soulbabel

When you are starting out, especially headdown, they usually just have you stationary on the net. Since you aren't really moving around the tunnel and flying solo, a smaller tunnel makes more sense, because you're not paying for extra room that you won't be using. I did my first few hours of headdown training in Colorado's tunnel, even though Paraclete is closer to me. It was a special deal at nearly half the price in comparison, for a coached tunnel hour ($660 vs $1150). You could try contacting an instructor at SVNH for a special deal if possible. Also, if you plan on doing an hour, try to break up the flight times to something like 7 1/2 minutes per half hour. Otherwise you'll end up belly or backflying the rest of your time, because your muscles are super fatigued from flying too much in a small amount of time. Plus it helps to get some actual verbal feedback from the instructor between sessions, and watch your footage.

Which tunnel do you plan on going to? If you're flying belly, I'd recommend going one day out of the month and doing maybe 10 to 20 minutes per hour. That way you can get some rest and watch your footage to plan out the next few minutes. Watching your footage can help you see your bad habits. Whoever the instructor is at the time will usually throw you some advice if you look over to them. Freeflying can get super tiring if you're not conditioned/used to it, but belly flying is not so tiring with the lower windspeeds. If you plan on going to the larger tunnels like Paraclete XP, you'll definitely want to find some people to fly with. I doubt you could become an FS badass flying solo. Try finding locals or use the tunnel time classifieds to meet others who want to fly, too. It might not be a consistent group of flyers, but you might be able to get together with others who wanted to fly for a bit.

How do you fly your headdown in the sky? (Straddle, daffy, shelf/mantle, etc) Tunnel instructors prefer you have daffy or shelf to start out, so if that's how you fly now, it might not take too much time to adapt and fly solo hd in the tunnel. How is your backfly and sitfly? Since they are your bail out positions, they need to be controlled enough in the tunnel that you won't accidently turn into a meat missle. How many tunnel hours it will take you to reach the level of skill you want to fly safely hd with 3 to 4 other people in the tunnel will vary by alot of different factors. How often you go to the tunnel, and how much time you do when you go can really affect how long it takes to develop/maintain the muscle memory. You might already be in a good position and progress quickly to where you want to be, or you may find yourself having to unlearn alot of bad habits that came from the sky.

kinda like this?

I spent a few hours in July training head down with a tunnel coach. My coach tried to instruct me on how to learn back carving, but I wasn't able to get a feel for it and didn't come close to carving. I am going to the tunnel this weekend, and was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on learning to back carve. I'll probably ask an instructor there as well, but since the position felt so awkward to me, I was hoping I could get as many points of views possible to help me build a good mental picture.

I got off the net after about 3 to 4 hours of hd training. For me, it just finally clicked and I was off the net, but I still have a long ways to go to be a proficient hd tunnel flyer. Normally the fans are not super fast, to prevent you from hurting yourself if you cork out. The problem with slow speeds is that you really need to work your legs to get enough lift. If you look stable/balanced on the net though, I think the operator will slightly increase the speeds to help you out. The good news is you can probably fly head down in the sky without corking, although, it might take a few jumps to get adapted.

Just a short clip Conan had the other night: http://www.hulu.com/watch/86011/the-tonight-show-with-conan-obrien-andyll-try-it-jul-28-2009

This is my home dropzone, but now that I have been able to visit other dropzones over my first year of jumping, the more I consider myself lucky to have this as my home dropzone. My favorite policy at this dropzone is that you after you do 5 jumps in a day, tickets are half price for the rest of the day. Usually I'll do about 10 jumps a day for $175, which over time saves alot for experienced jumpers. Also, because the PAC 750XL is so fuel efficient, it doesn't require alot of jumpers to start the plane and run hot loads which is great for slow business days. The dz only requires a single AFF or tandem student, or 7 fun jumpers to get the plane started (and then only 5 fun jumpers to keep the loads hot). I've been on loads with just a single tandem student, and the ride to altitude was incredibly fast, even for a PAC. Like any other dropzone, there are some things I'd like to see improved upon. However, despite any drawbacks, I'm still having a ton of fun at this dropzone. Although my student training progressed a little slow at this dropzone (mainly due to wind holds last summer), my jump numbers rocketed once I had my A license and my own rig. I've been able to do over 300 jumps in my first year jumping at this weekend only dropzone, and at a pretty good discount. This dropzone is excellent for any fun jumpers looking for a home. Plenty of skillful jumpers, spaceball jumps (if the jump run allows), and a friendly atmosphere. I plan on calling this my home dropzone for a long time.

