Paulipod

There are a few basic facts which make any gun ban sensible... 1. Less guns in circulation mean less potential shots fired 2. Less guns in circulation mean less accidents If I could click my fingers today and make all guns dissappear - guess what.... no one would get shot! To assume that arming all civilians to defend themselves is the way for a more peaceful safe society is a far stretch of the imagination. If its self-defence that you think people need guns for - then maybe just provide bullet vests on a government subsidy Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

I am sure it is the same for other facilities - but anyone not performing their role safely and having a bad day when it comes to keeping the customers alive would be fired! - not simply denied a tip. [Throw in hand-grenade] Ironically - at times we have the rather heated debate as to not providing 'free coaching' due to the fact it detracts from this safety expectation. To some degree if your spotter turns into your coach - then they may not be doing their job so well... To clarify FS or FF coaching is often performed through demonstration, and spotting without your feet on the ground is then compromised. [/explosion] Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Personally - I hire instructors to perform both safety and coaching tasks. At all times a focus on safety comes first... and we only charge for coaching when an additional staff member (and hence more cost) are present in the tunnel. For basic tuition (where the instructor has feet on the floor and spotting is not compromised) then they are free to give tuition. Sitting out afterwards / watching the DVD / debreif etc is extra time and hence charged for. I am always surprised by the tipping debate (probably cus I am from a culture where it is never expected) For me - it makes sense if ANY person in your mind makes a positive impact and you like what they did... to give them a bonus is a nice gift.... no mattter what their job! Coach / Instructor / receptionist / cleaner / (tunnel owner) whichever - if you like the service say thanks in whichever way you like... if the service was normal - great... if bad - give feedback By the way - a big thanks to those folks who have bought Kripsy Kreme doughnuts for us in the recent weeks! as Ross mentioned that is by FAR the best tip Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

The Bodyflight World Challenge Website has now been updated with the new rules for the 2007 Competition. http://www.worldchallenge.info There are now TWO CATEGORIES in both Disciplines, As already mentioned the Freefly Competition will have an Amateur category which will not include any Head-down for the compulsory rounds. The Music round for the Freefly Competition is all set and ready to go, this is going to be an exciting new event, I myself am very interested to see what teams can pull off! (There are 10 pre-selected tracks that will be appearing on the website in the next few days, Teams can provide their own tracks if they want, they must be a maximum of 60 seconds) The FS competition now has an Amateur Category too, this will work in the same way as the NSL 'AA' Category. These two new categories will not be playing for Prize Money, but some great prizes, as well as Medals are being looked into for the top ranking teams. There's a limit of 30 teams per discipline (split between the two Categories) It's just £200 per team to enter in both Freefly and FS, If you want to be part this amazing event then visit the website and register your team now, We can take advantage of our 24 hour license so that teams can get lots of training in to prepare themselves. Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

is a little at odds with the car pool theory. To be fair - most of the statements in your first post are nationality based rather than travel or logistical, so you can understand the assumption... lol But - also to be fair nothing wrong with a little national pride every now and then either Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Hey - how cool is that! In the UK I have not heard of him - other than it was my Dad's name! So - given a good gene line I am sure he must be cool Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

A few reasons really - if you are specifically asking why our non-new build is not cheaper than a new build. 1. Although our power is reasonably priced for the market - we have a tunnel with a volume of air which is considerably larger. More air - more running cost compare our normal 1.5-2MW with other facilities. 2. Geographic market economy. almost EVERTHING! is twice the price in the UK to the US. An exchange rate of 2-1 sees to this. Good comparison would be the price of a burger in Mac D's. 3. Most overheads are larger here. Staff costs... tax (ouch try living here!)... rent etc (land prices are always a good comparison) Same reasoning I guess that a new build skyventure in the UK is twice the cost of a new build skyventure in the US - there is a better comparison. Happy to answer any questions though! Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Sad to have to tell you that Derek's hair is now conforming to military 4-way standards! Representing his country has an image to upkeep so the shears came out! On the plus side - as a reward we gave him tunnel minutes for each lock we cut off

I would doubt any tunnel would allow someone who conducts unsafe practice to coach at their facility... so really the only real consideration you have is how good a coach you want... Reputation / word of mouth is always a good guage There are a few less qualified coaches out there that will look to improve their skills as they go along - but ultimately to a certain extent that trades off against the fact they will probably not charge too much either! We have world class coaches perfoming camps regularly if you want the certainty of experience

