NeedToJump

Tunnel 4 Paws was so much fun! From the moment we got in the tunnel, it was non-stop flying, smiles and laughing. We had a wide range of skill levels, but everyone stepped it up and flew their butt off. We managed to pull off some pretty crazy formations. I don’t think I’ve ever been stepped on so much! One of the great things about an event like this is that everybody forgets about trying to fly and just does what is necessary to get the formations to work. I think that everyone surprised themselves with what they were capable of doing. It’s great to see everyone improve so much and have such a great time. I know that I had lots of fun and learned a ton! Thank you to Brandon and Ed for doing a great job spotting, you kept everything safe and didn’t get in the way at all. Thank you to the other participants for being so much fun to fly with and building some great formations. Huuuge thanks and congratulations to Paige for organizing another fantastic tunnel event! Once again you did a great job of coordinating and bringing together a phenomenally fun and successful event, woo hoo, you rock! I can’t wait to see the pictures and for the next event.

I had such a great time on our tunnel trip

Tunnel for the Cause rocked! Major congratulations to Paige for pulling off one heck of an event! This event had some of the best vibes that I have ever felt at SVO. There was such great energy coming from everyone throughout the whole event. Plus the girls managed to pull off some absolutely crazy formations! The amount of talent in that tunnel was ridiculous, way to go girls! Thank you Allen and Shane for the video, thank you to SkyVenture Orlando, their staff and the other coaches for your support, thank you Paige and the participants for rocking it out in there and looking so good! You absolutely rock Paige! All of the hard work that you put into this event has paid off. I am proud to have been of it

I'm so excited with how supportive everyone has been and that we've raised over $4000, wow! Way to go Paige coming up such a great event and managing it all so well

My suggestion would be to bring your RW suit with you, get to the tunnel early and talk to the staff there about it. Keith and the others are great people who will help you out with whatever you're looking to do. Since you're going to a tunnel where the "standard" is to fly the big baggy balloon suits, I'd say plan on flying a big baggy balloon suit (at least at some point ) Go in with an open mind and don't expect it to be like your Perris tunnel experience and don't expect it to be like the sky. Expect to go in and have a good time and you will learn. Flying in slow air isn't any "harder" than flying in fast air - it's just different. There are a lot of people who are much more used to flying in slow air than fast air and find SkyVenture tunnels much "harder" to fly in than a Flyaway tunnel. As far as this goes: yeah.... I'm going to have to disagree with this one... IMO Whether you learn from your experience in the tunnel or not is more a reflection of you than the tunnel. If you're open to learning then you'll learn. I think Paige summed it up perfectly: Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I'd like to let everyone know that Thomas Hughes will also be donating his coaching to TFTC. Thomas was a member of Sebastian XL with Pete Allum and is also an amazing freeflier, even in his RW suit! ::15 minute Coaching slots available for $225 which includes your $50 donation to TFTC/JFTC (remember SVO prices go up to $700 an hour as of October 1st 2005):: October 14th @ 11:30pm - 12:30am (3 slots available) October 15th @ 1:30pm - 2:30pm (3 slots available) Slots are filling up quickly, get them while they're still available! Thank you Thomas!

Not everyone is trying to get something for themselves, some people are actually trying to raise money for a good cause. Just because you are pissed about something doesn't make it OK to bash the good things others are doing. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Pete Allum has graciously offered to donate his coaching on Friday, October 14th 2005 to help raise money at Tunnel For The Cause. Pete Allum is a world-class skydiver, tunnel flyer and coach. He was formerly on Sebastian XL (the British National Champion 4-way team) and is currently on Sinapsi PD (the Italian National Champion 4-way team.) Tunnel For The Cause is a female freefly festival at SkyVenture Orlando, where freefly & hybrid formations and skills will be improved and donations will be collected for Jump For The Cause- the women's skydiving world record event which also raises money for breast cancer. Coaching For Donations takes place on October 14th 2005. The participating coaches are: Pete Allum, Chris Ash, Ari Perelman, Paige Rudolph and Juliana Se. 15min. coaching blocks are available for $225. This includes your time (with the SkyVenture price hike in October) & a $50 donation to TFTC instead of a coaching fee. EVERYONE is welcome! All skill levels and disciplines. 7:30-8:30pm, 9:30-10:30pm, & 11:30pm-12:30am. For more information, please visit http://www.TunnelPinkMafia.com/TFTC or email Paige at [email protected] Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Coaching Update Great News! Pete Allum has graciously offered to donate his coaching on Friday, October 14th 2005. Pete Allum is a world-class skydiver, tunnel flyer and coach. He was formerly on Sebastian XL (the British National Champion 4-way team) and is currently on Sinapsi PD (the Italian National Champion 4-way team.) The list of participating coaches is now: Pete Allum, Chris Ash, Ari Perelman, Paige Rudolph and Juliana Se. 15min. coaching blocks are available for $225. This includes your time (with the SkyVenture price hike in October) & a $50 donation to TFTC instead of a coaching fee. EVERYONE is welcome! All skill levels and disciplines. 7:30-8:30pm, 9:30-10:30pm, & 11:30pm-12:30am. For more information, please visit http://www.TunnelPinkMafia.com/TFTC or email Paige at [email protected] Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I can't wait for this event to happen! It's going to be a lot of fun as well as help out a great cause, it doesn't get better than that

