x-games

[PhreeZone 20]

Tunnel time does not count towards freefall time for awards or anything in the USPA or FAI. It would take the FAI to pressure the Olympic Committee to look at skydiving and there is no mention in any of the documents from the FAI about tunnels, only planes. If its a Freefall event you should have to be in freefall. Or redefine tunnel flying as freefall (which its clearly not). Tunnels advertize themselfs as simulators... not freefall.

Also as an olympic event they hope to sell tickets to observers to make money... how many people are going to be able to sit around and watch tunnel flying, 50, 100? The current designs have solid walls and even if you replace it with all glass, its still not a spectator friendly event.

On a side note, how many host cities would be willing to spend an extra 2 million plus on a tunnel? Stadiums can get used for 1000's of other events. Aquatic centers can be used by local universities and rec centers.These buildings get used all the time after the olympics are over. The mountian biking course at the Atlanta games is still being used quite heavily as public access parks and trails. There is no way a city could afford to open the access up to the general public for free in a tunnel. And people would complain if public money was used to create basically an amusement park ride, that the public gets charged for. Its a no win situation...

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[goose491 0]

Quote

It wouldn't be a "tunnel flying" event, it would be a freefall one. The tunnel would just be the Olympic facility for it.

Quote

The teams can train by skydiving, should they so choose. It's just the competition that has to be in a tunnel.

This was Scottbre's point from the start... You can swim in a lake but the Olympics make huge, beautiful pools... You can skate anywhere there is frozen water but the Olympics make huge beautiful Rinks.... Now you can skydive anywhere you have a means to get into the air but the Olympics will make huge, beautiful Wind-Tunnels!
The only thing is that I don't think free-falling fits into the "higher, faster, stronger" type of mentality.... (Well wait, Higher in a different sense, and faster too...) stronger does not apply... Let's face it, it may help but you don't need to be in the best of shape to fall out of the sky and you don't have to be an Olympic athlete to fly in the tunnel... People would eventually call us frauds

My Karma ran over my Dogma!!!

[scottbre 0]

Quote

Tunnel time does not count towards freefall time for awards or anything in the USPA or FAI. It would take the FAI to pressure the Olympic Committee to look at skydiving and there is no mention in any of the documents from the FAI about tunnels, only planes. If its a Freefall event you should have to be in freefall. Or redefine tunnel flying as freefall (which its clearly not). Tunnels advertize themselfs as simulators... not freefall.

I didn't say that my idea was perfect with no flaws to be worked out. It was just an idea, a "jumping off" point, if you will. All these techicalities you keep brings up are just that, techicalities. That's why there is a whole process to getting events into the Olympics.

You can't tell me that should the "process" actually take place and the technicalities get worked out, that it wouldn't be a safer and more media and spectator friendly way to have the different freefall-style competitions. Plus it seems to me that it would act as sort of a buffer between actual skydiving activities and the severe scrutiny of the general populace.

Some people don't want freefall competitions (in any form) to have that much worldwide attention. Those people are going to argue against anything that might make that possible, regardless of how much the risks are minimized or how it would be done. There's nothing wrong with that attitude.

I was just suggesting a possible compromise between the reasonable dangerous and inaccessible activity of skydiving and a competition that might actually thrive in an Olympic environment.

Besides, imagine some of the sweet endorsements you could get if you were the gold medal freeflier.

"Your mother's full of stupidjuice!"
My Art Project

[SkyDekker 1,465]

I really do like the idea of having a tunnel freefall competition in the Olympics. But I do have some negative feelings with it as well.

In my mind, the jumping out of a plane and the having to save your own life are very integral parts of freefall, parts you would take away in your suggestion. Second, what if it becomes hugely popular? What have we achieved then? It is not entirely unconceivable that should it be a grand success, skydiving as we know it might change. No more jumping out off planes, only jumping into the tunnel.

So, you win this competition and you get your great endorsement. If it really is an outstanding endorsement from a big company, I can almost ensure you that there will be a limiting clause in the contract. One that will state that he can spend time in the tunnel, but don't think about jumping out of a plane.

I think the sport of skydiving is best served by not going mainstream. Just remember that going mainstream will most certainly mean that many more rules will have to be adhered too......

just my $0.02