Damn it Dave - are you the only Bodyflight instructor not to make it onto a girls team? Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

There are 12 x 200kW motors

Hiya, The ER for our facility is very efficient... and would not be dissimilar to the SV facilities (with 1 unit for sure) and as a totally recirculating tunnel with no external pressure loss (no vents etc) our results would not be a million miles apart. The only frictional loss comes from our cooling coils which offer a sub-40 pascal resistance.... and are at the slowest part of the tunnel (under 10mph) Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

erm.. Not really lol If I were convinced based on the size of the air mass - youd think that our tunnel would have more mass huh? Seeing as we are moving in excess of 4million cubic meters/per hour? Also - just to be picky you are stating the mass of air based at 0 degrees which in the recircs is quite a bit out Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Ok - I'll try one last time to make this clear... It takes many many kW of power to create enough lift... and the blades idly spinning once the power has gone is not even close. This whole air has mass enough to keep going idea works two ways : It takes energy to keep the mass moving and it also has a little momentum. However the thing to note with Mark's maths idea is that the wind speed around the tunnel is not even close to the test section velocity. ie Closer to stationary (around 10mph) than flying (100+mph) As has been said prior - different tunnels have different ER values (energy ratio) which is a guage of the operating losses around the circuit. However all recirculating tunnels that I am aware of have an ER which is reasonable. Ours like other facilities I have experienced power loss in lose flying lift quickly. ( Note there are as I have been informed cool facilities that have no such problems so I am not talking about those ) Unlikely my enthusiasm for typing in this thread is going to continue past there being nothin much on TV right now so hopefully I have said nothing too contentious here

Erm - Who is 'The Manufacturer'? exactly... Is this a SV spokesperson... salesman or Toshiba technical rep about VFD's? Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

The guys came over to do training with us prior to their opening...

Is it my computer... or is that video shot in slowmotion?! lol Would be interesting to see it in real-time.

Not at all at any point what I was saying.... and my reasoning for discussion isnt public perception or marketing. All that aside I will just have to accept then that our air must have less mass to it... and our drive system must have less momentum although it weighs more... which explains why our air can decrease in speed so quickly Been an intersting discussion though!

Nor am I (assuming you can accept that all of the SV tunnels are much the same when it comes to controller/VFD and fan) I think we'll have to agree that we disagree

Not sure why that makes much difference - as in these situations I am not saying that flying is an issue. I have personally experienced the first two of your scenarios. Although not a vibration alert - but a fault that wasnt explained to us at the time, but did end us laying on the net wondering why the wind was switched off. Youd be better placed to ask Shane! - as we have established already 'losing power' can mean a whole lot of things Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Both are system inputs and controlled events. As I didnt write the control software this is speculative but I would guess that in an event where you are unsure of the system safety (ie an emergency stop) you want to simply reduce the power to the motors in a calm way.... using the throttle you would be happy to set speeds to the motor at any power level within safe flying range. So in short - software parameters that make sense. Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

I doubt this was a power loss from input to the VFDs. More likely a system closedown or similar. When changing speeds over 100mph this may be chosen to happen quickly for responsiveness in control. But what I am saying is that the wind speed will fall quicker in a power loss than when chosen to decrease through the VFD. All the time the wind is being pushed the motors require an input of 300+KW to provide enough speed to fly. With no KW in the windspeed will drop below 100mph very quickly... and less than 50mph is much like falling. Formulate your beliefs from whichever source you like! I dont expect to be on your list of respected knowledge sources from a few posts on here... Am simply providing you the truth as I know it. Most people arent at high risk in a power outage - they will just fall faster than is comfortable. As I said before.... this isnt a pissing contest, I am not saying that facilities are more dangerous or that ours is better etc Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Estop / Throttle / Vibration trip / etc etc are all system controlled removal events which result in a controlled reduction of power through the VFD. So not the same as a power outage. The VFD for want of a simpler explanation is a big electrical resistor. It simply changes the power up or down that goes to an electric motor. Now - when you set a slower speed power setting on a fixed winding motor then the motor will spin at that speed. In thoery therefore if you change the speed of the motor to one that is slower than the wind... you could say that the fans are 'braking' the wind flow... but understand clearly this is not a braking system - and the fans cannot be stopped by the VFD. There is not a brake that is applied - nor the choice of if it is on when the power is removed. So in a power outage the fans will simply turn until their momentum is lost. This momentum is neglibable. Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

How exactly were the fans taken to zero? - By removing input power to the VFD? If not... this is not a power outage. Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk