Get your Airkix!

Indoor skydiving; best 21st birthday present ever! Three minutes being beaten up by a 140mph wind in Manchester, never has the term "it's grim up north" been less appropriate, I had an absolute ball.

Three minutes may not sound like a long time, however when you're being blasted with a 140mph wind it is more than enough. It is by no means an unpleasant experience however it is quite tiring the first time, although once you're out all you want to do is get back in again.

If throwing yourself out of a perfectly good plane and hurtling towards the ground doesn't appeal to you but you've always wanted to experience the free fall feeling, this is definitely the way forward. Adam was my instructor and he was just brilliant, although you're only taught four hand signals, it is literally like being thrown in at the deep end but you have so much interaction in the tunnel with your instructor and learn the aerodynamics of your body so quickly it makes it easier to get to grips with.

In the interest of science I've uploaded all three of my attempts so you can see the progression in the short time I was in there, in three minutes you can control yourself in the tunnel and in my case stop bumping into things, falling out of the sky or floating away like an umbrella in the wind (note the awesome catches in the first video).

Shoe came off on the second attempt and it threw me a little, not nearly as much as the manic spin did though - it was a lot faster and higher than the video gives credit for.

I'm now completely hooked, and once I've booked my 10 session course, I will most definitely apply to become an instructor. This isn't an easy feat, you have to participate in a fitness test involving running, press ups, sit ups, pull ups, lifting and my personal downfall touching your toes without bending your knees, hmm - better get on it!

The best offer with http://www.buyagift.com/ for £49 for two people to have two minutes in a wind tunnel. An extra £11 p/p for another minute at the end. The good thing is you can redeem the voucher at either the Manchester or the Milton Kaynes Airkix, so it doesn't matter if you're a northern monkey or southern fairy. For more information go to http://www.airkix.com/