Indoor skydiving is gaining more popularity in the U.S., both as its own sport and for those looking to have a skydiving experience, but aren’t ready to take the leap out of an aircraft. I personally have always had skydiving on my bucket list — a friend and I even pinky-promised to go together one day — but wanted to get a feel for the sensation before I eventually hurtle toward the ground. And for those around me who have reservations on my behalf about jumping out of a plane, getting the basics down in an indoor session seemed like a way to calm their nerves in addition to experiencing something most people don’t get to every day.
Currently, the only place to try it out for yourself in Northern Virginia is iFLY (they have over 40 locations across the U.S.). iFLY allows for beginners to learn basic skills or for skydivers to practice their moves. It also provides flyers a place to practice for indoor skydiving competitions, like the upcoming FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving, which is just in its fourth year of existence.
At iFLY Loudoun, adults and children alike whirl around in the wind tunnel as an instructor grabs ahold of their flight suit to direct them. Located in Ashburn, iFLY is an indoor experience sure to have your stomach doing exciting flips.
Prices vary depending on how many flights you choose and people attend, but the 2 Flights Super Saver deal, valid Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m.-4 p.m., is $69.99 per person. The prices begin to jump when more flights are in the mix, and flyers ages 3-103 are welcome. All packages include the flight gear rental, training, and one-on-one instruction.
Upon checking in at the front desk — post flight waiver — patrons go upstairs to get situated. With lockers to place belongings, it’s required that certain jewelry items, like necklaces or watches, are taken off (earrings are typically okay, I flew with all of mine and none managed to escape my ears). The wind fans are located at the top of the tunnel, and the air circulates to the bottom and back up to push patrons up, replicating freefall.
Brock Uhlman, an instructor at iFLY Loudoun, said that certain things, like hair ties, do often end up flying around in the wind tunnel — but that a bracelet or watch would survive a worse fate than other things whipping around.
Uhlman has taken plenty of journeys from sea to sky (or nowadays, wind tunnel). He coached water sports before this, teaching wakeboarding, before making the jump to skydiving.
“I got my skydiving license the year before I started instructing, and I was actually living in New Zealand at the time … but you can’t fun jump [skydive without an open parachute],” where he lived, he explained. “I wanted to get my own fixing, so I went to the iFLY to just try it out and then kind of fell in love with the flying.” He notes that a lot of people come in to iFLY to work on their accelerated freefall license, or AFF.
Those participating in the indoor skydiving experience are also required to suit up in flight gear. It can look a bit like you’re a character in Top Gun, but certainly makes you feel like the real deal. The look is completed with a head scarf and helmet with an attached visor.
After checking out the tunnel before our own flight experience, my group dispersed into the training room, where we watched a video detailing what to expect during our trips in the tube. Uhlman, who led my particular flight experience, taught us the proper form to both enter the tunnel and hold while actually flying, and showed the hand signals he would use to indicate if we needed to change anything.
“Two things: one, they usually move around a lot … the other thing that a lot of people do is hold their breath,” Uhlman says of the mistakes he commonly sees patrons make in the tunnel.
Once the training was complete and the initial group finished their descents, it was time to go. No one in my session raised their hand to fly first, so I was ultimately chosen. Along with two adults and two preteens, I entered the tunnel ready to fly.
Hands up, hips forward, and not really that nervous, I leaned in to let myself fall into the tunnel as the training explained. While I’m sure it wasn’t elegant, I tried keeping my legs mostly straight, chin up, and arms bent at a right angle in front of me. Eventually I had the form down enough to turn left and right, and move forward/backward and up/down. Not to brag, but my flight certificate (which you could say shows that iFLEW) notes this — I wasn’t quite able to check off “flying a variety of controlled multiple movements” from the list of accomplishments, but what can you do?
In total, I went up three times for a minute and 20 seconds each (with the four-flight deal I got, it is usually recommended that you fly three times for a longer period, rather than four times at only a minute), with two of those trips in the tube, including high flights. High flights made the experience, though I did wish we could travel farther up the tunnel, as the peak of the high flight happened at the tube’s midpoint. The 90 MPH winds were the most exhilarating on the way down from that point — where Uhlman held onto flyers and spun us around.
For those seeking the most adrenaline from the indoor skydiving experience, high flights induced more stomach-turns than the typical flight; though I’ve never actually jumped from the sky, in those moments I felt like I was flying. In the regular position, it was still a unique sensation, but mostly just felt like a bunch of wind was coming at me at once. iFLY is certainly something I am happy to have done once — but I’m not sure if I’d pay to go again.
Uhlman says that the iFLY experience is a great precursor to outdoor skydiving — and he would know; though he calls himself a “baby” in the skydiving world, he’s completed around 40 jumps. The main difference between indoor and outdoor skydiving, he says, is the mentality. But if you enjoy iFLY, he says, you should certainly try it from the sky.
“You’re either gonna love it and you’re gonna want to keep doing it, or you’re gonna love it and you’re never gonna want to do it again, but either way you love the first time,” he notes of the outdoor jump.
While getting to fly yourself is the whole point of the iFLY experience, getting to see the pros do their jumps and flips was enthralling. Watching the instructors do their demos is reminiscent of watching your favorite action film. Uhlman spun around mid-air (or mid-tunnel, if you will) and essentially floated from the bottom netting all the way to the top. His exit through the opening of the tunnel was smooth and honestly, wild. Glancing at the screen that displayed the timer and wind speed, Uhlman was flying around in winds that reached about 142 MPH.
Other than getting to fly himself, Uhlman loves to teach the little kids that come to the facility, noting that it is often the first time they experience something adventurous like iFLY. “Teaching the kids is awesome,” he says.
While I’m not sure when I’ll make my way to the sky, I can say that the wind tunnel provided a fun activity to do while temperatures outside remain a bit unpredictable.
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