How the indoor skydiving attraction on Greenwich Peninsula allows you to fly in 170mph winds
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There exists at The O2 an opportunity to literally step into another world.
Inside iFLY, four massive jet engines – two at the top and two at the bottom – pump air through a vertical cylinder to create winds of around 170mph.
The walls of the chamber might be transparent, but the conditions within are completely different to anything else at ground level.
It’s a place where physics no longer makes sense to one’s body, where extraordinary things are possible. It’s a complete rush for the senses, the mind and the muscles.
Apt then that the concept of indoor skydiving is a paradox.
Obviously it’s not possible to fall out of a plane while in a building.
But iFLY’s facilities offer the next best thing – an opportunity to experience some of the sensations of free fall without the need for an aircraft.
More than that, its flights don’t require parachutes, significant prep or, crucially, the massive time sink and expense of jumping out of actual planes.
There’s also a comparatively tiny risk of death.
Heading down to the Greenwich Peninsula to give it a go, I’m nervous.
It’s not often I’m invited to step out of my comfort zone in quite such a literal sense.
Having signed a waiver and headed up stairs the first thing I see is the wind tunnel itself – a glass tube inside which an instructor is watching a participant apparently defy gravity.
There’s that paradox.
Even through the soundproofing, the roar of the air is constant.
After a quick safety briefing, during which our instructor reveals he’s a veteran of some 250 actual sky dives, we don helmets, goggles and baggy flight suits – loose to create more drag and make the flying easier.
In contrast our instructor is in a sleek, skin-tight number for maximum control and minimum drag.
It’s his job to stand, impervious to the wind, and guide the paying guests into the air.
Once we’re through the air lock into an antechamber, the noise makes talking impossible. Communication is via hand signals and I’m beckoned forth for my flight.
The directions are clear – flop forward into the wind, legs out and try to relax with outstretched arms.
That’s easier said than done with the relentless buffeting of the wind and the noise.
But there’s a strange feeling of lift and I’m basically hovering when, quite clearly, I should be falling to the floor.
It’s like no other sensation.
The instructor grasps me round the waist to start with and positions me in the rushing air, adjusting my position before gradually releasing me completely.
I’m flying, even if I’m unstable and have no control or ideas about how to manoeuvre.
After what seems like minutes, but is probably seconds of sensory overload, he pushes me back out of the tube and my feet hit the floor.
The adrenaline is surging. I’m euphoric. I understand why people want to go back again and again to taste that strangeness.
At the end, the instructor offers a showcase.
Bobbing up and down in the tube, he effortlessly executes flips and headstands, shooting up and down apparently at will.
It’s breathtaking and a tantalising display of the proficiency that can be achieved in this otherworldly realm.
Wharf Life Verdict: 4/5
key details: iFLY At The O2
iFLY’s current Black Friday 2024 deals mean an entry-level Kick-Start experience costs £32.99 per person.
The normal cost is £109.99. This includes two flights (lasting the equivalent of three real skydives), equipment hire and a flight certificate.
Numerous other packages are available including virtual reality at The O2 facility.
The most popular is currently £43.19 per person and includes photos and videos of four flights. This is normally £149.99.
Find out more about the experience here
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