iFLY, You Fly, Could We All Fly?

3396

Proposed Attraction for BCS Development

By Doug Dalager

If you’ve been following the discussion surrounding the Better City Superior initiative, you may have heard talk about building an indoor water park of the caliber only seen in Wisconsin Dells. There is also a proposed indoor field house intended to host tournament soccer and lacrosse games. Even a new movie theater to replace what we lost when the movie house in the Mariner Mall closed last year.

What you may not know about is the proposal to build an iFLY facility somewhere within the new development. When I first heard of this indoor parachute experience, I envisioned some kind of tower you’d leap off of with a tether tied to your back. Well, I was very much mistaken in my theory of what this entailed. Take a look below:

This would truly be an experience that would attract people to Superior. I’ve learned that the closest venue of this nature is in Chicago. Yup, Chicago…not Minneapolis, not Milwaukee…Chicago! 

As you can see this looks like it would be lots of fun. I can envision people traveling over the High Bridge and Bong Bridge from the cozy confines of Canal Park in search of this new and exciting experience.

For more on this experience, we share with you the following from the iFLY website:

iFLY is where you experience the thrill of freefall without jumping from an airplane. When you arrive, you begin by checking in for your flight. Next, you head up to the flight deck where you can watch other groups fly before it’s your turn.

When it’s time to begin your training, your instructor greets you and brings you to the classroom. The classes can have up to twelve flyers in each one. Then, for about ten minutes, your instructor will teach you about the basics of indoor skydiving and expain how they’ll communicate with to you with hand signals in the flight chamber.

iFLY provides all your skydiving equipment minus the parachute. The flyers then take turns in the wind tunnel flying on the wall to wall column of air one at a time with the instructor’s assistance. Here you get a close up view of everyone’s flight and a chance to hone your skills as you learn from others.

The instructors are highly trained and always stay close by while you learn to fly like a skydiver. The thrill of flying your body in high speed wind is an unforgettable sensation. At the end of the session, your instructor will put on an aerial performance. Then, all flyers receive a certificate commemorating their first flight.

iFLY takes videos and photos of your flight that are available for purchase to capture the moment forever as well as iFLY shirts and other cool merchandise to remember your flight. iFLY offers discounted flight time to return flyers as well as the opportunity to progress into maneuvering, flying with your friends, advanced maneuvers, and even competition.

Here are some more videos demonstrating the iFLY experience from the perspective of those who have actually taken the IFLY dive!

There a few rules however before they will let you fly:

  • Flyers must be over 3 years of age.
  • Participants must weigh less than 300 pounds.
  • Participants who weigh between 260 and 300 pounds must bring this to the attention of an iFLY representative as additional restrictions and instructor scheduling limitations may apply.
  • Women who are pregnant should not fly.
  • Folks with recent shoulder dislocations, back, neck and heart problems should check with a doctor before flying.




Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in Community, Development
Holiday Lighting Contest Winners

Annual Event by Chamber of Commerce The Superior/Douglas County Chamber of Commerce has awarded the prizes to winning houses and...

Parenting Classes Begin Next Month

Family Resource Center to Host By Kasie Smith The Family Resource Center is offering a FREE new series on parenting....

Close