subject: Time To Fly In An Indoor Wind Tunnel [print this page] It's confession timeIt's confession time. I am a failed thrill seeker. By this I mean that much as I would love to experience the adrenalin rush of throwing myself out of a plane at ten thousand feet I can't help but think it sounds a little dangerous. Some people would call it cowardice; I call it prudence, so imagine my joy when I found a new experience that employs a wind tunnel to allow you to enjoy the excitement of free fall while still keeping your feet on terra firma.
Indoor skydiving started, predictably, in America, but has quickly made its way over here. There are now a couple of centres in the UK and it's fair to expect more in the near future.
The principal is simple. They take a wind tunnel and stand it on its end. You can then simply step into the air jet and away you go; you're flying in real time. It's a brilliant concept - a tribute to man's ability to take a device meant for a rather dull function - in this case testing the aerodynamic performance of new cars - and see find a way that it can be utilized for sheer mindless fun.
And what a lot of fun they do indeed have. "I can't stop grinning," jabbers one excited participant, and seeing it in action you can understand why. Once they step into the wind tunnel they are off and away sometimes performing unbelievable feats of acrobatic gymnastics.
However, it will be a while before I'm up to that standard. As a complete beginner, I'm only dipping my toe into this water and content myself with the starter package which involves being lifted horizontally into the air under the careful guidance of an instructor. For a moment I consider attempting some of the stunts seen earlier, but hold back. Something tells me the result would have been messy.
This is something that gets better with repetition. The more you do it, the better you get. Prices are relatively high, especially for what is only a few minutes of fun, but it's worth it. The experience lasts a lifetime and explains why so many people come back time and time again.
So, if like me you enjoy the adrenalin rush, but are pathetically risk averse, this simple looking wind tunnel gives you a great chance to enjoy extreme sports on from a slightly safer position.
