JANUARY 201 4 SUNRAYS | 67
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ing pose: belly flat, back arched, arms up
and fingers spread, legs apart and bent
at the knee—all making for a smooth,
simulated skydiving experience. Instruc-
tors also taught participants hand sig-
nals for basic communication in the tun-
nel, where the air production was fairly
loud. Once the pose and hand signals
were critiqued and perfected by the ac-
companying instructor, it was time to fly!
Participants were suited up in iFLY
jumpsuits, a helmet, goggles and ear
plugs (the wind tunnel was pretty noisy!).
The group then lined up in an area that
resembled a dugout, located adjacent to
the tunnel, where participants would
wait when it wasn’t their turn to “fly.”
The group’s main instructor went into
the wind tunnel, while another iFLY
staff member managed the controls (the
air production was adjusted based on
the size of the flyer and their observed
comfort in the tunnel). One by one,
each participant went into the tunnel
with the instructor, held their Super-
man pose and flew for about a minute
with the instructor fixing any diverg-
ing movements. After that first flight,
participants were excited to learn that
they would get to fly one more time. The
second time around, a few of the more
comfortable flyers would be spun around
and hoisted up to the top of the tunnel,
with the instructor actually flying along
with them! After each group received the
full flying experience, they were able to
chat with instructors, purchase photos
from their flight, and then get ready for
lunch on their way home to Sun City
Texas. Needless to say, it was a high-
flying experience for all!
