Paulipod

Hi Marty, We always try to set realistic expectations for anyone without tunnel time experience when it comes to freefly. Bottom line for most people is that the range of movement (fallrate as well as positional) for most relatively new freefliers is that the sky is forgiving. You never really need to precisely set fallrate or stay perfectly still in the sky. Also you dont need safety positions like back and stop yourself from hitting walls. All of this takes time.... and not small amounts. For anyone without tunnel time - alot of freefly movements are out of reach for a while... and we do get some people frustrated that they cant sit straight away... or why cant I try headdown yet etc... etc... My general rule of thumb would be if someone needs to ask if they will be able to do it - likelyhood is that they wont be able to. So dont expect at a couple of hundred freefly jumps to rock into any tunnel and copy your moves there.... probably will take a little time. All that said - You can learn so many skills in the tunnel and perfect your bodyflying that it is for most an incredible investment in their abilities. What you learn in the tunnel my have adaptations for safety or different reasons (no rig etc) but pretty much all of the skills you learn translate well to the sky and will without doubt make you a better flyer. If it were a waste of money as a training tool... I guess the many thousands of skydivers that do it would no consider it.... you just need to have realistic expectations and understand that the sky and tunnel are not identical on visit #1 Hope this helps

OK OK... I have read through the replies here... and am a little disgusted at all of these posts... These are very very sick and perveted discussions..... When you arent all in total agreement that Jamie-Lee-Curtis in Trading Places is the outright winner! She also dances pretty good in true lies too...lol Come on people - know your movie tit celebrities! http://www.celebritymoviearchive.com/tour/movie.php/5477 Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

ermm Polar bears dont... Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Hey... welcome to the cold! Where abouts are you in the UK? - gonna pop over and fly with us?!

This doesnt have to be either/or!.... I have had quite alot of fun rollerblading around the tunnel walls here kinda like motorbike-wall of death but wind tunnel Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Not a problem... we'll do the same rate regardless of the time you fly. Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

I will be going along - I have a flashing pen giveaway record to beat Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Hi, There will be one 4 way open event. Teams are your own... so entry is as a complete team. Dawn - Will forward you the detailed release etc next week

Ok peeps... Quite excited to tell you that we are organising a competition which we are planning to be quite an event. We are inviting flyers from anywhere who want to prove their skill and walk away with some pretty impressive prizes On the 8th + 9th April 2006 we will hold the first Bodyflight World Challenge with open events for 2-way freefly and 4-way relative. Full details of the event schedule / rules / entry details etc will be posted shortly.. At this stage I will tell you though that there will be some substantial rewards for the first 4 places in each category as we want to see some of the best flying on show. Will follow up with the full event details soon - but happy to answer any questions in the meantime. This will hopefully be an annual event.

Quote tell us what you remember in the photo.. suit colors.. tunnel scenery....maybe I can track it down..[\reply] I think I can help with the photo description.... Two people on boards in a wind tunneln Sorry - couldnt help myself Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

No reason why not - but not too much point I would guess! We filled the tunnel with smoke to do some filming.... takes quite alot! so a canister or something would only achieve the same local visibles....

We have always had enough speed for head-down... after the upgrade it just means bigger guys like me get a chance too... Babylon were head-down alot - and so is our own Rob Silver. Not sure of your experience though, so cant promise that we would think you are at a stage to try! - would need to see stong vertical / sit / back skills etc. Bottom line is that head-down in any tunnel is out of the reach of most flyers for a good number of hours of tunnel time... if you have done alot of tunnel time already then maybe its OK

Given you are not financial administrator for every tunnel in the world thats a bit of a sweeping statement to make Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Obviously Kate you'd probably get a different answer depending on people's biases etc I do try to be objective though... and I would say to a point for an early stage beginner size/power are not so important. I have flown alot in Orlando for example - and learned alot and had huge amounts of fun in the process... so there is certainly alot of value in ANY tunnel time. Right now - I am enjoying exploring some more radical stuff with more room to practice... but its not overly important depending on what you want to learn.

We have only 2 flyer tickets left... have space for non-flying party goers though....

If you try them once.... and you find yourself travelling / reacting too much you can always tape them up. We have had quite a few people that needed to take the booties off to get used to things - but far more that can manage just fine with them. Generally - we just see how it goes.... and if someone is a little forward moving etc just get them to lose the booties for a little while until they get comfortable.

Finding someone to share the time with doesnt have to be difficult... if you are flexible on your flight time. We do not guarantee roation with others when people book bulk time (30mins or over) but we do provide people to share with (and organise the diary for this) when you book 10mins blocks or less. Easiest by far though is just ask what times in the diary there are other people already - and then we book you in to share with an existing booking. I think in the last few months of running we have only had two times where people had no-one to rotate with.... and on those occasions I simply brought forward some staff training. At no time would we ever expect people to fly for more than a few mins straight - but we do warn people that if they book bulk time that this is their responsibility - after all I cant invent the right people to fly with As for coaching.... we offer a few options. 1. For basic flight position skills you can use the instructor in the tunnel 2. For one-on-one coaching we can offer a member of staff for brief/flight/debrief for £8 per 15mins 3. We can hook you up with a coach too. Fabian / Babylon are all here next week for example.

I'll take a guess.... but appologies if I get it wrong We are open as usual Wed-Sun 9am-11pm apart from Closed Christmas Day Closed Boxing Day Closed New Years Day... We are open new years eve! - and are having a party!! - come along! (advance tickets only) There will be flying / disco / food / drink / fireworks / competitions / events etc etc

I would recommend based on your skill level... If on your head you can control fall rate - then either is a choice.... If you cant do that so well - Airkix would be a better choice. Our windspeed is contant throughout the chamber so when we turn the speed up.... you dont get to a position where you will just stay still. With the chamber size diameter increasing the higher you go at Airkix you would get to a point regardless of what you do that would be stable. Both tunnels I guess will be needing to see that you are in control in all other positions before you do this. We have had alot of flyers with no problem head down here, with our speed increase recently there is probably too much power for 99% of flyers. I would ask Fabian / Babylon after their visits this week

Yep... sorry bout that. Need at least a few days notice to get in the diary at the moment - I am just so popular (or is it the tunnel... nah I am sure its me) Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

lol... that would have been a joke I guess.... I have a pretty good idea what Rob is up to as he is in the tunnel right now - so probably not posting on here. Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Rob! - what have I told you about creating fake usernames and plugging your services.... stop it already Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

OK OK - you're all missing the really obvious easy solution to this problem!! Just put a tunnel on wheels... and as you fly / track about get the tunnel to drive and follow you so that you never track out of the air column That way you would have a flight chamber as big as the sky (or the parking lot you are driving in) Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

Thats a hard one to comprehend... as even prior to the speed adjustment we certainly had more than enough speed to backfly... that one can only be technically described as a bad day maybe! Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk

If the issue you had was you needed more speed.... then our speed increase is likely to help of course. I personally didnt have enough speed prior to the de-limitation to sit easily... not I can almost stand - so probably thats a guage. In the sky you will get away with any sit position becuase you will just fall faster - and for us to increase speed beyond a safe position is always the question we ask. Bottom line is .... you wont know unless you try Bodyflight Bedford www.bodyflight.co.uk