Lets put this freefly question to bed once and for all...

[Paulipod 0]

Well, we have been open for a little while now but I still seem to be asked the question 'Is your tunnel good for freefly?' quite alot!!

We have always have had freefly ability, but over the past few months we have been slowly increasing the power in safe increments to ensur that not only is the space nice - but that our power is unrivalled also.

We have now released over 60% of our incredible 4000HP which pushes more air than you will find anywhere
and to hopefully put the question of fit for freefly to bed...

Here's a picture of Vince and Cathy from Babylon wearing fully weighted dummy rigs to prove the point...

www.bodyflight.co.uk/photos/rig.jpg

Bodyflight Bedford
www.bodyflight.co.uk

[hkf 0]

Yep, and wearing their normal jump suits which are in no way baggy.

My FF suit is tight, and I can easily go to the top of the tunnel in a sit on 75% of the new new high power setting

[skibumb453 0]

That is sooo Badass, I can't wait to fly your tunnel on my Europe trip.

Don't disrespect just because you can't hang in my tunnel. Here's to blue skys and cool recirculating tunnels.

[skydonkey 0]

That was the first time I saw Cathy without her ear to ear tunnel grin on. Boy she was concentrating!

I noticed some of the rigs had DRCP, are you going to be doing TAFF?

[Paulipod 0]

Quote

I noticed some of the rigs had DRCP, are you going to be doing TAFF?

we do a fair bit of AFF / Pre-AFF training - which is why we have had a dummy AFF rig made. Reaching for the BOC is good practice although I dont think I'll encourage people to practice reserve drills those pads are more there just to create a familiar appearance

Overall we have found the dummy rigs to be a great training aid so far - so many dynamics are changed when training with them, so if realism is the aim they are a step in the right direction

Bodyflight Bedford
www.bodyflight.co.uk

[Eule 0]

Quote

we do a fair bit of AFF / Pre-AFF training - which is why we have had a dummy AFF rig made.
Reaching for the BOC is good practice although I dont think I'll encourage people to practice reserve drills

Random thought. Keep in mind I am a low-jump-number student, not an instructor of any kind.

At the DZ I go to, the hanging harnesses have both main and reserve risers, and a working 3-rings.
When students are practicing cutaways, most of the practices are done with a dummy cutaway pillow
handle - no cables on it. However, for one cutaway, the instructor replaces the dummy handle with
the "real" handle with cables to the 3-rings. When you pull it, the 3-rings releases and you drop a few
inches, until you are caught by the reserve risers. It's not exactly what you would feel in the air, but it
gives you a feel for what pulling the cutaway handle is like.

I wonder if something like this could be arranged in the tunnel, to give students (or anyone interested)
a more 'realistic' cutaway experience? You could have a tunnel rig with a relatively short set of main
risers and a much longer set of reserve risers. Both sets would be fixed to a support in the upper part
of the tunnel. The student would get into the rig, and then the operator would turn up the air until the
student is in "free fall" - belly to earth and not hanging from the risers. The student would do a practice
ripcord pull/pilot chute throw. When the operator observes this, he can either leave the air turned up
(high speed mal) or turn it down substantially (low speed mal). When the student recognizes the mal
and pulls the cutaway, the operator turns the air back up to "free fall" if it was down - the student is
going back into freefall. The student will fall somewhat, but hopefully not to the end of the reserve
risers. Once the student pulls the reserve ripcord, the operator turns down the air, and leaves the
student hanging from the reserve risers.

Problems: The student either has to be briefed on what to expect - how to "know" he's got a
malfunction by what the air is doing - or given some signal. Perhaps something as simple as a lamp
mounted on the thing that the risers are mounted to - if you practice pull/throw, look up, and the
lamp is on, you have a malfunction. The advanced version would be to have a TV monitor up there
playing one of the "you pulled, looked up, and saw *this*" videos. The monitor would have to be
hardened against 120+ mph airflow, though.

The main risers need to be tacked to the reserve risers just above the three-rings. Otherwise, when
the student cuts away, the main risers are free to flail about at their full length in the tunnel.

If your tunnel is a sucker, the idea of having loose cutaway handles/ripcords is probably not great
(fan/motor damage). Even if it's a blower, it's probably bad form to shoot a handle out the top and
have it land in the car park.

How does the student get into the harness in the first place? The risers need to be anchored several
feet off the net to allow the student to "go back into freefall", but that makes it hard for them to get
into the harness. You could bring a ladder into the tunnel, have a second entry door higher up, or
maybe install a winch for the riser anchors - student dons rig, stands on net, instructor connects
risers to winch, student is hauled up to the appropriate height.

Also, when the student is done with this exercise, he is hanging in a harness a few feet off the net.
Maybe an instructor can help him get out, or with the winch, he could be lowered to the net.

This requires some kind of support for the risers that is inside the airstream. You probably wouldn't
want to leave this there for general flying. On the other hand, you would probably offer "cutaway"
training relatively infrequently, and it could be done at the beginning or end of the day, to avoid
losing too much time while the support is installed or removed.

Eule

PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.