Does iFLY Truly Mimic the Experience of Skydiving?

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Who has tried IFLY where you fly in the air inside the tube? Is the experience really like sky diving?
Is it that fun? next month I may try it if it's ok.

Any technical reference how it all works (the turbines and suction power, etc.)?
 
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Having done the real thing, but not this, I'd say that the part it is missing - the actual jumping out of an airplane - is a pretty big deal. The freefall, once stable at terminal velocity, is windy but pretty calm.

That said, I'd still like to try it. There's one near me. When they were building it, I thought it was a wind tunnel (I was half right?), since it is right next to a large Lockheed facility.
 
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russ_watters said:
Having done the real thing, but not this, I'd say that the part it is missing - the actual jumping out of an airplane - is a pretty big deal. The freefall, once stable at terminal velocity, is windy but pretty calm.

That said, I'd still like to try it. There's one near me. When they were building it, I thought it was a wind tunnel (I was half right?), since it is right next to a large Lockheed facility.

I will never try actual jump from airplane. What if the parachute won't deploy.. unless I have mastery of the spacetime manifold and can control it at will.

About this Ifly I want to try to fly to the top most ceiling.. but if I change body position and become vertical.. would I just fall down.. this is what worried me...
 
jedishrfu said:
The whole idea is to use your body cross section to control the airflow and control your height and position via wind resistance.

can one stall?
 
jedishrfu said:
The whole idea is to use your body cross section to control the airflow and control your height and position via wind resistance.
A robot defining "fun".
 
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russ_watters said:
Stalling is the point.

what you mean? if i fly to the ceiling and panic and stall.. i can fall straight down hurting my feet?
 
bluecap said:
what you mean? if i fly to the ceiling and panic and stall.. i can fall straight down hurting my feet?
Thinking about your body as a wing is problematic. You increase lift by increasing cross sectional area. You decrease lift by decreasing cross sectional area. It never counts as "flying".
 
russ_watters said:
Thinking about your body as a wing is problematic. You increase lift by increasing cross sectional area. You decrease lift by decreasing cross sectional area. It never counts as "flying".

ah so that is how it works.. ok.. so no fancy spacetime override required.. thanks
 
bluecap said:
can one stall?

Yes. If you want to move across the ground to intercept other skydivers to form a star or other pattern you arch your body, point your toes, and put your arms back along your sides. This position is like a ski-jumper and forms a sort of crude aerofoil. In this position you can attain something like 60 - 70 knots across the ground but it also increases your vertical component. Your vector speed may approach 180 knots. If you arch your body too much you will start to stall and you can actually feel buffeting and loss of lift.

I forgot to mention, this is in real skydiving.

Cheers
 
cosmik debris said:
Yes. If you want to move across the ground to intercept other skydivers to form a star or other pattern you arch your body, point your toes, and put your arms back along your sides. This position is like a ski-jumper and forms a sort of crude aerofoil. In this position you can attain something like 60 - 70 knots across the ground but it also increases your vertical component. Your vector speed may approach 180 knots. If you arch your body too much you will start to stall and you can actually feel buffeting and loss of lift.

I forgot to mention, this is in real skydiving.

Cheers

ifly centers are great revenue generating businesses earning $100 with just less than 2 minutes of floating time. Why are there only one company (?) in the world doing this? Is it so hard to order or manufacture the big fan? Is this the same one they used in Boeing in testing the wing flight characteristics?
 
bluecap said:
ifly centers are great revenue generating businesses earning $100 with just less than 2 minutes of floating time. Why are there only one company (?) in the world doing this? Is it so hard to order or manufacture the big fan? Is this the same one they used in Boeing in testing the wing flight characteristics?
It's the energy required to operate the fan. You can Googulate that.
 
I have only done it once, but it was a lot of fun. Where I went there was an instructor in the tunnel with you to help and the floor was like a mesh trampoline. I did stall a little once, but they show how to tuck and fall to the padded siding on the floor. When that happens you sort of get blown over to the side anyway (or a least it did that to me).

russ_watters said:
Having done the real thing, but not this, I'd say that the part it is missing - the actual jumping out of an airplane - is a pretty big deal. The freefall, once stable at terminal velocity, is windy but pretty calm.

That said, I'd still like to try it. There's one near me. When they were building it, I thought it was a wind tunnel (I was half right?), since it is right next to a large Lockheed facility.

They do let you stand on the side and jump over the fan. It’s not the same as jumping out of an airplane, but it does give those of us who don’t want to jump out of an airplane the chance to get a bit of the feeling.
 
Fig Neutron said:
I have only done it once, but it was a lot of fun. Where I went there was an instructor in the tunnel with you to help and the floor was like a mesh trampoline. I did stall a little once, but they show how to tuck and fall to the padded siding on the floor. When that happens you sort of get blown over to the side anyway (or a least it did that to me).
They do let you stand on the side and jump over the fan. It’s not the same as jumping out of an airplane, but it does give those of us who don’t want to jump out of an airplane the chance to get a bit of the feeling.

Have you try floating to the ceiling 3 stories up? and when you stall.. how slowly do you fall to the mesh trampoline.. I saw news someone hurted her ankle when she fell.. want to make sure it won't happen if i'd try floating to the ceiling. Need to decide before buying the online tickets.
 
bluecap said:
Have you try floating to the ceiling 3 stories up? and when you stall.. how slowly do you fall to the mesh trampoline.. I saw news someone hurted her ankle when she fell.. want to make sure it won't happen if i'd try floating to the ceiling. Need to decide before buying the online tickets.

I didn’t fall from that high. You start dropping when your legs start to go down, so you lose some altitude before you completely stall.

You’re also suppose to tuck in a ball when you start to fall. The lady might have hurt her ankle because she stuck her leg out to land.
 
russ_watters said:
Having done the real thing, but not this, I'd say that the part it is missing - the actual jumping out of an airplane - is a pretty big deal. The freefall, once stable at terminal velocity, is windy but pretty calm.

That said, I'd still like to try it. There's one near me. When they were building it, I thought it was a wind tunnel (I was half right?), since it is right next to a large Lockheed facility.
I've done both, and the experiences are quite different. You're never going to get the adrenalin rush at iFly that you do from jumping out of the plane.
 
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