Sockpuppet 0 #1 May 18, 2006 Hi Guys, I've been meaning to do an AFF course for a few years now. Unfortunatly I can't do it at the moment as over the summer commitments to the TA take up most of my free time and moving into a house doesnt help the finances. I was hoping to early next year and take 2 weeks holiday from work and hopefully get to level 8 within those 2 weeks. In the mean time would I benefit from getting any coaching in a wind tunnel. I'm guessing that most people fail AFF jumps and repeat due to unstable body position? Would spending some $$$ on tunnel time make it wasier to pass the AFF jumps. What I'm thinking is that £100 of tunnel time could save having to redo one or more jumps at £200 each (or something like that). Comment and/or suggestions? ------ Two of the three voices in my head agree with you. It might actually be unanimous but voice three only speaks Welsh. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scoop 0 #2 May 18, 2006 Hi, yeah absolutely. Any amount of tunnel time can only help although don't go mad. The jumping is expensive enough without blowing it all on tunnel time. I'd say get between 10 mins and 30 mins to get you going so you can learn some basic stuff. Repeating a level is much more expensive than 10x more freefall time in a tunnel. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CornishChris 5 #3 May 18, 2006 QuoteComment and/or suggestions? Go abroad. If you fail to make it to level 8 in two weeks somewhere where the weather is good then I would be bloody surprised. Tunnel good. AFF better - stick the money towards the trip. My 2p CJP Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TrickyDicky 0 #4 May 19, 2006 Tunnel will definatly help. It would mean you can concentrate on exit/drills/awareness without having to worry about body position aswell. Also, not all DZs charge that much for rejumps. I know one DZ will just charge slots(yours + instructors) + kit hire price. UK Skydiver for all your UK skydiving needs. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #5 May 19, 2006 Tunnel time is always good...plus it's fun! On the other hand most people do training jumps, and pass, without it.My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
damion75 0 #6 May 19, 2006 Sure you can do it without tunnel time, but the tunnel is a great training tool which excels at letting the instructor work on your body position so I say that if you can get the money together then go for it, but no more than 30 mins as the other guy said. Probably just 15-20 or so. On another note, I have just finished a 2 year stint working with the TA, and one of my team is actually a TA officer and working skydiving (weekends) around TA (weekends) and significant others (weekends?) is a nightmare! good luck and see you in the sky soon... *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sockpuppet 0 #7 May 19, 2006 Yep. fitting in "normal" stuff with the TA can be hard sometimes. At the moment I am completing officer training (just waiting for the beasting that is Module 3 and then Sandhurst) so every other weekend is prebooked for the next year it seems like. I plan on doing 20 mins of tunnel time about a week before I do the AFF. Although came to work today with a nice £1800 bonus sitting on the desk. So AFF may not be that far away. You know your hooked when the first thought is that it covers the cost of an AFF and the consolidation jumps ------ Two of the three voices in my head agree with you. It might actually be unanimous but voice three only speaks Welsh. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ps5601 0 #8 May 19, 2006 The tunnel is always a possibility, especially as there are now 2 in the UK. As a caveat though, I would say that SOME AFF instructors (and please note that I am not an instructor), prefer that their students have not gone in the tunnel prior to AFF. This is not to say that if you have been in the tunnel you now can't do AFF, just that some instructors would prefer their students not to have had tunnel time. The reason for this is that on a jump you have max. 1 minute working time. Their concern is that if you go and have 2 minute sessions in the tunnel you will start to develop a "2 minute" body clock rather than a 1 minute clock, and could lose altitude awareness. That being said, I have never heard of it being a problem. I also know of the same instructors then taking their students in the tunnel once they have a couple of jumps under their belt. I'm not telling you not to do tunnel time, just passing on information. Blue skies Paul Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
damion75 0 #9 May 19, 2006 Quote plan on doing 20 mins of tunnel time about a week before I do the AFF That is a bit more than I was thinking! Bear in mind that 20 mins will cost you about £210! Thats over £800/month...*************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andybr6 0 #10 May 19, 2006 Hey don't know if this will help but I did AFF in Florida and midway through did 10 mins in the tunnel. The general consensus among the instuctors were that it was a better to do it mid-way through AFF so you can 'iron out' any problems or bad habits. After all what you have to do in AFF is not especially difficult its where you have to do it that makes it so hard. Once you have got a little more used to the sensation of freefall it is easier to think about your body position. I don't know about anyone else but despite doing 7 static lines before AFF the only thing I remember about Level I is how amazing the feeling was; didn't remember the plane flying away or even the view [which turned out to be spectacular]. Whichever way you decide to do it your going to love it... p.s. I did my AFF in Sebastian in FL and camped on the DZ. Flights [off-season] AFF + consols and wind tunnel came to only a fraction more than AFF in the UK. Also if your an Army guy I think they do a military discount. ------------------------------------------------ "All men can fly, but sadly, only in one direction" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sockpuppet 0 #11 May 19, 2006 Bloomin heck! What I actually meant was 20 mins (including instruction in a classroom). For about £40. After reading the repies I think I'll just can it and do the AFF with some tunnel time halfway through. Probably going to do it at netheravon being and Army boy ------ Two of the three voices in my head agree with you. It might actually be unanimous but voice three only speaks Welsh. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
damion75 0 #12 May 20, 2006 Netheravon is an option (and a decent one - my home DZ!) but since you have the military angle, I would hook up with a trip over to the US with one of the teams (which Regt?) since the cost is about the same, you get a trip to the US and you are more likely to get AFF completed quickly... PM me if you want to explore that option. *************** Not one shred of evidence supports the theory that life is serious - look at the platypus. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
