November 28,2011 –

iFly Singapore, the world’s largest indoor skydiving wind tunnel on Monday revealed that more than 28,000 people have experienced the thrill of flying at its Sentosa facility and revenues have hit S$5 million since it opened in May this year.

“I founded iFly Singapore because I wanted to bring the thrill of flight to everyone. So it is truly gratifying to see flyers come out of the wind tunnel beaming and wanting to go for another round,” said Founder and Managing Director of iFly Singapore Lawrence Koh.

The youngest flyer the 56.5ft by 16.5 ft wind tunnel has seen was seven years old and the oldest was over 80 years old. iFly has also hosted serveral famous flyers and visitors including seven time F1 world champion, Michael Schumacher, the Red Bull Toro Rosso F1 team, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, Returning Officer of the 2011 General Elections and CEO of the People’s Association Mr Yam Ah Mee, and former Singapore Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo.

Link to article.

November 8, 2011 –

On the drive home from the Seattle-Tacoma airport (SEA) after my latest trip to speak at various innovation events, I noticed a large building by the side of the freeway advertising Indoor Sky Diving. The sign peaked my curiosity to investigate what indoor sky diving could possibly mean and so I set up a visit with iFly Seattle co-founder Lysa Adams.

My visit surfaced three key innovation-related concepts I would like to discuss:

Challenging Orthodoxies
Changing Perspectives
Tunnel Vision

1. Challenging Orthodoxies

Rowan and I talk a lot here on Innovation Excellence about how challenging orthodoxies is one way to identify insights to drive innovation efforts, and it made me wonder:

Have they successfully challenged the skydiving orthodoxies that you need the following to experience the thrill of skydiving or ‘flying’?

To jump out of an airplane
To carry and deploy a parachute
To learn several parachuting skills before progressing to sky diving

What if you could experience experience sky diving without the parachute and the airplane and the training?

Well, after my visit it was clear that iFLY and SkyVenture have successfully challenged these orthodoxies with the indoor flying centers they’ve built here in Seattle and 22 other locations around the world including Hollywood, Dubai, and Singapore.

The facility itself seemed to be well-designed, recycling the air through two fan-driven intersecting circles of air that are accelerated from about 30mph through the basement up to 100-160 mph through the chamber up and back around again. Integrated into the space around the necessary apparatus are meeting rooms for corporate team-building events and party rooms for private functions. Organizations as diverse as Microsoft, Boeing, and the military have used the facility. It’s a pretty a cool facility and it was even a fair amount of fun just to watch others fly from the integrated viewing area.

So what is indoor skydiving and how can you experience the thrill of skydiving and ‘flying’ without the plane or the parachute? Well here is a video that shows an amateur learning the basic skills in their first session:

In a vertical wind tunnel people are able to fly in any of the four different skydiving positions – stomach, back, sitting, and head down (after mastering the previous one) – supported by wind speeds typically of 100 miles per hour or higher (an indoor hurricane). The vertical wind tunnel at iFly Seattle is state of the art, allowing wind speeds of up to 160 miles per hour.

I had the opportunity to learn how to fly and try it out for a couple of minutes, and I looked pretty much like the novices in the video above. I was flying successfully by my second minute, floating up beyond the reach of the instructor temporarily, and never felt any of the fear I might have felt if I had done my ‘flying’ by jumping out of an airplane. It was an amazing experience, and I could see how it could be very addictive.

So other than challenging orthodoxies, what does any of this have to do with innovation?

2. Changing Perspectives

Innovation often comes from looking at things from a different perspective, or from observing something potentially valuable to your target customers in another context that you can adapt and bring to them as a new solution offering.

This change in perspective can come from using creativity tools like Edward de Bono’s ‘Six Thinking Hats’ or other tools like mind mapping, brainstorming, brainwriting, SCAMPER, SIT, or from building and tapping into a Gobal Sensing Network.

Or it can come from physically changing your orientation. In the case of sky diving, sometimes sky diving teams have to get down on their bellies on wheelie boards on the concrete to show each other the tricks they plan to do in the air or in the vertical wind tunnel. It’s hard for the brain to imagine in a vertical orientation what is going to take place in a horizontal orientation, and this simple physical shift makes all the difference. If it doesn’t come natural to our brains to imagine the horizontal from the vertical, imagine the trouble our brains have imagining different business contexts without being immersed in them. We often have to go see the other context for ourselves as a result, but a Global Sensing Network can help avoid this need to some extent. But this requirement to see things for ourselves highlights something very important. Because changing perspectives presents a challenge for our human brains, it presents an opportunity for us to work to achieve competitive separation.

