Paulipod

yes.. thats the only thing that helps me recognise where I am flying! Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Nope - but thats not what I am saying.... I can tell the difference between flying in our tunnel and air at others... and not becuase the wind is quicker or slower. (which is a little off topic I know) In our facility (which I have alot of historical test results etc) they increased the pressure to up to 4 atmospheres to specifically increase the reynolds number and decrease turbulance / scale results etc. not sure that makes sense - air density changes with pressure... surely changing the pressure would change the reynolds number?

Yes - the pressure drop inside the tunnel creates acceleration in the airflow (as Mr Bernoulli stated) hence you have an underpressure which sucks on the doors etc... but this pressure difference does make a difference to the antechamber etc. Flying in a different atmospheric pressure produces a different effects - this must be true otherwise there would be no point in pressurising some scientific tunnels to increase reynolds number etc... Maybe this is where the difference lies from a technical point... As pressure decreases so does the reynolds number of a flow (hence this is why they used to pressurise our tunnel for a better reynolds number) - so in a venturi where you lower pressure in the flight chamber you have a different flow type to that in an atmospheric condition http://www.answers.com/reynolds%20number

yes - I was just trying to show that flow speed can be the same with other properties different. When air is compressed I think it acts alot differently to when its not... ie when the air gets to a door this is why it spills out and you get drop-offs. Wonder if there are any studies on objects falling through compressed air to non-compressed

The air for sure feels harder/stronger when I fly in a skyventure tunnel - before everyone jumps on my back here and starts bitching - I am not saying one is better than the other.... just different. That would be assuming that the pressure and density are the same. Again back to fluids... is swimming in soup the same as swimming in water? - no matter how fast the flow? Just the one. Bottom line - ask anyone that has flown more than 2mins in each type of tunnel if the air feels the same everywhere.... you'll probably get a few opinions. If for one - if you put me in either tunnel with a blindfold on could tell you where I was flying Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Quote Quote And the venturi effect (of some tunnels eg the SV ones) creates additional pressure within the chamber that does not exactly replicate freefall (not so in Bedford for example, no Venturi effect). What? Again what?CrazyQuote Without getting into any kind of which you prefer type debate here is the technical difference between the two :- In a tunnel with contraction before the test section you are setting a different atmospheric pressure level in the flight chamber. This pressure difference is why for example you have to keep the doors shut. If the air is 'squeezing' for want of a better word into a smaller area then the effect is slightly different - which most people can feel. In our tunnel we move the air through the fans without this fan/chamber size difference - hence we have the flight chamber at the same atmospheric pressure as outside (hence no need for doors shut etc) Air has many qualities to it... Density / Speed / Temperature all make a difference.

Physics aside - flying headdown in the tunnel doesnt seem to give the sensation of blood rushing to your head. I think this is probably more down to the fact you are moving your limbs / also not straining to stay there etc... whereas when you do a handstand etc you are stationary with effort involved and not helping your circulation continue. We have seen alot of headdown over the weekend and not so many bloodshot faces Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Well - if its picky that you want.... 9.81 is actually the m/s of 1g - so to be fair a constant falling object is a 1g not 9.81 ie. g = 9.81 (meters/sec)/sec downward is the acceleration due to gravity Here's a nice link for those that are really bored and want to know more http://physics.webplasma.com/physics07.html Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Hi, Our World Challenge event is getting underway with alot of teams practicing today ready for the off. If you want to keep up to date with some of the worlds best flyers in our first challenge - check out our competition website www.worldchallenge.info There is a live webcam and news etc... with different camera angles shown for FS and Freefly

Dont get me wrong - I think everyone should stay in the UK and train here But I think I may still be tempted just cus I like a holiday... (and not had one for a while!) Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

It does make me chuckle a little when it comes down to a debate on semantics... Bottom line is - you implied that having more space was more dangerous... even if you added sometimes as a prefix. You are quite right that more speed could be a problem.... but just like in a car - having a safe stopping distance before a wall also helps. You refer by our 'short' time in running that we dont have enough experience to guage this. However I would consider our over 1500hours of public flying to be a fair representation. Of the over 40hours I have personally seen operations in 12ft tunnels (3 of them) and the many hours here... I can observe that the walls are easier to miss with more space - and that acceleration at the wall is less of a problem. Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Nicely put - and my thoughts exactly... And I am pleased you think of here as home.... just dont go leaving your socks lying around again Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Your 'opinion' stated that a bigger tunnel is less safe - I disagree... and based on my experience think your opinion in incorrect! - if you though black was white that would be incorrect too... so nothing to get over there. To make that point you dont have to question the safety of a larger design. I would happily share incident logs with other facilities to prove the point. Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

