NewClearSports

I forgot to write down the website that shows your ratings ect. Like when you get signed off for HD. Thanks for your help

Yes without a doubt I would rather have natural talent then money. Money is everywhere. Talent is Rare! If you have the talent and the passion, the money will come. All those people with money and no talent will be paying you to teach them to be like you. Even though they never will be!! If you want more money then work harder. Talent is much harder to come by. Unfortunitly I don't have either, I have to work hard for my money and even harder for my flying abilities. But that is just the way I see things I guess. Everyone is different. I guess what I hate is seeing someone with amazing talent and abilities and them not realizing the potential they have with that.

Money can't buy you natural talent. I've seen guys with tons of talent but no money, and I,ve seen guys with tons of money, but no talent. I would rather have the talent then the money. However that being said, every once and a while you have someone come up that has the money and the talent and its amazing to watch how fast things take off with both, BUT then it comes down to Passion. Often these guys drop off as fast as they come up. IMO the real skygods are the ones living in a tiny little trailer at the DZ, jumping every day, packing, shooting video, doing tandems to make a living. They are often kick ass swoopers, kick ass freeflyers and they live for the sport and take the good with the bad.

So I completed my 1st hour and 15 mins. Wow what an addiction, but I can see sharing the tunnel very soon which will bring the price down alot! In sit though not Head Down for quite a while. I felt the progression was fast though. It was something like this - but keep in mind for the 1st 30 mins I had coaching from the best of the best. The instructors, instructor. (I know I got really lucky with that!!) I did 6 - 10min blocks with 2 min flights Then 1 15min block with 2 min flights 1 min - Demonstrate basic belly control 2 min - Start Backflying 8 min - Transistions from Back to Sit 10 - 40 Mins work on several sitfly skills, including carving, sideslide, frontloop, +++ 50 mins - start Head Down on the net 60 mins - learning how to "Quickly" bail to my back when I sence I,m loosing stability (Don't wait to hit the wall, but I did smack it a few times) 75 mins - Lifting off the net docked with instructor and holding for a few seconds. I would bail to back whenever unstable, then quickly come down grab the net again and start over. So overall I was very happy with the progression. Forget everything I learned in the sky and start over - NO WAY! The skills are definetly transferable! (Although keep in mind I had some hi quality coaching + 1400 Freefly jumps in the sky). Things are different though, I,m not sure why exactily, how much is physological, how much is the air and limited space. Its crazy fun. You get imediate feedback to different body positions. There is Sooooooooooooo much to learn!! If I could I would want to fly in one every day! *** Good Coaching is a must - I had a couple sessions with no coach and didn't progress much I guess by just doing it I answered my own question, but I thought I would share my experience. I,m sure everybody is different. I had my instructor tell me he had one very talented freeflier zooming around in there on his head in only 12 mins. That seems crazy, but it just goes to show anything is possible!

This new Montreal Tunnel is amazing, and the staff are so great! Its funny but the rumor going around this summer was that there were only 1 or 2 instructors that could fly on their heads, but when I was there 2 weeks ago every instructor I saw could fly on their heads and were Kick ass Flyers too. No doubt Brian is the "Best of the Best", I was lucky enough to get free coaching from him too for the 1st half an hour. Not only is he an amazing flyer, but also an amazing instructor / coach. He really knows how to teach the skill sets, and then have you put it all together to reach your goals. To me the Montreal Tunnel is : 1. The best of technology - an amazing and very powerful machine 2. Built for Skydivers with Team rooms that have a computer with video playback of 2 camera views in each room 3. The best and friendliest staff 4. good management - Things run professional, smooth and smart

Do you think the 108 way Head Down Record would of ever been possible without the invention of the verticle wind tunnel? I know at least 6 or more that were on the record and each has ALOT of tunnel time. Although I was watching some old school late 80's Flyboyz videos and those guys were amazing, even by todays standards. I,m interested in hearing others opinions. I have to admit I,m doing my 1st hour at the Montreal Tunnel this weekend because I can't help but think these days you need it to stay competitive and current. Also it's winter so for me it's either that or fly south. Look forward to hearing from you. Cheers

I had 2 in a row during a swoop comp. I decided it wasn't meant to be, so I dropped out. After the 2nd I took the time to inspect and test jump the gear in different configurations with the help of my rigger and found out it was my Pilot Chute. Not enough pull / snatch force and it was spinning and bouncing like crazy. Its amazing what a difference a good PC can make on openings. Anyway the lesson I learned that day is to Maintain your gear, and each and every time you have a mal, try and figure out why it happened. Don't ever take the attitude that - oh well shit happens - Figure out why it happened and fix it !! Investigate it! Go talk to your rigger, instructor or anyone else that you know will help to make sure you don't have a 3rd any time soon. Now it could be something with the gear, but it could be you too. Maybe get video of you at pull time on your next jump, how is your body position, how is the opening sequence. The video will tell you (or someone experienced) alot about what might be happening. Hope this helps Cheers

