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Review of: Airkix, Central Milton Keynes, Milton Keynes

4/5 (minimum 1)

by tom on 01 Oct 2007

Indoor sky-diving sounds like a really prospect, but is actually very very cool. Sure enough Milton Keynes can be relied upon to provide yet another outdoor sport indoors!

Airkix is basically a big vertical wind tunnel, and you "fly" in the middle of this tunnel. The build up can be a bit nerve-wracking, primarily because you don't know what to expect from the experience. However, once you've done it once, you realise that it's exhilarating and pretty full-on, but not actually scary.

The entire process is quite long relative to the actualy time you spend in the tunnel. On arrival you are given all the kit to put on and then shown a video which is as much marketing as training. The cheapest package includes 2 x 1 minute "flights" in the tunnel, which sounds like nothing, but is actually plenty for a first go, as holding yourself steady in 150mph winds is surprisingly physically demanding.

I really enjoyed the experience, and would certainly do it again (it's cheaper second time around). My one criticism is that the "training" felt more of a token gesture than a real effort to get us trained up. I would have appreciated some time to practice the "flying position" in the training room before getting into the tunnel, but this didn't seem to be an option. I was also surprised by the lack of any warm-up stretches.

Aside from actually being in the tunnel myself, the highlight was the little display that the instructor did at the end of the session. The combination of Spiderman-like leaping around the inside of the tunnel and the corkscrew to the top followed by vertical dive was absolutely amazing, and well worth seeing by itself.

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