wan2doit

Hey, I didn't dog deep - found the thread pretty quick - 10 minutes? As far as the beautyrest leg turns go I wouldn't claim them to be a good thing unless it pays off in the tunnel. I will know and report on that soon hopefully. Plus if this does happen to help me I wouldn't claim it as an aid for anyone other than me but if out of the box(spring:)) stuff like this works - it does seem that some will benefit from it. Now to help the mental picture - I do practice fully dressed less shoes.

I can side slide but not in any way smooth at it since it is new to me at this point. I have actually picked side sliding up much more easily than leg turns. Last time in the tunnel I could tell coaches were grooming me for dual leg turn inputs since they worked me on arm movements for stronger turning moves. I have been coached to expose the inner thigh to the air and have noticed rapid ascents during my feeble leg turns that somewhat scare me with my reaction being heavy arch to descend forgetting anymore turning for a few moments to regain confidence to try again. The new suits at iFLY Orlando seem to fit me real good so I will use them for a while longer so as to put more $$$ in to flight time. I don't expect to progress too fast since I will probably only be flying about 2 hrs a year (via 4 overnight camps / 30 minutes at each) due to the tunnel being 220 miles from home and ancillary associated expenses on top of tunnel time. I am OK on arching but due to being a featherweight they only fly me with 72 - 80% fan power. I feel like I'm headed thru the roof when it gets above that. Ha Ha really hard arching to descend at 80%. OBTW I found another thread here that showed me I wasn't the only one doing leg turns on a bed. LMAO http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=710718;search_string=tunnel%20leg%20turns;#710718 Seriously appreciating everyone's advise. I do believe I will be doing leg turns better the next time I get to try - hopefully in April thanks to the good folks here that take the time to help a wannabe tunnelrat. :)

The coaches at iFly Orl are as good as they get. I feel bad I'm not picking up the leg turns quicker considering the effort they have put in to teach me. Mt wife had a few facetious comments on my bed flying activities also. LOL The deer hunting in the glades can be very exciting when one factors in bad ass animal interactions with bears, panthers and many alligators. Trust me sometimes when walking thru the swamps in the dark to get where u want to hunt well before sunrise scary stuff happens. Hunnting still has my attention but the tunnel has mostly distracted my finances and if something suffers it will be the hunting gas budget. A friend of mine that I have advised of the danger he exposes himself to skydiving countered to me that he considers hunting in the glades with all the maneaters out there poisonous snakes, animals etc. there as being much more dangerous than jumping out of a plane. One thing for sure nowadays the Glades are as wild a place as one can find on earth IMHO.

The tunnel is the hobby for keeps now with dirt/floor tunnel work in between. It took 50 years for something to come along and big time distract me from hunting deer in the Everglades but iFLY Orlando did it. Tandem is in the future but not quite ready yet.

OK - last time in tunnel was Jan and plan to be back in it in early April. Having withdrawal pains due to not being able to work on leg turns. Got a lot of help on the other thread "Is Too Much Arch a Problem" (ITMAP) Now y'all don't laugh too hard but I am looking for opinions as to if what I am about to explain that I'm doing in the meantime makes any sense. On the ITMAP thread sirenoremac said "I like to think of it as sort of grabbing a chunk of air with my knee. " and that gave me an idea. The idea actually struck me while trying to go to sleep one night. I just rolled over onto my stomach, kind of got into bellyfly position, then drew up left leg while straightening the right then dug the left leg into the bed and pulled myself over with the leg. Then reversed it to do the opposite turn. I'm not totally sure if it is worthwhile but the feelings of muscle tension in the upper inside thigh (pelvic area) do seem to feel quite similar to the tunnel - I think -even though it's been a while since I've been in one.. Now here's what is funny as hell. I was on the floor doing this a few nights ago (back and forth - left and right turns) including the arm moves. Eventually I got confused the same as in the tunnel and zigged my arms when I should have zagged them which believe it or not led to fukin up my leg move sequences . It was really amazing to experience the same confusion as when in the tunnel even on the ground w/o the wind. I am sure practicing in the tunnel is best but am using this as a half baked substitute until I get back in the wind. My goal in doing this is to get familiar enough with the moves so I don't have to consciously think about doing them so much. HaHaHaHa now we're (me included) done laughing our asses off - What do y'all think of my half baked system?

