Tunnel Time - ISA article only - Indoor Skydive Australia Group

AUSSIE WIND TUNNEL
The Rumours are True!
Source: ISA Group
Indoor Skydive Australia Group (ISA) was established
November, 2011 as the parent company to facilitate a
number of indoor skydiving facilities to cross the region
in the next 3-8 years. ISA Group is initially constructing
and will operate the first of it’s kind, industry leading,
SkyVenture, 16.4 foot diameter (five metre) air
conditioned Vertical Wind Tunnel (VWT) in Australia.
Once constructed, this facility will be in the class of
the largest tunnels available in the world. There are
currently over 24 of these tunnels operating in all parts
of the world.
ISA Group Founders
ISA Group is led by two former Special Air Service
Regiment members, Wayne Jones and Danny Hogan.
The founders have been working on the project since
the middle of 2009 and full time on the project since
January 2011. The founders have already made the
initial deposit on the equipment with SkyVenture and
the Development Application (DA) was approved in
April 2012.
ISA Group’s First Tunnel Location
They plan to start construction in December 2012. The
facility will be located in a newly proposed leisure and
lifestyle precinct at Penrith Panthers League Club. The
facility will be located adjacent to the main entrance
of the club, which has over 140,000 members state
wide. The development also provides for transport,
car parking, food, entertainment, accommodation and
other leisure activities, and is only 20mins away from
the recently announced $115M Wet & Wild theme park
which expects around 1M visitors a year.
Become a Founding Member, watch the construction of
the tunnel and follow the ISA Group via their website,
www.indoorskydiveaustralia.com.au
Group sponsors
“ Th e Addi cted”
Macca (Leigh McCormack) and Dylan Tempest with Vince
(Soul Flyers) and Havard (Skywalkers)
The ISA Group have announced a recent sponsorship
package to the Australian 4-way VS Champions “The
Addicted” for their participation in the 2012 Indoor
Skydiving Championships, to be held in Singapore,
December 2012.
“We are very excited to be attending the 2012 World
Indoor Skydiving Championships. We will be the first Aussie
team in history to attend an indoor championship and it’s
only been with the support and sponsorship of ISA Group
that we have been able to do this. The Addicted, along with
the whole Skydiving community of Australia eagerly awaits
the ISA Group’s first tunnel opening in NSW.”
Kim ‘Scatty’ Hopwood
ISA Group sponsors “The Addicted”
Jessie Tempest and friends
Australi a's First Tunnel
One of the earliest wind tunnels ever built for commercial use
was established in Australia on the Sunshine Coast back in the
80s. Unfortunately the technology was not there to support the
concept at that time. They were the true pioneers of the industry
for what now is an amazing real time experience.
Wind Tunnel Manufacturers
There are around five wind tunnel manufacturers across the
globe, AIR 2 Tunnel based out of the Netherlands, Aerodium from
Canada, Indoor Skydive Germany, Skydive Arena from Eastern
Europe and SkyVenture.
SkyVenture
Over the last 13 years SkyVenture has designed and built six
generations of wind tunnels, all models are still in operation
around the world. The first SkyVenture was a single-pass open
flow wind tunnel built in Orlando, FL, in 1998 as a prototype and
proof of concept. Their engineers removed all steel from the flight
chambers, which are now made from some of the largest curved,
tempered laminated glass ever cast. These flight chambers vary
in size and between four and eight meters tall. These tunnels are
simply mechanical art.
International Bodyflight
Association (IBA)
The IBA is the peak sporting body which regulates competition
and training for member flyers. The IBA Flyer Rating provides a
structured system of recognition of flyer experience and training
from beginner “Flyer” to highly advanced “Flyer Pro”. A beginner
must have completed specific technical challenges and flown for
greater than two minutes within a VWT to advance, and to reach
Flyer Pro they will have spent over 50 hours in a VWT.
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