Thanks everyone. Well I will be going to Montreal next weekend to do an hour and see how it goes. I guess I will know better then. You don't know untill you try .. right? As for keeping expences down, its about an equal drive to Newhampshire and I think they have some discount rates. I will have to give them a call. No responce from e-mail yet. Montreal is not really offering anything right now because they are new and everyone is rushing to check it out. Montreal is 14Ft and Newhampshire is 12Ft. When you are 1st starting out, does it make any difference? How much extra would you pay for the added 2 feet? Again thanks everyone for you time in posting. It's winter here so no jumping. Just time to read these fourms and daydream. Cheers

10 hrs = over $10,000 Unless you are super rich, how could you afford to "Start as a student" I would like to fly 3-way or 4-way HD or Freefly with my friends in the new montreal tunnel from time to time, but if it's going to cost me 10 grand before I can even start than I won't bother to start at all. (I can't afford a new addiction like that) See if you can share the tunnel then it becomes affordable. $1000 / 4 = $250 each / hr. I can afford that, but that initial investment is a killer. Any other suggestions from people with a limited budget? How long typicaly to get to sit fly? Thanks

I have a question for the freefly coaches on here or others that have learned head down in the tunnel. If you are a proficient head down flyer in the sky, ie. you are stable, can fly close, down the tube, take docks ect. but have little to no tunnel experience how long would you expect to fly in the tunnel learning how to be safe before attempting head down? I have heard everything from 1/2 hour to 10 hrs? I have also heard the typical progression is belly, back, sit, then head down. I also heard that Olav broke his arm or something like that because he was allowed to go straight to head down without learning the other nessessary skills. So i am eager to get on my head in there, but I don't want to break any bones. Any info would be appreciated Thanks

What,s up with the crazy heat the tunnel produces? Is this normal? If so how do the rest of you Instructors out there deal with it? Here is the senario. Nice Spring day in Niagara Falls, maybe 65 - 70F RED BULL buys 2hrs for all the Air Raid Girls OH And talking about HOT, this was 45 of the most smoking hot girls on the planet! We have 3 Instructors on hand. I take groups 1, 4, and 7, with 7 being the last group. Group 1, no problems, group 4, starting to get hot, guessing at 100F, by the last group it was an oven in there. I'm betting it was 120 - 125F. I wasn't able to make it through my session without several stops to just get out of the heat and drink some water. By the end I felt sick, very sick. This is the next day and my sinus and throut feel burnt from the inside. So obviously, I suggested there might be a problem with the tunnel. I,ve been told it just needs to be calibrated for the warmer weather, as the unit was set up in February at sub 0 temp. Somehow I don't think that alone is going to fix this problem. I know the friction of the air creates some heat, but I don,t think this kind of heat is from that, I think the engine is getting really hot. Will calibrating it really make it run that much cooler, I guess I will have to see. This is a Flyaway style tunnel. Any input is appreciated cheers

jtval ---- I only said Vegas STYLE tunnel. I'm not talking about the one in Vegas, I,m talking about the one in Niagara Falls CANADA. It's the only one in Canada, so unless you want to cross the border it is this or nothing.

Ok, So I'm a skydiver that is working at the new Niagara Falls Tunnel. In the few weeks that we have been open, I have only seen a hand full of skydivers. Of those people I can think of only one that did more then just the 3 mins. It is the off season and I am puzzled that more skydivers aren,t taking advantage of this new toy of ours. I know it,s not a skyventure, with perfect wall to wall air, and freefly airspeed, BUT it still is ALOT of FUN! Really! Tonight I just had a 10 min play time that was a blast (no pun intended). We were bouncing off the top net, busting out rotating T's, Freek flying / Chair flying, Back flying. Little 2 way RW ect. FUN FUN FUN. For me I,m just looking at this as a whole new sport in of itself. What I know is hard for the experienced skydiver is to initally go in there and think you can bust out some bad ass moves, but then quickly realized it is alot harder then it looks. My 1st few minutes in there I sucked big time, I could hardly stay in the air and was falling out all over the place. Hey wait, I got 1250 Jumps, I was on the Canadian HD Record, Why do I suck so bad. AGAIN Remember it,s a new game, different rules. Don,t worry, you will figure it out quickly. Give it 10 mins or 15 mins. I can asure you, that you will be WOWing the Wuffo,s. Heck if you can go up / down and turn you will WOW them. So you might look silly for 3 -5 mins. Get over it! Another thing I,m hearing is "I will develop bad habbits". Again it is alot different. I personaly don,t feel it will have any negative affect to my skydiving, but I guess I can't say for sure untill Jumping season starts up again. I'm learning things I never even thought of trying in the sky, but on my next jump you can bet I,m going to be trying some of them. Anyway, I'm just looking for skydivers input or thoughts on this subject. Let me know what you think, and what your experiences are. Cheers Mike

That would be Sam from South Africa. Was your friend a jumper as well, or was he a 1st time flier?

Hey bfd. Do you remember your instructors name? Did you fly your skydiving suit or one of the tunnel suits? Glad to here you had fun! Cheers Mike