I guess I should have said " if it comes thru your land AND U DON'T WANT IT" Some folks care less about the money - I know that's odd in our system but some would prefer scenery etc. to stay the same. Just sayin' - not looking to argue - I'm for more and cheaper oil products with minimal bad side effects. ??Who decides what minimal is - big question?

Sad and potentially dangerous to National security but funny too since the tar sands oils if flowing South anyway as per this article. http://www.desmogblog.com/2015/02/24/obama-s-veto-keystone-xl-bittersweet-texans-forced-allow-pipeline-their-land Downsides are if it comes thru your land or you are one of the pipeline workers that will now be laid off due to the veto.

Or just put a future video of her progress on this thread so that a notice will pop up notifying folks of an additional reply here.

Maybe talk someone into giving you a vacation to iFLY Orlando wind tunnel as a graduation gift. You could put in an hour or two in the tunnel and very possibly be way ahead of the game by acquiring freefall flying skills before you begin AFF training. Keep close track of their iFLY Orlando facebook page or call them and check occasionally for overnight camps (about $10/minute w/coaching+tip and a dvd of flights or a weekly membership as described below from an old ad: iFLY Orlando April 17, 2014 · Attention Skydivers! iFLY Orlando will be hosting another weekly membership from April 27th through May 3rd This includes five 15 minute blocks for just $650, tax included! That's nearly a $500 discount! Email [email protected] to reserve your spot before time books up! Or their is iFLY Austin since they're both about the same distance from Hattiesburg but iFLY Orlando has the best prices and damn good coaches. Lookout u may wind up preferring the tunnel - more freefall time / dollar. LOL

LMAO - I need to do that here in Miami. Of course I don't think any new hi-tech/dollar tunnels can match iFLY Orlando's pricing. Hey Corpkid - Say Hi to Mick Dundee while you're down under.

Leg turns at 6:47 and a little after that. Wow, what a little prodigy. Ok, I'm envious. LOL This little lady has much potential.

She looks to be a natural born flyer who listens to coach signals, learns quick with no fear. Can't beat that. Congrats to Haillie and u.

Hey corpkid, don't be knocking Orlando ;)

I have seen weight limits for tunnels of 250. I do not believe they are hard and fast though since I have read somewhere (don't remember where) that being tall so as to have more area for the wind to push on helps allowing folks of that weight to fly. Only way to know for sure is to go to a tunnel and try.

It seems to me that booties in tunnels don't seem to be the norm but more prevalent in skydiving. Not really sure but at my stage of learning I may have a lot of training to do before I need to use them. The concept of preloading is interesting albeit maybe a bit advanced for me. It is a rude awakening as a newb like me begins to realize bodyflight is not near as easy as all the great instructors make it look. Great fun to keep trying though and very rewarding when the breakthroughs come even if it does take longer than any of us want it to. Ha Ha

Remster - I'm the leg turn newb looking for advise here - How does a new school training for a leg turn proceed?

I had seen that tape of Sparky before but didn't concentrate much on her upper body inputs. So far my coaches haven't integrated arm movements to assist the turn rate yet. Probably due to my not having caught on to a proper leg drop yet although this past Saturday's overnight camp they did have me do the arm movements similar to Sparky's I would believe in preparation for them to be integrated whenever I get the leg drop down. With the help I have received here I do believe the leg drop will be in the bag the next time I fly. Like coaches have told me - It helps to get explanations on how to learn skills from more than one sources. I do believe that. Thanks again to all who viewed or replied to my post. Frank

Nice to hear the arch is OK - it took a lot of stretching work getting it after 50 years of no stretching. In the end the last word is the real solution - Practice Agreed and will do. Thanks much, Joellercoaster

Thanks Sirenoremac for taking the time to help. At the discount overnight camps the instructors are very busy and do not have a lot of time to debrief since they are helping many people each flight session so most of the advise is after the flight or a bit before. I have had some of the best coaches coach me on this but in spite of that my brain doesn't seem to be able to direct my legs to straighten or drop too well YET. You may have hit the nail on the head about my poor leg dropping destabilizing me while I was thinking it was my arm positioning which often opens wide open - I think out of fear when I shoot up as I do accomplish a leg turn once in a while. I will keep at it and Thanks Again.