Imagine the competitive advantage your organization could build over the other organizations in your context if you could build up your perception shifting muscles to recognize the relevant challenges and opportunities in other geographies and contexts faster than the competition?

3. Tunnel Vision

Do you remember what is like the first time you learned to drive a car? Do you remember how much you had to focus on every little detail from how hard you were pushing the accelerator to how fast you were moving the steering wheel left or right? But how much attention do you pay to these things now?

It came to me as I was staring at the vertical wind tunnel and talking with Lysa Adams about the challenges that beginners have when they learn to jump out of a plane and deploy a parachute, that when it comes to the human brain we have tunnel vision while learning a new skill. This tunnel vision, caused by our lack of experience, causes us to focus on a very small subset of parameters in the environment and makes it impossible for us to notice a lot of the other things going on around us or to focus our attention more broadly.

When it comes to innovation, most organizations suffer from innovation tunnel vision because as they look to involve more employees in their innovation efforts, they don’t give their employees the opportunity to learn and practice new innovation skills. Instead in many organizations we expect employees to just be innovative.

When it comes to creativity skills that tap into our right brain capacity, it is important to remember that as we master right brain skills they move to the left brain. And, when your left brain is occupied, then the right brain can go into a more creative mode. This is why you have many of your most creative ideas in the shower, or while you are driving, etc.

When the left brain is occupied it is less likely to intervene and criticize the ideas your right brain comes up with while they are embryonic and partially formed and kill them before you develop them further. When the left brain is not jumping in and trying to determine whether the ideas are logical or not, the right brain can focus on pure creativity.

This is why it is so important to create things like a common language of innovation, a shared innovation vision/strategy/goals, and to have a structured innovation process. If these things are all very clearly understood across the organization, then your innovation tunnel vision opens up a bit wider to allow you to identify more relevant insights and come up with better ideas. But you can’t stop there. If you want to engage all employees in innovation in your organization (or even a subset), and you want to open up the innovation tunnel vision in your organization even wider, then you must provide innovation training to every employee in the organization (or your chosen subset).

The faster you can get your employees to a level of comfort with your innovation language, vision/strategy/goals, process, and tools, the sooner they will be driving innovation with their knees, eating a Big Mac, and changing your innovation soundtrack – all with the windows down letting in new stimulus and fresh air into your innovation efforts.

Every organization has innovation tunnel vision, the question is how wide or narrow your field of vision is and how much you’re doing to pry the blinders farther apart.

Conclusion

We all are innovative in our own way, which is why I created the Nine Innovation Roles.But at the same time, we all have a certain level of innovation capacity, and if we develop that capacity we can achieve much more. If you want to get better at innovation as an individual or as an organization, you must learn new skills and you must practice them. Otherwise you will be an innovation belly flier forever. Thanks to Darren (my instructor at iFly Seattle – who used to be involved with Cirque du Soleil) and to Lysa Adams I was able to fly for the first time, but if I want to progress to back flying or sit flying on the way to head down flying and doing tricks, I must practice – in the same way that you must practice innovation in your organization. To conclude, I’ll leave you with this video of one of the instructors showing off and some team flying:

If you ever get the chance to try out indoor skydiving or ‘flying’, I highly recommend it as an amazing, fun experience. The cost runs about $60 for some basic instruction and a couple of instructor monitored flights (without the whole parachute or jumping out of the plane part). Happy innovating (or flying)!

Link to article.

The indoor skydiving equipment was designed and built by SkyVenture International, LTD and is the company’s most ambitious installation to date. iFLY Singapore boasts a flight chamber 5 meters / 16.4 feet in diameter and 17.2 meters / 56.6 feet tall with four panoramic windows making up the entire circular flight chamber. At Mr. Koh’s request, SkyVenture added 3 meters / 9 feet of transparent acrylic panels above the flight chamber, allowing spectators to see flyers high in the tube and flyers to see famous Siloso beach less than 100 meters away. The attraction also employs SkyVenture’s patented, air-conditioning system, which works flawlessly even in Singapore’s extreme humidity.

iFLY Singapore is the most efficient wind tunnel operating anywhere in the world, requiring on average only 450 kilowatts. The flight chamber doors can be opened during flight to exchange groups without pausing. iFLY Singapore also features SkyVenture’s patented wall-to-wall airflow, completely eliminating the risk of “falling off” the air column. It is powered by four high-efficiency axial fans mounted in the upper leg of the tunnel, the optimum location for safety, efficiency and durability.

