ShellyBella

Let us know if you ever build it. I mean, your character. Curious way to do business research, but whatever works for you. Hi. Sure, I will let you all know when the story (hopefully) gets published. ... Actually, it's fairly common for writers to include online forums as one of several research tools. I quickly realized that getting technical info on tunnels would cost about $50 for a basic consultation if I really wanted to ensure everything was technically accurate. This just seemed easier and doesn't have a steep price attached.

Thank you Shredex. I will check that out and then get back to the business of writing my story

Good to know. Thanks! I feel 100% more confident about writing the story now thanks to you and others

I think we need to distinguish between two different types of tunnels here. The typical back yard noisy tunnel is run by a big diesel engine and everything is prefabricated and mounted on a truck trailer. You just wheel it in, fire up the motor, and fly. If you're going to construct one from scratch, that's a permanent fixture, and with a few million dollars can run on an electric motor and be fairly quiet. So, you need to decide how much time, money and mobility your character has, to determine which of these two types of wind tunnels you want to use in your story. This is great info. Since my character needs a way to direct her obsessive behavior over time, she'll go ahead and try to build this thing from scratch instead of the typical back yard tunnel you mention. So I guess she'll be using the electric motor and it will be more quiet. Right … In terms of time, money and mobility: luckily, she has plenty of each. She's sitting on a fortune and, since her kid died, she's driven to do something that's involved enough to keep her mind off her loss - something physically and mentally draining.

She's the immediate relative of this famous bloody Irishman from a band that sold a successful album called The Joshua Tree and then went on to create hit albums of considerably lesser quality. When this famous relative of hers isn't on Safari or drinking heavily (usually both), he can be found on her property, assessing progress on the tunnel and drinking steadily. He's financing her project. He has too much money so he gives her .05% of it so he can sleep at night. His name might rhyme with "Mono".

Good, I'll research permits. Thanks! My character is well off but … Let's just say she'll be disgusted to learn how expensive upkeep is likely to be. I think she naively thought it would only be about a quarter grand per year. Hopefully if her neighbors live roughly 1/4 mile away, she can pull off the recirculating tunnel without too many complaints about noise pollution. But part of me is tempted to just go ahead and have her build the noisiest tunnel ever. Just because she can.

Thanks for your help so far (everyone). Here are some other questions. If any of you can answer just one, great! Hopefully after getting these answered the tunnel will be accurately/respectfully represented in the story: Permit: Is a special permit needed and how hard is it to attain? Maintenance: How much upkeep of VWT is involved? How many people would be needed for upkeep, assuming it was opened for business 5 days per week? Materials: What basic materials are needed to assemble a VWT (Obviously steel, glass, fans and a motor might be some)? Time: Roughly how long do you think it will take to construct the wall-to-wall tunnel so that it's ready for use (after the ordered materials have arrived on site)?

Yes. People who live in rural areas expect peace and quiet. They'll still hear that beast from that far away. An eighth of a mile is only 500-feet or so. Darn. So then how about a 1/4 mile instead of 1/8? ... Or do I have to invent deaf neighbors on both sides?

Remster: No sparkles, no spangles, no glitter, no glam. Squeak, thank you for catching my mistake. Having my character use padding in the tunnel would have been anachronistic, as my story takes place now, not when the first tunnel was invented. John Rich, right. This is one of the reasons the owner of the VWT (in my story) lives way out in the country, with her closest neighbors maybe 1/8 to 1/4 of a mile away. Since she'll be building a more updated version of a VWT (w/out the padding), do you think her neighbors will still cry to the cops from 1/8 to 1/4 mile away?

Ah, but she wouldn't have made it to the chamber with her little munchkin in one piece. Why not, you ask?: Because to get to the chamber, she needs to traverse the lawn and she will inevitably encounter the shed. Inside the shed is that overly-tempting, well-maintained weed whacker I told you about. Her little swaddled, shrieking bundle of massive obligations will be dropped onto terra firma, ten feet from the sprinkler system and – gulp - whacked. (Whoa. That's not the kind of story I mean to write )

Even some commercial, closed windtunnel types (a la SkyVenture) have a set up that lets the tunnel instructor be the one on control of the system, from the anti-chamber (ie, no one has to be in the control room). So if my character gets sick of her whining toddler and wants to avoid hacking him to pieces with her weed whacker, she can just go into the back yard, saunter into her foam-padded chamber of bliss and float her problems away (temporarily), without anyone else's assistance? That sounds hot. Thanks for giving her the green light

Phew! A lack of blackouts is fine news for my tunnel owner. If my character has a bunch of windy tunnel sex, I'll be sure she (and her multiple studs) are wearing a sturdy helmet and not a simple hair net. ... I've been hesitant to create a wall-to-wall tunnel in my character's back yard because my research so far has only revealed residential owners who own the open air type tunnel. Thanks for your help!

OK! Here are a couple of my questions: 1. Would owning an enclosed wind tunnel in the back yard of a rural, residential area be feasible, or would it be too much of an energy suck for the owner's home and the other residents (creating black outs)? Note: The houses would be spread out, as in a sprawling country setting. 2. In my story, sometimes the owner wants to spend time flying without anyone else around. Is that possible, or does someone else always have to be there to control the stream of air (or otherwise monitor the tunnel)?

Ask these guys http://www.skyventure.com/ http://www.iflyglobal.net/locations.html Hi there! I actually already tried that. They charge a lot of money for just a few quick questions! I'm really hoping someone here can help me.

Hi there! I'm 100% new to posting at Dropzone, although I've been lurking here for a few days now, gathering all kinds of info on vertical wind tunnels I'm constructing a short story, in which my main character will own a tunnel. My goal is for the VWT to be realistically and respectfully presented in my story. I'm hoping one or more of you – especially owners of VWTs – might be willing to answer some questions for me. They mostly concern the logistics of owning an enclosed tunnel in a residential area (In a sprawling country setting where there's considerable space between residential homes). My character will be financially endowed so money won't be an issue. I'm open to messaging my questions to you if stating them here is too cumbersome. Thanks in advance for your help