Vicki Baker
Girls on Wheels, though not thrill seekers, had only dreamed about skydiving. We knew we could never take that first step out of a plane flying at 13,000 feet. But at iFly Indoor Skydiving our dreams came true.
We arrived at iFLY bursting with excitement – we were going skydiving! We received pre-flight training coaching us on proper body positioning and means of communicating with the instructor via hand signals. Next stop, we geared up in our flight suit, helmet, and goggles.
We were then led to the flight chamber. There was a definite excitement in the air and a sense of camaraderie as we high-fived each other. The instructor brought us into the wind tunnel one by one, and we took that first drop into the vertical wind tunnel simulating true freefall conditions. We simply leaned forward onto a cushion of air and the rushing air allowed us to float.
We each had two “flights”. Our first flight was spent flying low and making adjustments for optimal body positioning. When stable, the instructor released us allowing us to fly independently. During our second flight, we all elected to add the high-flying experience where we were flown up to the top of the tunnel (at a height of about 20 feet) with the instructor’s guidance.
We had to admit initially we were a bit apprehensive. We just didn’t think it was something our uncoordinated selves could really manage. We were blown away – literally. The experience perfectly replicated the sensation of skydiving freefall while eliminating the daunting leap out of an airplane. There was no parachute, no jumping, and nothing attaching us to planet Earth. It was just us flying in the air.
We came out of the experience exhilarated and all realized – don’t wait for that someday, check something off your bucket list today! v