I have a website geared specifically toward helping people share / find tunnel time located at http://www.gottunnel.com/. You can see times that other people already have booked and find time to share. Sharing a 1 hour block is going to be the least expensive way to get time at SkyVenture Orlando. The best way to get the most out of it is to get in contact with a coach who will work with you both in and out of the tunnel (brief before the time, debrief after) and to go in to the whole experience with an open mind. Have fun!

It still doesn't seem real. You could always rely on Piers and Egon to be happy, smiling and excited about something. Their enthusiasm for life and everything they did was infectious. I am so glad that I knew them and was friends with them. I have many great memories that shall not be forgotten. Thank you Piers and Egon for being a shining example of how to live life and how to love. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I've done only about 50 jumps on Sabre 2s and I have not had any hard openings on them. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

PD does a fantastic job of testing canopies that are sent in. If they sent it back and say that everything is fine, then I'd start looking at the other factors that could cause terrible openings. Ask someone to watch you pack it and ask someone to video your opening. You may feel like you are very symetrical in the harness, but it's worth getting some video just to be sure. The Sabre2 is a fantastic canopy the usually opens very well. I have never had a bad opening on a Sabre2 (althouth I only have about 50-60 Sabre2 jumps.) Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

As others asid, try breaking the 360 down into smaller turns. Try to do four 90 degree turns. Something to keep in mind about "center point" turns is that only your center stays in place. When you are doing a turn in place, your head moves away from your partner so your visual references will tell you that you are moving away. It is very common to see someone do a 90 degree turn and backslide because they are focusing so much on keeping eye contact and keeping the visual reference. Practice doing slow turns in place on the ground on a creeper and get used to how the visuals change. As rehma said, too much turning of your head *can* be a bad thing. When turning slow it's great to keep eye contact since you can move your head very slowly. Doing a fast head turn can actually throw your turn *off* center. The head has a lot of mass and if you turn it very quickly and then stop it, the momentum of the head turn will move your entire body! When doing a 360, I usually keep eye contact for a little more than 90 degrees, then do a gradual head turn and pick the eye contact back about 90 degrees before finishing the turn. You need to just trust the turn through the blind spot. Your best bet is to get together with a coach and get video of the jumps. You could also look into doing an RW camp or getting some tunnel time, but the bottom line is to have someone who knows what to look for watch you. I'm not sure where you learned to "lift a shoulder" to turn, but there are much better ways. Ask a coach to show you on the ground. Good luck with it all. Center point turns take a long time to master so don't get discouraged.

Thanks Ron

I would never have an AFF student this either. We've used the 4-way off the net stuff for 4-way - you get used to all going from not flying to flying at the same time in a formation. It's definitely no where near the same as exiting a plane, but it does help. Definitely a more advanced thing to do in the tunnel. I agree with that completely. I think it makes a great addition to AFF, but should by no means replace any of it. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

It definitely can help with exits and tracking, but not really canopy. You can launch 2-ways into the tunnel through the door and launch 4-ways off the net. This helps with the timing factor with exits. You can also do a lot that will help your tracking - tracking against a wall/instructor, having someone hold on to you, put your feet in the door, etc. It does not simulate exits or tracking exactly, but it definitely helps. It all depends of what you are looking to get out of it and how creative you are. Again, it all depends on what you are doing. If you want to work on diving to a formation then I'd definitely say to do the jumps. If you want to work on center point turns I'd recommend tunnel. It depends on your goals and on the person - everyone is different. Basically, my view is that the tunnel won't hurt anyone except if they go in with a big ego. If you go in with an open mind wanting to have fun, you will learn a lot. Flying in wind tunnels is definitely expensive, but depending on your goals it can be less expensive. You can just go through the money much faster. I've done a ton of 4-way in the tunnel which is extremely cost effective. Doing 30 minutes of coached 4-way comes out to about $100 per person. For $100 at a great rate, we could do maybe 6 or 7 jumps... Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Well I still think it's a real tunnel