I just came back from a 10 day trip in Colorado, and did roughly 7 hours in the Skyventure tunnel. It's very possible to do what you want to do. Some helpful information: 1. On the days I was there, I did an hour per day, which my coach broke up into short flight times throughout the day. This prevents you from being burned out too fast, and maximizes learning potential. It's not too bad to do an hour of sitflying, if spread out through the day. 2. WEAR UNDER-ARMOR!! Although my muscles weren't too fatigued, the jumpsuit will still rub your skin raw if you do that much time in the tunnel in a day. I got the long sleeve heat gear for sitflying, and all-weather pants for head down. My leg and arm sores are still healing from not doing that initially. 3. If you go to the Colorado tunnel, stay at the Extended StayAmerica. Not very luxurious, but you pay about $60/night, and you are a 3 minute walk from the windtunnel. Also, it's a very upperclass area, with plenty of places to eat nearby, as well as a movie theater. The closest public train station (lightrail) was a 15 minute walk, which kinda sucked, but provided cheap transportation to Denver from Lone Tree since I didn't have a car rental once I started tunnel training. 4. Keep hydrated and bring lotion and chapstick to prevent wind burn. Not essential, but helpful. 5. Invest in coached time and some play time. The coach time is good for learning technique and fixing bad habits, but I think play time is essential to really feeling the air and learning to react without thinking too much. My sitfly really improved because of it. 6. Go to a smaller tunnel. They are very cost efficient if you are just trying to improve your individual flight skills. And once you are good enough, an instructor or two won't mind jumping in to help you with docking practice. 7. Throw in a day of rest every now and then. I did a bunch of consecutive training days, but a rest day to see the sights or to go jumping was helpful when it felt like I reached a plateau in my headdown training. 8. Bring a laptop or portable dvd player. You will get all your sessions burned to a DVD, which is good to watch as you train to see what areas you want to work on the next day. 9. Contact the tunnel ahead of time and let them know you want to do that much time. They will work with you to give you a reasonable price. The Skyventure tunnels are individually owned, so each tunnel does things differently, and may sweeten the deal to get you to come to their tunnel instead of the others. Although I've only been to ParacleteXP and Skyventure Colorado, I highly recommend the Colorado tunnel. All the staff are very friendly, just say "Hi", and introduce yourself. The instructors were excellent, and I was coached by three different ones, which I find more helpful than sticking with just one, since their various perspectives helped me build a more solid picture of my flying abilities. Their customer service was top notch, and they were willing to work with my time scheduling to make sure I'd get the most benefit out of their tunnel. Colorado has beautiful summer weather, and there's lots to see and do. White water rafting is an excellent way to have fun and see the scenery at the same time. And the ladies, whew... there are hotties everywhere out there. If you decide to go with Skyventure Colorado, contact the tunnel and ask for Brad Cole, or Scotty L. and tell them Dexter sent you. They'll definitely take care of you, and I think their prices were actually the lowest for tunnel training.

I'll be flying to Denver July 10, and doing some flying in the tunnel for a good bit of time. I'll be flying back on the 20th, so I have 10 days to fill with activities and was hoping for suggestions. I'm definitely gonna pass by the dropzone at least once, but I'm also thinking some white water rafting (any suggestions on the river? Royal Gorge?). Not sure what else to do outside of that. Are there any good sushi restaurants in Denver, being so far from the ocean? I'm open to any suggestions, let me know what you think.

You will need to do at least 25 jumps to get an A license, so you can try both dropzones to figure out which one suits you better. You don't have to do all your jumps at the same place.

I know this thread is 5 years old, but I was hoping someone could tell me if differences have remained the same all this time. I was interested in purchasing a nitro, but I mainly see some used nitrons for a good price. Was wondering what the best way to go was.

I wanted to buy a new canopy, but prices have gone up so much and so quickly, I think I'd rather wait on just getting a decently priced used one. I was hoping others could offer opinions on whether it was a good time to buy a new canopy before prices went up further, or if I could expect prices to come down somewhat with the recession.

Big thanks for the update, because I was also wondering about that helmet.

Found a review with some good video samples. The 720p footage is the 1080p footage scaled down, but it shows the user applying 3 different screw on lenses. http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news_details.php?id=17628

No one seems too interested in this camera, but I'll still post what helpful information I find about this camera: Recent review: http://www.itreviewed.co.uk/rev.php?id=897 Link to its related video review on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxWc5vGVqH8 Another review: http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/reviews/review.phtml/3806/4830/sanyo-xacti-vpc-hd2000-camcorder.phtml

From what I've read, the new models use "ISO standard MPEG-4 AVC/H.264", so that's another improvement I suppose. Also, I've come across a hands-on first look already (although the models numbers are slightly changed, it looks like the same cameras from the photos): http://www.geek.com/articles/gadgets/hands-on-sanyo-vpc-fh1-and-vpc-hd2000-20090121/ It doesn't look like there's any recording samples, but the hands-on video is available in HD on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEbdl4gmHkE I don't know if lens attachment was an issue on older models, but it shows him screwing on a "0.7x wide lens with macro" fairly easily.

Sanyo's about to release new Xacti models for 2009, and was wondering if some people could chime in on whether they'd be good for the sport. According to the specifications, the image stabilization is digital, so maybe it can be disabled. It also looks like the Full HD (1080p/60fps) models are available in a horizontal or vertical body. http://www.sanyo.com/news/2009/01/21-1en.html Link to specifications: http://www.sanyo.com/news/2009/01/img/090121xacti.pdf

I just received a new Vector 3 container, and I've read that Scotchgarding it before it's assembled can be a good idea. However, someone also recommended 303 as a protectant too, but didn't go into any details. I was wondering if anyone knew or had some advice about using the 303 products on containers. I'm guessing this product would be the most suitable from their product line: http://www.303products.com/tech/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=429 Or should I just stay with the traditional Scotchgard?

Damn you beer for fattening up my fellow skydivers!! For the last three weeks I've been trying to find my first used rig to fit my 5'9", 155 lbs frame, but everyone selling a rig/container around my height weighs between 185 to 200+ pounds. WTF!! From now on, I'm bringing salad to fulfill my beer tab!