What's the best way to simulate wind under your wings?

[Catums]

I really am questioning some sort of flying kintype right now. I feel that the best way to do this would be to feel some wind under my wings and see if it feels right. Any tips on how to do this? 

 

[Amber]

I usually feel this in meditation or while lucid dreaming. I don't know of any method how to recreate this feeling in real life, though.

Edit: it might take some serious practicing to get a vivid feeling about it, though. Meditation seems to be something that should be practiced often. It might help to explore your wings in-meditation while not flying. How are they built, how do they feel if you touch them? How does it feel to move them through the air, how does it feel if you breathe some air onto them? You could also do this while ph-shifted in case you can control your phantom limbs.

 

[Hiriel]

I don't know about wind under wings, but the wind tugging at my hair always feels wonderful to me.

I'm angelkin, so I've got both wings and human arms (and, well, hair), but if you think your type may have wings instead of arms - like a bat, bird, or some types of dragon/wyvern - the closest I can think of is to approximate the feel of air resistance against your arms.  The easiest way might be to stand facing the wind wearing an unzipped coat/hoodie, and hold onto the bottom corners and kinda spread them out a bit so they catch the wind?

It's the closest I can think of.  I know it wouldn't work particularly for me, because part of what I remember and miss is the feel of my muscles working to keep me aloft, and again, I did have human arms, so it's not particularly the same.  But it may be worth a try.

 

[Shezep]

The closest I remember getting was riding on the front of my dad's ski boat when I was a kid. That was a bit dangerous and I probably wouldn't let my own kid do that, but I'm still glad he let me do it. 

Other than that, use your imagination. There isn't really any way to get that feeling for real. Check out close up videos of birds in flight to get an idea of how the body mechanics work and imagine yourself doing the same. 

Some flight sim games might be helpful. The best one I know of is on its last legs, but I saw my niece play it a few months ago, so I guess it still exists. AION has the best flight mechanic I've seen in any game. Once you get past level ten you can jump off of any high point and glide. They even have invisible wind currents that make you go higher or lower. You have to get the hang of managing those effectively so you don't fall and hurt yourself. 

But really the best way to know if you've had a flying kintype, and I mean one that actually enjoyed flying instead of just using it occasionally to escape predators, is to look up into the sky on a day when the wind is just right and feeling that it's just not fair that you can't go up there. 

 

[Amber]

I've also got both wings and arms / legs. Just did another awesome meditation session with flight practice, I can really recommend to try this. For an advanced experience, you can visualize some scenery to fly through, e.g. a mountain valley. Or play with some jet fighters, haha. Maybe one of the greatest experiences is to fly together with an in-meditation partner. There are plenty of dragons in my mindscape, so it's no big problem to find one... Duet flying feels like a dance through the sky to me.

There are only two experiences in real life that remotely compare to this:

1) Swimming underwater, however the movements you can do are less dynamic. I also love gliding underwater without making much movements at all. That gives you a glimpse of an impression about how gliding through the air feels like, however the wind-under-wing feeling can't be recreated.
2) Rollercoaster riding. I don't do this a lot, but love it. This might apply more to a flying predator. It gives you an impression about how a fast flight with sharp direction changes or swooping feels like. This is a very euphoric feeling to me.

 

[Kerguelen]

This is part of why I like to go out on windy days, or hell even stand in front of a fan. In my case, I get strong phantom shifts of wings, and like to hold them out facing the wind.

What @Shezep said applies too. Looking up at the sky and thinking "damn why can't I be up there? I should be flying." You feel heavy and like your wings have been cut off when looking at the sky. I get similar feelings around deep water. I know I can dive and such, but it's not as easy as just jumping in and gliding underwater. Like it should be. No, now it's clunky and I can't hardly do it for more than a couple minutes.

 

[Amber]

to look up into the sky on a day when the wind is just right and feeling that it's just not fair that you can't go up there

I don't even care about the wind. Just standing on top of a hill on a day with a bright, clear sky makes me feel sad these days. I imagine Dragons flying all around, and I'm one of them.

 

[Timbrilsom]

It's not quite what you're talking about, but have you ever tried using a wing-suit?  I think's that's about the closest that humans could ever get to flying like birds.

Granted it's not perfect.  It's technically gliding rather than flying so you'd have to start off by going somewhere really high up such as climbing a mountain or jumping out of a jet.

Also, it requires you to maintain a really weird X position to stay in the air, and you'd also have to wear a parachute for obvious reasons.

I'm not sure how much of a detractor any of that might be.

 

[BlackStatic]

I find that standing in front of an air conditioner or fan on high tends to do the job, especially if I'm holding something light like a large loose scarf, shawl or towel with my arms outstretched. It's not quite the same, and my arms do get tired over time, but it does feel like a kind of tugging at the wings. It's best when standing out in nature in a windy area of course, but not everyone can get that unfortunately. 

The other thing I do is a lot of swimming. If I can find a river or somewhere with a strong (but safe) current, I'll hold onto something like a rock or rope tied to a branch with one hand and spread out my other arm against the flow of the water. It's unfortunately only like having wind under one wing at a time, but there is the bonus of having your feet off the ground and floating as if you're in flight.

Or hey, if you're a bit of a thrillseeker there's always zip-lining (did I spell that right)? Or just using a swing if you're not quite that brave.

Also, I find that putting on headphones with some background wind noise (a noise generator or something of the sort) and full-screening go-pro videos flying over landscapes can be really helpful, especially if combined with the fan in my face. And theoretically, if you wanted to dish out some extra money, I imagine you could also use some kind of VR helmet/oculus rift to really help with the immersion and trick your brain into imagining flight.

 

[Kaleena]

I really am questioning some sort of flying kintype right now. I feel that the best way to do this would be to feel some wind under my wings and see if it feels right. Any tips on how to do this? 

As a dragonkin, I’ve found something I always love to simulate the feeling of the wind beneath my wings is riding my bike down the big hill a few minutes away from my house. Going full speed down that hill, the wind on my face and the sun beating down on me, is a feeling I’ll never ever grow tired of and it always seems to lift my spirits. 

 

[InkyDaily]

I personally enjoy using a swingset at playgrounds for this, its fun AND good exorcize. 

 

[Kanika_nightwolf]

As silly as it sounds, running around with a blanket under wrapped around you and held open like wings might feel similar, especially if you jump off something like your couch while you do it. Other than that, holding your arms up on a rollercoaster feels a lot like how I imagine flying would if you're ok with rides. I'd also reccomend, like others on here have said, meditation, imagination, and maybe some flight simulator games.

 

[Effervescent-Daydream]

I second @Kanika_nightwolf 's rollercoaster suggestion! Also, maybe try swings. ^-^