....if you're within driving distance of a tunnel. If you're not, better factor in the cost of airfare and a motel. It all depends on what you are looking to do. If a coached jump costs $60 ($20 for your slot, $20 for the coach's slot, $20 for the coach) and you want to do 20 coached jumps that works out to $1200. We'll say the coach cuts you a deal since you're doing 20 jumps and the whole thing cost $1000. 20 minutes of tunnel time (at SVO): $210 Let's estimate high for everything else: coaching for the 20 minutes: $100 Flights $400 round trip (you can find MUCH cheaper flights within the US to Orlando, but as I said, I'll estimate on the high side here) Hotel: $50 / night for 2 nights (motel 6 right across the street from SVO is $45 / night): $100 That comes out to $810 20 coached jump: $1000 20 minutes coached tunnel time with (very expensive) flights and hotel: $810 With that savings of $190 you could almost buy yourself another 20 minutes and double the amount of coached time you would be getting. As I said, it all depends on your personal goals. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

And here I thought my lights have been flicker because of all the rain we've been having That's GREAT news! Please let us know how the flights go and post pictures! Oooh, 16.2 feet...

I don't think that wind tunnel training should be a manditory part of AFF, but I certainly recommend it to everyone. It is an invaluable tool in helping the freefall portion of skydive. If you don't have to worry as much about how to fly, you will be able to focus more on the other parts of the skydive. Also, doing well during the freefall portion tends to boost confidence and students generally do better under canopy as well. Wind tunnels are also incredibly fun and a discipline of their own. If you get the chance to go to a wind tunnel before, during, or after your AFF then I say do it! It's fun and will only help your flying if you go into with an open mind ready to learn. Don't expect it to be the same as skydiving, but expect to have a good time

Yeah, post it!

I highly disagree with this. I started learning to swoop on an original Sabre (not Sabre2) loaded at 1.1. From there I went to a 1.26 w/l and now jump a 1.4 w/l. The close calls that I had early on in my swooping would have been much more serious under a higher w/l, I'm very glad I didn't rush my progression more than I did. In fact, I wish I had taken it slower. ManFallDown - There is absolutely no need to rush into downsizing. To answer your questions: Based on your jump numbers, yes, this sounds like a *Very* aggressive downsize. That's not to say you couldn't handle it, there's just no need to. I currently jump at a 1.4 w/l and didn't get on that wing loading until jump 612. The canopy size definitely makes a difference (I load a 120 at 1.4) but loading a 150 at 1.6 with 300 jumps is a very high wing loading. My honest response to this is no. I don't think anyone with 300 jumps should be at a 1.6 wing loading regardless of canopy size. Unless all you are doing is coached hop and pops, there's just no need to add in the additional risks of that high of a wing loading. Again, this doesn't mean that people can't do it, I just don't see the point. PD lists the max weight for a Sabre2-150 at 240 lbs here. Regardless of whether the MSW is exceeded regularly or not does not mean it is safe to do so. It's curious that you'll quote the max weight for the canopy but not the other weights. I'll list them here for a Sabre2-150 (straight from the PD website): Novice - 135 lbs Intermediate - 150 lbs Advanced - 165 lbs Expert - 195 lbs Maximum - 240 lbs Do you consider yourself an advanced canopy pilot? Do you consider yourself an expert canopy pilot? If you answered no to either of these questions then why are you thinking about going so far over PD recommendations? PD designs and builds these canopies, their test jumpers put hundreds if not thousands of jumps on them. The numbers they list for wingloading are not picked out at random, these numbers represent what the people who jump these canopies everyday for a living think of the canopy. The SafireII and the Lotus are both excellent canopies in the class you are looking at. I would stay away from the Crossfire2 for a few hundred more jumps, especially if you are planning to downsize. Please thing about why you are downsizing and what your goals are. Do you *need* to downsize? Do you feel that you can do so safely? Talk to a qualified canopy coach at your dropzone, see what recommendations you are given. I've heard a lot of people regret downsizing for one reason or anther and many people get hurt doing so. I'm not trying to flame you at all, just giving you my opinion. Whatever you decide to do please be safe.

Go Shannon! Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com