Vertical wind tunnel

The human body 'floats' in midair in a vertical wind tunnel, replicating the physics of 'body flight' or 'bodyflight' experienced during freefall.

[1] The first human to fly in a vertical wind tunnel was Jack Tiffany in 1964 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base located in Greene and Montgomery County, Ohio.

The first vertical wind tunnel built intended purely for commercial use opened in the summer of 1982 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In the 1990s William Kitchen, an inventor living in Orlando, FL filed patents for a vertical wind tunnel[7] and founded the US Company "Sky Venture" in July 1998.

[9] Another milestone in vertical wind tunnel history was 'Wind Machine' at the closing ceremonies of the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics.

[11][12] A vertical wind tunnel performance in Moscow's Red Square was shown in 2009 during the presentation of logotype of Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

Portable vertical wind tunnels are often used in movies and demonstrations, and are often rented for large events such as conventions and state fairs.

Motors can either be diesel-powered or electric-powered, and typically provide a vertical column of air between 6 and 16 feet wide.

[16] Indoor skydiving also appeals to the mass market audience that are afraid of heights, since in a vertical wind tunnel, one only floats a few meters above trampoline-type netting.

While wind tunnel flying is considered a low impact activity, it does exert some strain on the flier's back, neck, and shoulders.