About iFLY Singapore

iFLY Singapore is the newest addition to the iFLY global franchise. It is highly themed as an entertainment attraction and represents the latest innovations in wind tunnel design, safety, efficiency and aesthetics.

iFLY Singapore faces the ocean with a clear view of the South China Sea. The facility houses a snack bar and three restaurants, including a McDonald’s™. iFLY Singapore is perfectly sited within the Sentosa integrated resort, near the Universal Studios™ Theme Park, a zipline adventure park, a surfing attraction, a flying trapeze park and a marine life park. It is accessible by car, train, tram and bus.

About SkyVenture

SkyVenture is the world’s largest and most advanced manufacturer of vertical wind tunnels. Twenty-three SkyVenture tunnels currently operate in nine countries around the world, under the brand names SkyVenture, iFLY, Airkix and Freezone. SkyVenture’s unique designs, innovative technologies and well-known brands are patented and trademarked in over 138 countries.

Over the last decade, SkyVenture has flown over 5 million people. The company has built or is building tunnels in the US, Canada, UK, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, Russia, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Italy, France and Brazil. SkyVenture tunnels currently operate in some of the hottest deserts (four in UAE, one in Spain, one in Arizona), in the coldest regions (Moscow, New Hampshire & Montreal), and at some of the highest elevations (2300 meters above sea level in Malaysia) in the world.

SkyVenture franchises the equipment in North America through iFLY Franchising, LLC. SkyVenture International sells equipment and licenses the technology throughout the rest of the world. SV Finance, BVBA, offers a variety of financing options for qualified buyers.

Contact:

SkyVenture: Trevor Thompson, 512.674.9200, Trevor@skyventure.com

iFLY Singapore: Jessica Tan, +65 6571 0008, Jessica@iflysingapore.com

Potential Franchisees: info@iFLYfranchising.com

Interested Investors: InvestorRelations@skyventure.com

Bill Adams, an avid skydiver and former green-beret, realized his dream of twenty years by opening the business this August. “I just knew that if you could make this safe people would love to do it. It’s skydiving without having to worry about jumping out of a plane and pulling a chute.”

Describing his equipment supplier, Adams says, “SkyVenture, in my opinion, is the only choice. There are other manufacturers available, but there is no safer or higher quality product than SkyVenture,” adding, “After visiting nearly every SkyVenture installation, I’ve concluded that this was the most fun due diligence I’ve ever done in my life.”

The tunnel has a 4.3-meter/14-foot diameter circular glass flight chamber with SkyVenture’s patented wall-to-wall airflow completely eliminating the risk of “falling off” the air column. It is powered by four high-efficiency axial fans mounted in the upper leg of the tunnel—the optimum location for safety, efficiency, and durability. An airlock allows the operator to exchange flyers without pausing operation. The tunnel is also outfitted with an automated, state-of-the-art photo and video recording system letting customers take their flight experience home when they leave.

“There is a pent-up demand for indoor adventure in this area,” Adams concludes. “We have a young demographic of energetic people looking for fun and exciting things to do with their families. Combined with our notoriously bad weather, it’s like a perfect storm for a vertical wind tunnel.”

About SkyVenture

SkyVenture is the world’s largest and most advanced manufacturer of vertical wind tunnels. Twenty-three SkyVenture tunnels currently operate in nine countries around the world, under the brand names SkyVenture, iFLY, Airkix and Freezone. SkyVenture’s unique designs and innovative technologies are patented in over 138 countries.

SkyVenture franchises equipment in North America through iFLY Franchising, LLC. SkyVenture International sells equipment and licenses the technology throughout the rest of the world. SV Finance, BVBA, offers a variety of financing options for qualified buyers.

About iFLY Seattle

iFLY Seattle is the newest addition to the iFLY indoor skydiving franchise. It is a partnership between Chester Schwartz, Bill Adams and SkyGroup Investments, LLC.

Contact:

iFLY Seattle: Bill Adams, (360) 620-3369, Bill@iflyseattle.com

SkyVenture: Trevor Thompson, 512.674.9200, Trevor@skyventure.com

Potential Franchisees: info@iFLYfranchising.com

Interested Investors: InvestorRelations@skyventure.com

iFLY Dubai boasts two 3-meter/10-foot diameter wind tunnels capable of reaching speeds of 285 kmph/177 mph. The flight chambers are each monolithic, 10-meter/32.8-feet tall single pieces of acrylic with no metal or framing to block the spectators’ view. They are mounted so that they can be seen from the open atrium of the shopping mall.

All the equipment for the tunnel was designed and built by SkyVenture International, LTD, the world’s largest and most advanced manufacturer of vertical wind tunnels. The iFLY Dubai tunnels are the third and fourth SkyVenture tunnels in the UAE and they are outfitted with the same hyper-efficient, patented air-conditioning system, which works flawlessly in some of the most demanding environments in the world. The tunnels also feature SkyVenture’s patented wall-to-wall airflow and multiple, high-efficiency axial fans mounted in the upper leg of the tunnel – the optimum location for safety, efficiency and equipment life.

