The Red Bull Diaries: Ed Carpenter.

During the course of the 2004 IRL IndyCar Series Championship, Red Bull Cheever Racing has published a series of diary excerpts from various members of their organisation from the drivers to the owner himself. This time it's the turn of series rookie and former Infiniti Pro Series race winner Ed Carpenter.

By Ed Carpenter

Alex Barron and I got an offer to skydive when we were in California last week before the IRL IndyCar Series race. Naturally, both of us jumped - so to speak - at the opportunity. Then we thought about it.

Maybe it's not such a good idea for two racing teammates to jump out of a plane a few days before a race.

That's when we decided to take another, slightly safer offer from the same people. We visited Perris Valley Skydive and took turns in a skydiving simulator, where we learned how to free-fall and felt what it would be like to jump from an airplane.

From the inside, it looks like a giant launch pad. It's a large round room that's very tall. In the ceiling are jet engines that serve as a vacuum to suck air up through an opening in the floor. The effect is incredible - a long tube of air moving at 120 mph that simulates the feeling one has while skydiving.

Our teachers for the day were several members of the Red Bull Skydiving team, who taught us how to remain stable and 'float' on the air. The trick is to position yourself so you're balancing. At first, our instructors held on to us. After some time, we were able to do it on our own.

The best way to maintain our position in the air, the instructors told us, was to arch our backs. That allows the air to flow around you but doesn't create so much drag that you'll begin to move upward. If just one of your arms was held out at a different angle, it would send you into a spin. So arching your back and holding your arms and legs steady were the keys.

We would do it in two-minute increments, similar to a skydive. We'd get out and talk about it, then go back in and try it again for two minutes. By the end of our visit, I thought I was getting pretty good at it, at least until I saw the Red Bull divers get in the tunnel and go solo. They were doing tricks and rolls, basically air acrobatics, while all we had mastered was staying in one place. That was hard enough.

They were practicing for the big national skydiving meet, and they told us that 30 minutes in the wind tunnel is the same as 30 jumps. It saves them the time of having to go back up in the plane for each jump. They get experience without the time and expense of having to go up to 10,000 feet for each jump.

I think Alex and I were both pretty nervous before we got into it, but mostly because we didn't know what to expect. Once we got into it, it was cool. Once it started, you didn't want to get out.

I've never been skydiving, but this definitely put the bug in me. I wouldn't mind putting more time in the wind tunnel and then going up with the Red Bull divers. This is a sport I know I could get hooked on.

Somehow, though, I get the idea that I should wait until the off-season.