NeedToJump

The short answer is to lean forward more so you're catching more air on your torso. I'd recommend either going with a coach or ask the tunnel rat who is in there with you next time. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Sit flying or head down I tend to fly at around an average speed of 136 mph, but I usually fly in the tunnel... For sitflying in the sky, I like the 145-160 range best. I'm 5'9" 170ish out the door (155 without gear.) Max speed is 200+ (I'm not sure exactly.) At 169 you'll be fine freeflying with most people. Learn to go slower and faster, try to increase your speed range as much as possible, you'll be a better flier for it

Nice job! Congratulations to Jonathan and PD. Shannon - time to step it back up! Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Alti-2 has a product called the Titan that you can find here. I've never used it, but knowing how their other products are I would guess that the Titan will be really cool. I can't wait to check one out!

Congratulations on the move Ian! Hopefully now you'll have time to jump so you can finally hit gates when you swoop I'll see you in Sebastian for the Naughty Cupid Boogie, Paige and I will be there.

Jump number 612 is the last one I ever logged. Last spring I got print outs and figured out (approximately) my jump numbers. I now keep track of the number, but 612 is the last jump that I actually wrote anything about. When I was in Australia over the summer I brought my rig and USPA license, but not my log book (since it hadn't been used in a long time.) I got a lot of flack over there and was pretty heavily questioned before I was allowed to jump. Never had a problem in this country though. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I agree, how ever did you come up with such a great name for the kitten? I've always been a dog person and never thought I'd have a cat, but I have to admit that she's definitely grown on me a lot

Started at about 180 jumps and got hurt. I was extremely lucky to have walked away. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Looking at the ground will not tell you if you are falling straight down since the wind will be moving you. Either a tunnel or a coach will be able to help. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

Yup, but it's just NeedToJump (no 'S') Feel free to PM me if you have any questions

I've done this as well as 4-way with everyone backflying using the standard 4-way rw dive pool. It's completely different than 4-Way VRW. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

The interview is here I've been hearings rumors of this tunnel for quite some time now, I hope it all works out and is a kick-ass tunnel for both RW and freefly.

I only saw one new PD canopy at PIA, but they could have had two and I just missed one. The one I saw was a new crossbraced canopy called the Z-Brace which results in 5 cells between line groups as oppsed to three cells like a standard cross brace. This results in a 35-cell canopy with the line drag of a 7-cell. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what happens with this canopy!

I was up at the PIA symposium this past weekend and saw all the new toys. L&B had all of their new products there and they looked really cool. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I'll come out and play too

I disagree. I load my Katana 120 at about 1.45 and have no problem competing in swoop competitions unless I'm going into a strong headwind. I'm no where near ready to compete in an Open or Pro class, but I've done well in the FLCPA meets in the Intermediate class getting better distance and accuracy scores than some of the competitors flying a Velocity at 2.0. I also definitely have not maxed out this canopy and am not planning on downsizing for a while. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

I'm with you on that one. I hate being in the work world when I *should* be in the tunnel or the air

Yup, and I agree completely with you. There are some people out there calling themselves tunnel coaches that charge money and actually make the people they are coaching worse flyers! I just wanted to make sure to say that there are good coaches out there as well, I don't want anyone getting scared away from hiring a freelance coach. Excellent suggestion, I completely agree.

I have a Merlin suit that I put about 300 jumps and probably 20 or so hours of tunnel on and it's still in great shape. The only reason I got a new suit was so our team could have matching suits. I am extremely happy with my Merlin RW suit. Wind Tunnel and Skydiving Coach http://www.ariperelman.com

You will probably find that it will be a little bit more responsive and will have a bit more flare power to it depending on how worn on the canopies you have been renting are. My guess is that they will be almost identical and you will notice very little difference though. I'd suggest talking to your instructors before jumping the new canopy and ask someone to watch your landing so you can get some feedback on it. Your profile says that you jump in Elsinore. There are some very good canopy pilots out there you could talk to. You could even ask if one of them could jump with you and pull high so you could have a point of reference to get a better feel for what your canopy does. The biggest thing is to talk to instructors who have seen you jump so they can give you an informed opinion. Good luck and stay safe

Yes, but there are also some incredibly good freelance coaches. prboldin - your best bet is to contact either the tunnel that you want to go to or a local dropzone and ask about coaching. Talk to other people who have gotten coaching and ask who they would recommend. I personally know at SkyVenture Orlando that most of the instructors who work for the tunnel are very good coaches, obviously some are better than others. The benefit to using an instructor who works there is that there is no additional charge (unless you call ahead and pre-arrange the coaching in which case ignore the following downsides.) The downside is you will probably get less of an initial briefing, you don't know which instructor you will get and you will probably get less of a debrief after flying. If you hire a good freelance coach then that coach will go over everything you are going to work on before getting into the tunnel and debrief the video after. It will also cost you more money. Find a coach that other people have used and recommend if you decide to hire a freelance coach. SkyVenture Orlando have all the block time prices listed here. Getting a video of your session is free if you have your own tape - it cost $5 to buy a video tape there. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

For the most part. Since serious working out has not occured due to the hip, I've packed on 5 or 10 lbs. Still protable just more of a work out I am the portable one! Blah blah blah Yes, she's still just as portable

Of course I was going to come along with you! What else was I going to do? Work???? You were rocking it out with style! Can't wait to sit fly with you now and then get you on your head!

Today Paige made her first skydive since breaking her hip in August and she rocked it out! She had a nice diving exit and probably turned about 9 or 10 points before pulling at around 5.5 and then coming in for a sweet landing.

Avion - it looks like you mean well and are just trying to help, but there's a big difference between seeing how someone is flying and actually being able to do it. There are a lot of people giving advice in these forums and it's very difficult for newbies to sort out what is good advice and what might get them hurt or even killed. I'd suggest filling in the rest of your profile and lurking the topical forums for a while before giving out advice. No matter how much you've read or seen you don't have the experience to know what you're talking about. Please don't take this personally, we're all just trying to look out for everyone's safety. Now to answer the original post: Yes. Due to the slower airspeed and the fact that there are walls, the tunnel magnifies any "faults" in your flying (in any orientation.) However, the biggest reason people find such a huge difference between the tunnel and the sky is because the sky let's you get away with a poor body position whereas the tunnel does not. That's entirely up to you. The tunnel is very expensive but you will learn a tremendous amount from it. Do you need the tunnel to learn to fly well? No. It will definitely help you out if you want it to though. If you want to use the tunnel solely as a tool to improve your sky flying then I'd suggest getting your self a good coach to work with you both in the tunnel and the sky. This will allow you to directly transfer what you learn in the tunnel to your flying in the sky. As has been said already, lean back! Make sure that your head is back as well. You want your arm from your shoulder to your elbow to be even with your body or slightly forward. Also try bending your elbows so your arms are not completely straight, this will make things a bit easier on your arms and give you more to work with. The best "trick" however would be to get a coach who can show you all of this and work with you through your progression. Good luck and have fun in there!