A new indoor skydiving facility in Colorado Springs will provide fun for the public and a training space for cadets in the U.S. Air Force Academy. iFLY Colorado Springs will feature the United States’ tallest glass wind tunnel at 35-feet high.
The three owners, Michael “Omar” Bradley, Karl “Korky” von Kessel, and Joel Maynard, are all 1979 graduates of the U.S. Air Force Academy. Catherine Moore, Sales and Marketing Manager at iFLY Colorado Springs told What Now Denver that it has been a dream for them to open a tunnel. “Three best friends got together and said, ‘Hey, let’s build this right outside our alma mater.’ So, we’re pretty excited about it,” Moore said.
All of the cadets who go through the Academy are required to learn how to jump out of an airplane. “They first learn that in a tunnel. So right now, they are bussing up to Denver almost every day to do their training, but now we will be their home tunnel. We’ll also be the home tunnel for Wings of Blue, which is the Academy jump team,” Moore explained.
The Academy will train in the early mornings, but the public is also invited to join in the fun by flying in one of the tunnels. Walk-ins are available, or the public can make an appointment or book a group event or party. iFLY will have a full bar, a menu of snack foods, and a back deck.
iFly also offers a STEM program, so schools can have field trips a discounted rate. “We do a whole STEM lesson with them. We do an experiment with them, and then they become an experiment, and each student gets to fly in the tunnel.”
Moore said they hope to open sometime in March at 281 Kaycee Case Place, Colorado Springs, CO 80921.
