Build Skills And Have Fun With A Skydiving Simulator

Although very little similarity actually exists between using a wind tunnel and the actual skydiving experience, people interested in skydiving can learn essential skills at a lower cost than making many true jumps using parachutes. Proponents of bodyflying as a sport on its own recognize the cardio benefits, therapeutic properties, and the feel of an extreme sport but with increased safety.

Bodyfliers pilot their bodies with purpose and control within a vertical airstream in a skydiving simulator. Accomplished bodyfliers who can perform a variety of maneuvers in wind tunnels in any facility, regardless of airstream quality, are referred to as -tunnel rats-. In general, bodyfliers will find two different types of wind tunnel skydiving simulators: a blower/air pusher or a sucker/vacuum pressure suction.

Blower/air-pusher wind tunnels are usually used outdoors, with no walls surrounding them. They havelarge airbags or nets that surround the air column. In the sucker/vacuum variety, multiples fans work with walls surrounding the air column to create pressure and air speeds.

While skills learned in blower/pusher tunnels are transferable to the sucker/vacuum design, bodyfliers who learn in a sucker/vacuum model commonly find -wall-less- flight more difficult.

Parachuting Simulators Allow Benefits of Bodyflight

A vertical wind tunnel parachuting simulator may come in different shapes and sizes but always includes several identifying elements: a drive system, which drives air usually by fan through an enclosed passage; a test section, in which a scale model is supported in a controlled airstream that promotes air flow and simulates a full-scale aircraft; and test instrumentation, which measures the aerodynamic characteristics of the model and flow field.

Vertical wind tunnels are generally safe to use. The risk does exist that participants could experience the same types of injuries as in other low-impact sports, including strains, breaks, dislocations, and fall-related injuries.

No known deaths as a result of using this type of skydiving simulator have been reported, however. Because new bodyfiers’ brains must adjust to horizontal orientation, there is a period of reduced awareness.

This is the highest-risk time of bodyflight. The risk of injury drops dramatically as bodyfliers gain experience.

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