Bignugget

I had a student jumper ask me about this, and I really didn't have an answer besides, ask your instructor, I don't know for sure. Which made me want to know for sure. I KNOW deviations off course on final are bad news bears. I have read the articles by Bryan Burke (and got yelled at my first time in AZ for sashaying, which I had been justifying in my brain) but was explained that it also a less than predictable input, and still increases the chance of an issue with traffic. In that moment (2 years back) I didnt think to delve into what I should have done, besides don't sashay anymore. I am pretty accurate, land where I want 90% of the time, but my (tunnel) students question and the incident I saw in the forum of the 300ish jumper with a lot of cross pattern turns to get on target, got my pretty uncurrent brain wondering. What are good alternatives to S-turns, off heading turning on final? My go to if I end up long, is just land longer than I originally thought. ( I fly super conservative, always trying to make sure I leave myself room for error on all sides....I dont stay super current) After my student asked me, I came up with using my fronts to get down (if comfortable)....good idea/bad? Other suggestions? This is just for my brain, im sticking with the advice of ask a real instructor for the student im coaching. I have 0 ratings in the air.

The guys who have been around since before Austin, and the new 14's describe this one as being able to produce really versatile flyers like Orlando forces. I've never flown in Orlando, only Seattle,Paraclete and newer.

Fair question... The 12 foot design is faster at your feet than it is at your shoulders, by a considerable amount, 2-3%. So IME it feels like the tunnel wants to sweep you off your feet, so to fly as well as you would in a straight glass, you have to be stronger with your feet, and get way more lift with your back and shoulders. so balance for me is the ability to fly without getting swept off your feet (or head).. and flexibility is the ability to get your different body parts in the direction they need to go. I think that is how I would explain it... https://www.facebook.com/ATMOSAerosports/?pnref=story If you scroll down to Sept 28th they have a post from some guys who fly really clean in a 14 footer, trying out the 12 footer. Gives you a little idea of the difference.

I think you are right. It looks like it will be one of the last of the Naperville etc. 14 footer 3 story design. Phoenix is also that same design but I think they are moving away from that and into the Woodlands, KC style single story 14 footer.

It has some definite first timer advantages. By diffusing in the glass they have less potential to pop up. As far as flying, it is definitely different than the straight glass designs. But from what I have seen, the guys who are learning in the diffused 12 are shredding. You will find yourself way more flexible and with better balance if you learn in the 12 I think.

Yea, this should be a 14' tunnel, same as the Woodlands and KC design. The Aerodium was an outdoor POS tunnel parked in the parking lot in the same area where iFLY is going in. I'm currently instructing in OKC probably moving to the STL tunnel next year when it opens.

Huh! Sounds almost like the 1960's "hand turns"? Is it just rotating hands at wrists from some sort of box position? I dunno if thats how they taught it as I wasn't around to learn in the 60's....but yea your description sounds right. IME a 45 degree or less rotation at the wrist to get the hands pitched and leaving the body alone is plenty plenty fast for a student to be turning. ETA: Here is a video of a student I took in last week, I remember him because he flew well for a first timer, so he is definitely above average as far as learning in the wind, but I would say I get a few of these guys a week. 1st time in the tunnel (video picks up 15 sec in to his first flight when they reset the timer), you can see him pick up on turns pretty quick, but still nowhere near center point, and if he had been using his entire forearm he would have been ripping around all over. https://youtu.be/AtXlOA0roCQ

What did he mean by "too much for the tunnel"? Too fast of a turn? If so, we can simply adjust how much we train to "tip the shoulders", just like we teach them to turn during "team turns", then tell them that during the release dive they don't want to do it so much. Teaching both methods in the tunnel sounds great. I think they would learn a lot by turning too fast and learning what caused it. Hi Gary, hola from Dallas! why don't I like teaching turns at the shoulders? Your concept is pretty much correct. It is too much input, and it generally gets the wrong result. When I teach hands as rudders, using them to pull you around, maintaining good surface area up front, I can generally produce a relatively centerpoint turn. When I teach thinking about using the entire arm (by articulating at the shoulder), which is how I have seen it taught in AFF, what you end up getting is a diving, carving turn. One that tracks down, forward, and in the direction of the change in body pitch. So, why do tunnel instructors teach using hands first? In my limited exp, it is because that is the most useful way to teach students to feel the inputs, feel the results, and stay in control, stable and on level. As they progress you can teach leg inputs, and advanced arm turns, using the entire forearm for direction, etc. P.S. Gary, Come fly with me in OKC ;]

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=225_1440602498

I'm interested in what the USPA thinks about this kind of stuff? ETA: (forgot to quote the link to the letter to the senators seeking relief in the new FAA re-authorization bill, that is the "stuff") http://citizensforquietskies.org/help/contact-elected-officials/ Don't our dues go, in part, to the USPA being our advocate at the federal level when it comes to things like this (lobbying Congress to allow FAA restrictions on skydiving)? Does the USPA actively lobby for our interests when these type of bills are coming around, and inclusions that could be to our detriment are being considered? In all reality, if this crazy lady whines long and loud enough, some senator will type her demands into the bill, and without someone talking sense to them, we could end up with some bullshit provisions hidden inside a nightmare of legislation. So what is the USPA doing to help prevent that?

.38 special. Since our tail only has 8 fingers we liked it. We were averaging 9 in the sky but only had a day and a half of training jumps. Goal is medaling in intermediate which we guess means a solid 13. Training at least a weekend in aug/sep/oct and prefer more than one weekend per month. Looking to do 20 per weekend

Hey everyone, our 4-way team is looking for a new member to fly point. We have 15 hours of tunnel and 15 jumps this season with Mikhail from Rhythm as our coach...We are going to be training at Skydive Dallas for the remainder of the season, and competing at nationals in intermediate. Please spread the word to any potential teammates for us or send me a message if it sounds like a good fit! Thanks!!

Not me, but I still wanna know how it ended? He lost the lawsuit for the plane, but he still bought all those points......What the fuck did he do with $700k in Pepsi points?!@#!

"A lot of FFers have spent very serious time and money to get where they are. I know a lot of flyers that downsized their apartment/house, car, took on a roommate, left a 80K job to work at a tunnel or made other big sacrifices to put it towards FFing. Maybe they are looking for people with the same level of commitment. " ^^ Instead of randomly approaching people at the DZ who aren't even lurking on the FF side and asking if they wanna become a free flying machine..... Lol, after you have dropped 15k in the tunnel come back. I bet someone will jump with you once you can actually jump.

Um, because you can enjoy the great outdoors while you fly, duh. Yea its complete garbage, figures that Saint Louis gets shafted.