Over the Thanksgiving weekend my (Rob) brother Doug and his boys Brian and Scott drove down from New England and visited. So, we tried to find fun things for them
to do. Everyone was excited about "indoor skydiving" (except me, of
course because of my anxieties with heights), so we took them to a place
called "iFly" outside of Baltimore, MD. Tom, Doug, Brian and Scott all enjoyed 2 flights. Here are some pictures and video.
Scott and Brian
WHAT IS IT? - Basically it's a giant plexiglass cylinder about 20
feet in diameter and about 100 feet high. The floor is actually wire
mesh, and underneath are giant turbine fans that attain strong speeds to
force you to "float." It's basically being in a sideways wind tunnel.
Scott
Doug
Brian flying high
SUITING UP - Everyone can "fly" except for people over 250-300
pounds. It's just too heavy to lift people and give them a good
experience, so you get weighed in at the beginning. Then, you get a 10
minute "lesson" on how to position yourself when you enter the cylinder
to obtain the best "flying experience." Your instructor is always with
you. You also don a "Flight suit," Goggles, ear plugs (because the
giant fans are so loud), and a helmet. Then you're ready.
Tom
ABOUT iFLY - iFLY is the experiential entertainment company that created modern
indoor skydiving…we make the dream of flight a reality by giving our
customers “wings” in a safe and reliable environment. iFLY started
in 1998 as SkyVenture, LLC. Once we had developed the
technology to
create a stable, wall-to-wall cushion of air in a flight chamber, we
knew we could offer an incredibly realistic and safe indoor skydiving
experience.
Tom's reaction to his flight suit
HOW DOES IT WORK? - A unique design with its wall-to-wall
air column, along with certified and highly-trained instructors,
allows you to safely enjoy your flight session. Your flight instructor
is with you through your entire flight experience regardless of your
level of experience.
Doug, Brian, Scott, Tom
HIGH FLYING -
Most fliers "fly" just above the ground, but you can pay for the
instructor to take you way up (70-100 feet) and spin you around. Brian
and Scott did that.
I'm a simple guy who enjoys the simple things in life, especially our dogs. I volunteer for dog rescues, enjoy exercising, blogging, politics, helping friends and neighbors, participating in ghost investigations, coffee, weather, superheroes, comic books, mystery novels, traveling, 70s and 80s music, classic country music,writing books on ghosts and spirits, cooking simply and keeping in shape. You'll find tidbits of all of these things on this blog and more. EMAIL me at Rgutro@gmail.com - Rob
