If money was no object...

[barnett 0]

Let's assume for the moment that you were fucking loaded. For the record I am not, I'm just posing a hypothetical question to get some idea of how best to use tunnel time in combination with skydiving for freefly progression. But if cost was NOT a factor, how many hours, in what tunnel, would be enough to be a competent all round freeflyer? I have 900+ jumps, most of them head up with a fair bit of head down recently, but do not rate my ability to match my jump numbers because my currency varies. I have seen people come back from tunnel time with 10 hours who have solid head up flying, but not spectacular head down flying (good, solid, just not super good like we all wanna be). It also seems to make sense to consolidate tunnel time with jumping, so I guess a tunnel near a DZ makes sense. And of course the value of a good coach cannot be overstated. So... where, how long for, and with who?

[RackJR 0]

Money is no object? build your own tunnel, buy a caravan.
hire many coaches. start with jason peters, if you can find time that he has available. spend a good chunk of time with him. when he's finished with you, you'd be ready for anything. hiring more coaches would give you a more rounded understanding of different coaching styles, different ways of teaching, different ways of communicating. from there, the list is pretty big. thomas hughes would be great, he can teach you an elite level of belly flying as well, something too many people overlook (belly flying in general).
as to how many hours or jumps it would take, you'll have to answer that. there's no formula. some people learn faster than others. some parts of the progression make more sense to some than others.
if you are trying to actually get a real handle on where and with whom, eloy is a great place to look. the list of coaches is huge. the last i heard, jason peters was booked about 6 months in advance, but i really don't know for sure. there are so many coaches there, you won't go 5 minutes without someone who can teach you. East coast? raeford has a great tunnel. the coaches may not be as well known as eloy (although some are), but you can hook up with the tunnel rats there, who will also accompany you into the sky. west coast? ifly SF bay is great. ask for kris reynolds or mx. jumps at lodi are cheap.
tunnel in the morning, jumps during the day, tunnel at night. sing yourself to sleep watching the video as many times as you can.
play the powerball. :)

Say what you mean. Do what you say.

[stayhigh 2]

You have to do both in order to be super awesome....
if you spend hours after hours in tunnel you'll be good at tunnel flying... doing bunch of bullshit that doesn't apply to skydiving...

if you just do skydiving, you can't practice precise movements and probably suck at minor adjustments....

if i had infinite amount of money, ill probably stay near S.F. and go to tunnel there and jump my ass off at near by dzs..........

Bernie Sanders for President 2016

[frequentfaller 0]

Quote

You have to do both in order to be super awesome....
if you spend hours after hours in tunnel you'll be good at tunnel flying... doing bunch of bullshit that doesn't apply to skydiving.............

I understand , there are some things you cant learn in the tunnel, like exits and closing on formation from long distance, but what will you learn in tunnel that you cant use?, besides doing cool exits outta of tunnel.

Born ok 1st time.

[Andrewnewell 0]

Cash = Jumps at Eloy + 14ft tunnel + Ray Kubiak = good fast

[barnett 0]

All good information. Would 15 hours get you competent on your head? Or would 20 be more realistic? I live in Australia so anything on the west coast of the states seems to make more sense travel wise. The Singapore tunnel should be open soon which is of course much closer, but does not allow for skydiving close by to consolidate the knowledge gained from tunnel flying.

[stayhigh 2]

15 hour will get you on your head and more....
and if you are even thinking about 15 or 20 hours in tunnel i guess you are fucking loaded..

Bernie Sanders for President 2016

[barnett 0]

I wish I was loaded. I figure the tunnel time and jumps would cost maybe 30K, that's not a million bucks. People spend that and more on cars; my passion is skydiving, and so in my mind worth while spending money on. Consider how much money pilots outlay over the course of their careers; I have a mate who estimates $80,000 on training since he began flying would be about right. If I was loaded, I wouldn't be posting this, I'd be doing back to back loads with Mike Swanson and finding a coke dealer who delivered!

[NewClearSports 0]

Money can't buy you natural talent. I've seen guys with tons of talent but no money, and I,ve seen guys with tons of money, but no talent. I would rather have the talent then the money. However that being said, every once and a while you have someone come up that has the money and the talent and its amazing to watch how fast things take off with both, BUT then it comes down to Passion. Often these guys drop off as fast as they come up. IMO the real skygods are the ones living in a tiny little trailer at the DZ, jumping every day, packing, shooting video, doing tandems to make a living. They are often kick ass swoopers, kick ass freeflyers and they live for the sport and take the good with the bad.

[stayhigh 2]

are you serious??? you rather have skill that is useless unless there are airplane flying than money which can be used everywhere???

Bernie Sanders for President 2016

[NewClearSports 0]

Yes without a doubt I would rather have natural talent then money. Money is everywhere. Talent is Rare! If you have the talent and the passion, the money will come. All those people with money and no talent will be paying you to teach them to be like you. Even though they never will be!! If you want more money then work harder. Talent is much harder to come by. Unfortunitly I don't have either, I have to work hard for my money and even harder for my flying abilities.

But that is just the way I see things I guess. Everyone is different.

I guess what I hate is seeing someone with amazing talent and abilities and them not realizing the potential they have with that.