The Tunnel Instructor Book is free for you to download on this website, and is intended as a learning tool for both tunnel flyers and instructors, aiming to make the fast growing sport more safe and enjoyable.
The book is a collection of manuals, describing and explaining a flyer’s progression from basic flying skills to advanced freefly moves, as well as offering best practice in training and safety methods for tunnel instructors. The book is written with the aid input of some of Europe’s most renowned players in the field of wind tunnels, and is the result of many years of combined experience not only in flying and instructing, but also in organization & development, daily operations and safety management.
This initiative is a work in progress, and will continuously be updated and supplemented with further details and improved quality of the illustrations. As the Organization is non-profit and solely based on the goodwill and passion for the sport of the people involved, resources have been limited for the making of this first edition. The website will keep you informed about revised editions and will always have the latest updates available for you online.
Throughout the manuals, the flyer will be referred to as “he”. Please note that no gender discrimination is intended in any way.
The driver’s primary role is to control the wind speed for the flyers that are in the tunnel. As a driver you are also required to control the manifest, tunnel clock and photo and video system.
To be rated as a Class A Flyer, you have to be able to perform all the moves as described in the “Class A Flyer – Static” manual in a safe and controlled manner, without the need for assistance. Class A Flyers possess basic belly flying and back flying skills on lower wind speeds and are able to safely enter and exit the wind stream without any help.
To be rated as a Class B Flyer, you have to be able to perform all the moves as described in all the written flyer manuals and online flyer videos, i.e. both static AND dynamic, in a safe and controlled manner, without the need for assistance. Class B Flyers possess advanced freefly skills on higher wind speeds.
As a tunnel instructor or spotter your main role is to provide safety support for the flyers and/or coaches that are in the tunnel.
Rated Class A Spotters are signed off to work with first time flyers, teach Class A Flyers or assist coaches with safety while teaching basic belly and back flying skills. As a Class A Spotter, you have to at least possess Class A Flyer skills.
Rated Class A+ Spotters are signed off to work with first time flyers, teach Class A Flyers or assist coaches with safety while teaching basic belly and back flying skills. On top of that, Class A+ Spotters are signed off to perform “taxi flying” with first time students, an advanced student handling technique which requires experience as a Class A Spotter over a consolidation period. As a Class A+ Spotter, you have to at least possess Class A Flyer skills.
Rated Class B Spotters are signed off to work with first time flyers, teach Class A and Class B Flyers or assist coaches with safety while teaching more advanced flying skills on higher wind speeds. As a Class B Spotter, you have to at least possess Class A Flyer skills.
To become a Trainer, you have to run all spotter courses under the supervision of an Examiner. Once rated as a Trainer you can teach and sign off all flyer levels and independently provide spotter courses for tunnel instructors, but you can NOT sign off instructors on any level. Signing off instructor statuses is done by Examiners or Chief Examiners of the Organization only. Trainers have to be signed off for all spotter ratings over a consolidation period, and have to possess Class B Flyer skills.
To become an Examiner, you have to run all spotter courses under the supervision of a Chief Examiner. The Chief examiner will then make a recommendation for promotion which must be approved by two organisation board members.
The highest ranking within the Organization is the status of Chief Examiner. Chief Examiners can teach and sign off all flyer and instructor levels, and have the right to revoke any flyer or instructor rating below their own at any point in time, in case the rated person doesn’t meet the necessary safety requirements.
Chief examiners are selected from the examiner network to proportionally represent geographic areas and tunnels.