[extropy-chat] vertical wind tunnel

[Spike]

A local company is talking about building one of those
vertical wind tunnels that is used as a freefall simulator
for skydivers.  It blows the the air straight up so that
you can fly motionless in the updraft, practice your 
midair maneuvers and such.

I had an idea: what if you were in one of those things
with a real parachute and you deployed it?  Wouldn't you
go SHOOOM right up in the air?  Perhaps 100 meters?  Then
you could float down nearby.  Or you could have a competition
where you fly back and forth, staying in the updraft.  
You could practice your landings and parachute repacking, 
without ever having to take a plane off the ground.  Or
perhaps you could use it as a means of launching hang
gliders or parasails or something.  

Wouldn't that be a kick?

How much do you figure it would cost to build something
like that?  How much per hour to run it?   

spike