Academy's wish list includes vertical wind tunnel

Colleges and Universities A-Z Air Force Academy - Colorado Springs
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<p>October 21, 2010 4:44 PM
LANCE BENZEL
THE GAZETTE</p>

<p>The latest big-ticket item on the Air Force Academy’s wish list: a multimillion dollar wind tunnel for the cadet skydiving team.</p>

<p>Lt. Gen. Michael Gould, the academy superintendent, wants the academy to join a handful of locations in the U.S. that boast an indoor skydiving facility capable of keeping several people aloft at once.</p>

<p>“We see all kinds of benefits — not just for our cadets, but for our special-operator friends over at Fort Carson,” he said, referring to airborne Green Berets in the 10th Special Forces Group.</p>

<p>Gould hyped the plans Thursday while reviewing an ambitious slate of improvements — both real and proposed — that he believes will inspire “fanatical pride” in the elite service academy.</p>

<p>He delivered his remarks at a Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Antlers Hilton downtown.</p>

<p>The Air Force Academy is in the midst of a 10-year, billion-dollar punch list of facility and infrastructure upgrades, including an ongoing overhaul of Vandenberg Hall, one of two cadet dormitories.</p>

<p>Not included in that price tag is a lengthy list of projects the academy wants to fund through private donations.</p>

<p>Earlier this month, builders broke ground on the $16 million Holaday Athletic Center, the academy’s first major building project funded entirely through donations, including a $5 million gift from Air Force Academy alumnus Bart Holaday and his late wife, Lynn.</p>

<p>The academy plans to begin work this spring on the $40 million Center for Character and Leadership Development – funded by a mix of tax dollars and $10 million in donations and pledges.</p>

<p>Gould also spoke of adding private viewing boxes at Falcon Stadium, a new museum and completing an overhaul of the planetarium, which was shuttered several years ago because of outdated technology.</p>

<p>The wind tunnel — with an approximate price tag of up to $9 million — would be used to train cadets in the Wings of Blue competitive skydiving team, which collected a first-place finish U.S. Parachute Association National Skydiving Championships in Ottawa, Ill., in September.</p>

<p>The academy’s skydivers travel to a recreational indoor facility in Denver for practice — taking up valuable time and money, Gould said.</p>

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<p>An interesting one, to say the least. </p>

<p>I’d like to see the cost/benefit analysis on this one.</p>

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<p>The tunnel would pay for itself in a few years with the amount of money we spend on AM-490. It’s going to happen eventually.</p>

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<p>I heard a rumor that the test program which took AM-490 students to use a tunnel ended up doing worse on their jumps than without the tunnel. Have you heard anything about that?</p>

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<p>hmm, my group went to the tunnel and I think it helped a little, although probably not enough to warrant what I am sure they spent on it</p>

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<p>We’ve taken every 490 class to the tunnel since the summer of 2008. My personal feeling is that it helps a little bit, but I don’t have any numbers to back that up. I could probably investigate that, though.</p>

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<p>i didn’t get to go to the wind tunnel and was fine. not that it wouldn’t be fun, but it seems more like an unnecessary expense than a way to justify building one for the school</p>

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<p>That’s just it, though. The tunnel isn’t just about this school. This article doesn’t really portray the big picture. The master plan, if we were to get a wind tunnel here, is to convert the USAFA airfield into the place for AF special operators. We currently have to send all our spec ops types through Army training at Fort Benning and elsewhere. This tunnel would be used much, much more by the 10th Mountain Division and others than by cadets, and much, much more by AM-490 students than by team members. That’s why the majority of the funding is coming from AFSOC.</p>

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<p>Had no clue about that. Thanks for the info PETKO. Clears up a lot of things!</p>

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<p>ahh. yeah, i don’t think the team or cadets in general really need to have it, but it would make sense to have one for SpecOps. And if you’re making one for the AF anyway then might as well have it where a few others can get use out of it too. thanks petko.</p>

<p>on another note, hope things are going well. i talked to some friends of yours who just jumped in FL at the Kennedy Space Center. you get to make the trip?</p>

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<p>No, sadly. I was originally supposed to be there right now, but the third and final leg of the trip was cancelled.</p>