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| | | Junior Member
 
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Last Login: 18/03/2006 14:23:39
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| Anyone seen the big (and I mean big) sign on the back of the colorado tunnel?
Hows that for associating it with skydiving.  |
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| | | Forum Newbie
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Last Login: 28/09/2006 04:24:14
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| | I think of it this way. Skydiving has been a passion for me for 14 years and I talk of little else (just ask my wife and kids!). I would say in that time period I've talked to probably 40-50 people a year about trying the sport of skydiving and have seen a grand total of 18 people (out of roughly 700) try it out. When talking to people of a wind tunnel (in my brief exposure of a year or so), almost everyone has asked me where the closest one is so they can try it. The idea of 150-200 bucks to try skydive vs. 40 bucks for an intro tunnel flight, that becomes simple economics, leaves out the part about the 10,000 foot fall, and gives whoever is signing up for the deal the same basic experience of flying their body. I've plenty of friends who've already said they would follow me to a tunnel long before they we follow me to a jump plane. Just my 2 cents for whatever it's worth.
JohnboyLife less passion ain't life. |
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Supreme Being
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Last Login: 25/10/2006 13:57:51
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| Very good point Johnboy. Maybe I have been going about things all wrong. I need to start trying to convince friends to tunnel fly and maybe THEN try to convince them to skydive only after they have had a blast in the tunnel.
Jenn
Tunnel Addict since November 2005!!!  |
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| daniel_owen_uk (06/01/2006)
I would love to know how many people that fly them are skydivers vs wuffos. In the UK I'd estimate the figures appear to be Bedford: about 80% skydivers, about 20% wuffos. Airkix: about 80% wuffos, and about 20% skydivers. daniel_owen_uk (06/01/2006)
I honestly can't see how you can disassociate tunnels with skydiving when so many jumpers use them.Easily - the two have large overlapping skill areas, but are not the same. There are large groups of people (and plenty of tunnel rats) who do not (and have never) skydived. Equally, from a technical point of view the skills are not identical (tunnel flying Vs. skydiving). I totally agree that we need to stop the whole "indoor skydiving" thing and promote the "body flying" message though. For at least another generation or so, skydiving still holds negative connotations for most people. As generations grow up and get older, the 'extreme sport era' that we seem to have been in the last decade or so should filter down, and it'll not be such a problem. Just MHO 
------------------------------------------------http://www.bodyflight.co.uk - The worlds largest VWT! |
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| freefalljenn (24/01/2006)
Very good point Johnboy. Maybe I have been going about things all wrong. I need to start trying to convince friends to tunnel fly and maybe THEN try to convince them to skydive only after they have had a blast in the tunnel.You know Jenn, the other thought is a pair of handcuffs and just drag your friends out kicking and screaming. Not that I've actually tried this, but the thought has occurred to me more than once.....
JohnboyLife less passion ain't life. |
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The Boss
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Last Login: 23/10/2007 12:58:29
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| Generally speaking, I would say that I have a reasonably adventurous group of friends (not ofcourse including my tunnel flying, skydiving, base jumping, bungee jumping friends) and over the years I have managed to persuade 3 of them to do tandem skydives. None of them regretted it, but 2 of them HATED it and would never do it again (as I say, they still don't regret the life experience though). The third didn't so much as bat an eyelash when we left the plane. I don't see him that much anymore - I think he is psychotic ;-)
However, I have taken 20+ people, easily to wind tunnels. Practically everyone I have taken wants to do it again even though all of them have found it more difficult than they first thought. It's a no brainer .. "hovering and flying" a few feet above the ground with your family close at hand is a TOTALLY different prospect to the very isolating and lets face it, scary, experience of jumping out of a plane and falling 10k towards the earth and depending on something that resembles your grandmas underwear to save you before you hit it. TunnelFlying is going to be massive and as said over and over again by myself and people on here, the sooner its dissasociates itself with skydiving the better for the industry. Skydivers WILL ALWAYS KNOW they can fly in a tunnel, but newbies NEED TO KNOW that tunnel flying holds hardly any of the pressures associated with skydiving. |
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| | | Junior Member
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Last Login: 01/05/2006 03:46:14
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| I hope/think that tunnel flying will definitely grow in popularity. I think that one day tunnel flying will have a counter culture incorporated with it, similar to the other 'extreme' sports. I think that with proper marketing and exposure it could even turn into a spectator sport with a humble, but yet significant fan base, such as inline skating or snowboarding.
If this was to happen tunnels could increase profit by hosting competitions paid for by sponsors. This would allow many tunnels to lower prices for customers, which would also in turn drastically increase the popularity of the sport. When other companies and investors see people making money off of it, then they will be more likely to invest in the construction of even more tunnels. It would continue to grow because of this. As the price drops because of a more steady market, the popularity would continue to increase because it would be more readily available. It’s simple marketing causes and effect.
If this is to happen, however, an initial popularity boom must take place. So the ball is really in our hands. We need to promote our sport as much as we can.
I can just imagine the day when I wake up and turn on the TV and see tunnel flying on ESPN 2, all paid for by McDonalds, or Coke. Then I would drive a few miles down the road to my local tunnel, pay 10 bucks and hop in the tunnel for a 3-min. session. And as I walk out to the sports drink vending machine, see my fav. Professional flyers picture on the front of it, quenching his thirst with his drink of choice. |
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