Zoe B. 

Girl Reporter

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to fly? At iFLY you have the chance to fly like you’ve never flown before. If you are one of those lucky girls that sold enough cookies to go indoor skydiving, then you already know what it’s like. You were given the chance to show your awesome skills when you flew up in the air with the instructor. It was amazing and something out of a dream. People’s eyes widened at the chance to see their child fly or to have a chance to fly themselves.

Each girl was placed into one of four groups. Either before or after their breathtaking flight, each girl would sign their name on an iFLY poster that hung on one of the walls in the building. Each group of had different ages in it to give more variety and fairness. When each girl was given their groups, they went to the classroom there were supposed to attend to first. For group four, their first class was the iFLY quiz in classroom number one. This group was split up into two groups, one called the Unicorns and the other called the Uni-Donuts. The groups were asked about 10-15 questions with some of the questions being worth more than just one point because they would have more than one answer. Each team gave every girl in their group a chance to answer each question. In the end, Team Uni-Donuts won the quiz. Most girls decided to choose the helmet upgrade and a few of the other girls decided to choose the free iFLY video.

Group four then went to the STEM class in classroom two. The younger girls split up into groups of two. The older girls went together into a group of three working together to find the circumference, diameter, radius, area, and flight resistance of a basketball. They were given a measuring tape, a basketball, and a calculator to complete their worksheet. They learned that the basketball can fly very well with minimal flight resistance. While the older girls were working with the basketball, the younger girls were learning about flight resistance and how a parachute uses flight resistance to slow down a skydiver. They even made their own parachutes and tested how they worked by either running with them or dropping them when they’re standing on the ground or on a chair.

Group four finally went to the flight-training class where they got ready to fly in the air tube. During the flight training class, they learned the rules of flying and the hand signals that they must use so they would understand their instructor because you cannot talk while you are flying. They even watched a visual presentation of what they do inside the air tunnel and how to enter and exit the air tunnel. When the class was over, they went to the iFLY gear table and got their suits and helmets. Each girl took off their shoes, placed the suit over their regular clothing, zipped up the suit, put their shoes back on, and went to go get their helmets. If they had a regular student helmet, they would receive a pair of glasses and a regular bike helmet. If they had a helmet upgrade, they received a helmet more closely related to a motorcycle helmet with a visor already attached. They were given a pair of earplugs that they put in their ears before they put on their helmet. They needed the earplugs so they could block the noise of the wind. All the pressure inside the wind tunnel made the tunnel very loud and the noise would seep through the helmet and injure their eardrums if they did not wear earplugs.

When all their gear was on, they would go in the room that contained the air tunnel and sit on the bench until it was their turn to fly. The adrenaline rushing through their bodies was overwhelming and caused them to be excited and afraid at the same time making the experience all the more fun. When it was time, they went inside the air tunnel with their instructor to fly. They went up, down, and spun around in circles – and when they were ready, their instructor would grab onto their suits and spin them up into the air giving them an experience that would last a lifetime. Each girl had fun and knew that all they had to do was try it. Even if they were afraid before, that fear was quickly washed away the instant that they fell into the air tunnel.