I forgot to mention I am a wannabe tunnel rat that hasn't jumped from a plane yet and looking for advise on if my arch in the September video is so much that it could interfere with my tunnel progression..

As I review my dvd's of my tunnel flying progress I have a concern. At first (see Mar 17, 2014 vid of about the 3rd to 5th minute in tunnel)) I looked too stiff so figured I needed more arch so worked hard to increase it. Being an ex - very flexible - gymnast who had stiffened up over 50 years I knew how to do that. Mar vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFbHfwl8lDc Me flying at 1:20, 15:58 Now I have a lot of arch (more than most) I am finding it nearly impossible to do leg turns properly and am worried my arch is screwing the windflow up.. Also see (VID OF AROUND MY 70TH OR SO MINUTES) trying leg turns at a residents night in iFLY Orlando in Sep 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2zOoOb--Lk I'm the one in blue and fly at 1:12, 6:26, 11:53, 18:30 The worst part now is that at our Jan 10th overnight camp I couldn't even do leg turns equal to what I did in Sep. WTF is up? Now the flip side - at the overnight 2 days ago I flew up about 6 - 10 feet repeatedly on my 1st backfly attempts albeit with no real directional control and saved by the coach a few times.LOL My suspected overarch may have helped on that but not positive. The REAL question here is - Am I just arching way too much even though it's natural now since I did all the back stretching to have this arch? I will greatly appreciate any help and return it by attempting to help- others if and when I can.

Truth be known I believe the tunnel is all I may ever need due to what my senses experience in there less the increased risks with real sky flying even though if I had known of the skydiving sport as it is today 20 or 30 years ago there is no way I could have resisted getting into it as deeply as humanly possible. I will more than likely do 1 or 2 tandems soon to experience the scenery from the canopy descent and what a friend told me about hearing people on the ground talking from high up above them. There's something about the tunnel though that fascinates me - everything from the feelings I feel when in it no matter what I am trying all the way to the sounds of the fans from inside the tunnel, the viewing room or outside at the air intake. Everything about the place winds my clock pretty tight plus iFLY Orlando's staff are a great bunch.

Hopefully the lucky little lady will love it at 1st flight like I did when I discovered iFLY Orlando at age 65+. If she does maybe Dad can explain loving tunnel flying is a great incentive to do good in school so she can make the money to keep doing it when grown up. Dang - I wish I'd of known about tunnel flying back in '89 when it started.

Tunnel newbie here and on top of that I'm a whuffo but I love the Orlando tunnel. Their coaches are as good as they get. Since you already understand the basics of belly flying you might want to consider an overnight skydiving camp. On this plan you will fly sometime between 10pm Saturday and 10 am Sunday morning. No guarantees on times you will fly but they notify you of everyone's flight times a few days before the camp. There is one coming up on Jan 10th 2015 - they may still have time available but I would move fast for this one. Flights at the camps I have attended are 2 1/2 minutes then breaks to allow rotation of all in a group, then after 6 - 2 1/2 minute flights there is a one hour break , then another 15 minutes etc. etc. iFLY's Phone is 1 407 903 1150 You can buy blocks of time in 15 minute increments for around 10 dollars a minute +tax. At an overnite camp you get the time, a dvd record of your flights and coaching for your $$$. One caveat - tip the coaches well since they are there for you - it's part of the deal. iFLY Orlando also has residents weeks where 75 minutes of time can be flown in a 7 day period for about $675.00 plus tax. There is also a residents night twice a month that offers somewhat discounted rates for up to 5 or 10 minutes. I have never hired a coach for private coaching but if I did it would be hard to choose between the ones that have helped train me - Benji, Casey, Striker, Chris, Marco, Josh or Brad they are all good in my book. Anyway - Good Luck.

But they acknowledged over the automated phone that I had a balance remaining (18 dollars +) in the account that has lead me to believe if I wanted to use it I could but they also say a 25 dollar balance Must be maintained.