I would normally try and stay out of the pissing contest type posts... but I feel I have to correct you there. We find quite the contrary - and having more space gives you the reaction time and ability to stop before hitting the wall. My biggest worry when opening here was that the space would cause this problem - but thankfully we have found it not to be the case by a long way. Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

We initially allocated slots... which were all taken within a couple of hours! (I am looking forward to seeing them in the tunnel I have heard they are good!) So due to the demand we have allocated more slots on the 6th - phone us if you want to discuss/book

What ever happened to this poll - I was thinking it was a good thread Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

There in lies the only thing that is contentious. I doubt there is any evidence to show either way that the safety record of any Skyventure tunnel or not are different. Having safety process and procedure is vital for every business - and as far as I can tell there is nothing to show that the tunnels that have been operating for 10 to 15 years more than Orlando have a worse record of safety. Personally I think that if all tunnels (including those with more experience!) inputted into a central body that would be a good thing for learning and safety....

I think that every tunnel operator does what they believe to be safe and with as little risk to the customer as possible. In flying with beginners there are two factors to consider.... the beginner and how safe the experienced flyer is! I can appreciate where space is an issue having an extra body in the chamber may not be so appealing. Each case should be considered on its merits - that is flexibility, rather than having a rule that is a bit like 'computer says no' If we had a beginner here and an experienced flyer that I knew was more than competent enough our instructor would simply have to watch over the beginner (provided the experienced flyer was able to move out of the way etc). In a smaller space this may not be feasible. We do however for the first time into the tunnel insist on one-on-one with the instructor... but it only takes a couple of minutes usually to pass this hurdle if friends want to be in the wind together. Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Personally my longest session without leaving the chamber is about 90mins... Was tired for sure - but I think if you are changing flying positions frequently enough alot more could be possible. Certainly a workout!

That wholly depends on your point of view - stricly speaking they are also upstream of the chamber... Only difference is the number of turning vanes to meet on the way - and an expansion area. In scientific tunnels you will never find a test section (flight chamber in our case) that does not have some kind of filtering/straightening of the air after the fans. Our needs for quality are not quite as high as science facilities obviously. Its all about what you do with the air after it has been chopped and swirled by blades. In skyventures case this is turn it a few times / expand it and contract it. I would hate to use the word 'blower' becuase they suck and blow in a re-circ... so lets just say this could be done the same if the fans were at floor level rather than mounted high

we do a fair bit of AFF / Pre-AFF training - which is why we have had a dummy AFF rig made. Reaching for the BOC is good practice although I dont think I'll encourage people to practice reserve drills those pads are more there just to create a familiar appearance Overall we have found the dummy rigs to be a great training aid so far - so many dynamics are changed when training with them, so if realism is the aim they are a step in the right direction

Well, we have been open for a little while now but I still seem to be asked the question 'Is your tunnel good for freefly?' quite alot!! We have always have had freefly ability, but over the past few months we have been slowly increasing the power in safe increments to ensur that not only is the space nice - but that our power is unrivalled also. We have now released over 60% of our incredible 4000HP which pushes more air than you will find anywhere and to hopefully put the question of fit for freefly to bed... Here's a picture of Vince and Cathy from Babylon wearing fully weighted dummy rigs to prove the point... www.bodyflight.co.uk/photos/rig.jpg

Bottom line for the free rounds would be that if it looks good / togther with a degree of technical merit the judging will be made accordingly. We are hoping to encourage inventive / impressive / choreographed moves that show both flying skill and artistic impression If you do it in another tunnel - and you think its cool.... chances are it will be here too

[URL]www.worldchallenge.info[/URL] for all those where's the clicky replies

Easiest thing is a taxi... costs £6 from the train station Give County Cars a call on 01234 262222 and mention Bodyflight and they will do you a good deal When are you coming to see us? - Always nice to meet DZ.com peeps...