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    I Asked A Professor If It's Possible To Fly On A Broom And He Was Totally Unimpressed

    We've all thought it.

    My name is Hikaru, and I want to fly on a broom.

    Like many people, growing up I watched Harry Potter and Kiki's Delivery service, and dreamt of actually flying on a broom.

    So I decided to ask a university professor whether it was really possible to fly on a broom. This is Professor Shinichiro Ito, from the Mechanical Engineering Department of Kogakuin University.

    "Hello," I said. "I would like to fly in the sky on a broom." "That's impossible," he said.

    Well that was quick. So why exactly is it was impossible. I asked him to explain

    To start, he said making a broom float *is* possible.

    So if you fasten a broom in a car with a string and pull it, it floats. Kind of.

    So then wouldn't a person riding a broom kind of be possible?

    "For a person to ride and fly with it, the shape and area of the wings are very important," he said. "Let’s look at a parachute”

    "The area of the wing is wide, right? The angle is also calculated in a way that it captures the wind better."

    "In contrast, the rear part of a broom, its wing portion, has a small area, and cannot hold wind" he said. "With this, it's impossible for a person to ride it and float."

    Okay, well since we're here, lets pretend the broom could fly, how would it work?

    "If you were to ride it, the balance would be very important. First, unless you ride in the rear part, you would definitely flip down."

    "More or less here," he said, using a doll version of myself I quickly put together.

    "Even if you get the balance right, if you flew at a speed at which a broom and a person can float, there would be an air resistance of about 750kg," he said. "Only if you had a grip strong enough to stand it, but that's impossible so, you would fall like this."

    "It would be like holding on in a roller coaster with your hands."

    So flying on a broom = impossible. But there must be a way to experience something close to flying on a broom?

    "In that case," he said. "I think wingsuits are the closest thing"

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    You would glide, but since wings are factored in, yes you can fly," he said. "Just drop from a high place. In you movies, they fly at about this height and speed, so I think the sensation is quite similar"

    I suddenly lost my will to fly.

    "Good. I’m sorry for spoiling your dream," he said. "But I hope you have fun flying in a dream, at least!”