Always wanted to skydive but afraid of jumping out of a plane at 10,000 feet and going splat? Well, the new Perris SkyVenture, in Perris, Calif., offers a down-to-earth alternative: a massive, vertical wind tunnel that simulates free fall. Powered by five 200-horsepower suction fans suspended above a flight chamber, the structure allows you to experience "body flight"-spinning, somersaulting and other eye-popping acrobatics-while hovering over a column of air blowing up to 140 mph.
Perris SkyVenture is one of only two such wind tunnels in the country. (The other is in Orlando.) From the outside, the 10-story tower looks alarmingly like the hideout of Dr. No. Inside, it looks more like a seaquarium. The 12-foot-wide, 40-foot-tall simulator is enclosed in clear plexiglass and surrounded by observation benches. It's big enough for a four-person skydiving team to practice formations before a competition. Squads from Brazil, Japan and Switzerland have trained in the tunnel, as have military units from Britain, Thailand and the U.S. Navy. "It's the next evolution of the sport," says swooper Jim Slaton. "You can now accomplish in a one-hour session what it would have taken a whole season to learn."
A 30-minute session, including 2 minutes in the simulator, costs $50. Fliers are outfitted with goggles, a helmet, elbow and knee pads, earplugs and baggy jumpsuits. An instructor accompanies the the entire time, standing on the wire mesh flooring to monitor and guide their flights. In the din of that mighty wind, the tunnel coach signals with his hands, like a conductor leading the piccolos.
Cheeks rippling, the fliers flutter in the updraft. The slightest twitch or shrug makes them flail and flip and float up and down. When time is up, they clamber out through a side door. "For the first minute you think, God, this is harder than I thought it would be," says tunnel owner Ben Conatser. "But usually it all comes together 15 seconds into the second minute. You think, God, I'm actually flying."