108 Way HD Possible without Tunnels ?

[NewClearSports 0]

Do you think the 108 way Head Down Record would of ever been possible without the invention of the verticle wind tunnel?

I know at least 6 or more that were on the record and each has ALOT of tunnel time.

Although I was watching some old school late 80's Flyboyz videos and those guys were amazing, even by todays standards.

I,m interested in hearing others opinions.

I have to admit I,m doing my 1st hour at the Montreal Tunnel this weekend because I can't help but think these days you need it to stay competitive and current. Also it's winter so for me it's either that or fly south.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers

[NeedToJump 0]

Possble without tunnels? Yes. Would it have happened this year without tunnels? Probably not.

You don't need to fly in a wind tunnel to be good, but it's a much faster and more efficient way to get good. Especially with a good coach.

Look at the medal winners from the Open freefly events from Nationals:
1st place VFS AZ Arsenal - lots of tunnel time
2nd place VFS SDC Standard XP - lots of tunnel time

1st place freefly SoCal Converge - lots of tunnel time
2nd place freefly Orlando XP - lots of tunnel (both tunnel instructors)

Quote

I can't help but think these days you need it to stay competitive

Good thought

Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

[hparrish 0]

No I don't think the 108 Way would have been possible without the Tunnel.

I've seen many of the record holders spend a good amount of time in the tunnel.

It's the fastest most efficient way to get thousands of jumps worth of experience that I know of.

I will state that the Tunnel does not replace Big Way Skills that can only be learned skydiving. Such as Diving Down to the formation quickly and stoping on a dime. That takes a lot of skydiving to get really good at.

[dgskydive 0]

Of course they would have been able to do the record without the tunnel. The tunnel is a great way to accelerate your progression, but to think that people wouldnt be able to do this without the tunnel is not true.

It may have taken them a bit longer, but it would have been done regardless.

The thing that has kept FF from doing these types of formations earlier is quite simply, that they were not interested in doing this type of thing until fairly recently. Free Flying was always the "fun" discipline. No plan, just go out and jump and have a good time.

Once the Flyboyz and Alechemey started putting big ways together it actually took off pretty fast.

It is interesting to see how FF has progressed over the last 5 years or so into a more structured form then it use to be.

Dom

[jimartle 0]

Sure you could do it without the tunnel, just like we did 8, 10, and 20 ways in the 1970's. It just took a lot more time. Only 60 seconds at a time, making sure you had separation before you pulled, etc, etc.

In the tunnel you get 2-5 jumps at a time without the distractions. Then you can translate that to the real world when you jump because you honed the "Muscle Memory" in the tunnel.

Had we had the tunnel "In The Day" we would have built a lot more big ways faster and without the trouble. Would I have changed things? Not on a bet. I enjoy being part of the history of his sport!