives you that too, but you'll learn more efficient fallrate control too (albeit you'll be carving sooner at Airkix because of the tunnel helping the fallrate control)

I hope that makes sense. I'm far from an authority on the subject with so few hours in the tunnel (6.5), but I do take an interest in the 'physics' of tunnel flight and want to learn more. If your opinion differs from this, I'd be (genuinely) interested in hearing your point of view

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