About SkyVenture

SkyVenture is the world’s largest and most advanced manufacturer of vertical wind tunnels. 23 SkyVenture tunnels currently operate in nine countries around the world, under the brand names SkyVenture, iFLY, Airkix and Freezone. SkyVenture’s unique designs, innovative technologies and well-known brands are patented and trademarked in over 138 countries around the world.

While flying over 5,000,000 people during more than 325,000 hours of operation, SkyVenture has developed a free fall simulator with low operating costs and a near-zero maintenance requirement. SkyVenture tunnels currently operate in some of the hottest deserts (four in UAE, one in Spain, one in Arizona), in the coldest regions (Moscow, New Hampshire & Montreal), and at some of the highest elevations (2300 meters above sea level in Malaysia) in the world. SkyVenture has the staff, systems, documentation and experience necessary to complete and support simultaneous projects in any language, in any country, anywhere on the globe. They have built or are building tunnels in the US, Canada, UK, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, Russia, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Italy, France, Norway and Brazil.

SkyVenture franchises the equipment in North America through iFLY Franchising, LLC. SkyVenture International sells equipment and licenses the technology throughout the rest of the world. SV Finance, BVBA, offers a variety of financing options for qualified buyers.

About iFLY Dubai

iFLY Dubai is the newest vertical wind tunnel installation in the UAE, sited in the Mirdif City Centre Mall in Dubai. It is part of the Playnation brand, owned and operated by Majid Al Futtaim Leisure. Playnation is the first fully-featured leisure brand in the Middle East, and is setting new benchmarks regionally for indoor entertainment.

Contact:

iFLY Dubai: Thomas.gateff@maf.ae

SkyVenture: Trevor Thompson, 512.674.9200, Trevor@skyventure.com

Potential Franchisees: info@iFLYfranchising.com

Interested Investors: InvestorRelations@skyventure.com

SVNH completed the training of their initial staff, graduating six Instructor Level I instructors and six Airflow Controllers. The training program was led by Michael Biederman and was assisted by Carlos Euribe and Rusty Lewis of the International Bodyflight Association (IBA).

Rob Greer and Laurie Wass, the owners of SkyVenture New Hampshire, also received their airflow controller ratings.

This course was the first during which the IBA integrated training of airflow controllers as part of the program. In the past, additional controllers were trained and certified on an as needed basis. Having additional controllers allows a facility to leverage their staff, by allowing the instructors to spend more time with clients in the tunnel, while controllers can specialize in driving.

Also attending the course were Kris Reynolds and Ray Kubiak, who were working to complete their Trainer Level IV certification. They shadowed the SVNH course and received certification as course conductors. Ray is already working as an assistant conductor for an FITP at SkyVenture Arizona.

Contact:

SkyVenture: Trevor Thompson, 512.674.9200, Trevor@skyventure.com

Potential Franchisees: info@iFLYfranchising.com

Interested Investors: InvestorRelations@skyventure.com

Montréal businessman Alain Guerin recently purchased SkyVenture’s first 14R1400 model, a 14-foot diameter, 1400hp recirculing tunnel.

This project is one of many firsts. It’s the first SkyVenture in Canada. It’s the first 14-foot recirculating tunnel. It’s the first 1400hp tunnel. It’s the first 14R with a new generation cylindrical flight chamber, as opposed to its octagonal predecessors. With the latest and greatest technology and four 350hp fans, the 14R1400 model will be the most energy efficient vertical wind tunnel ever built.

The $6 million USD project is planned to break ground in the fall, followed by below-ground installation of the 100-foot-long plenum foundation. SkyVenture will deliver the major structural components early in 2008. The tunnel’s 70-foot-tall frame will be installed in the following months, with the grand-opening planned for April of 2008.

Alain Guerin, the 56-year-old principal owner, is a Chartered Accountant and former professor at the University of Québec in Montréal and currently owns and operates several businesses, including his own accounting firm. As a licensed skydiver, Alain does not fit the typical accountant image. At the beginning of his skydiving career, Alain like so many other aspiring skydivers had difficulty progressing through his certification program.

“I needed a way to hone my skills in a safe, stress-free environment, and every answer I found pointed to SkyVenture,” says Guerin.

SkyVenture’s patented design creates simulation almost indistinguishable from actual free fall, making it the choice for skydivers of all skill levels and disciplines. Operators love them because the wall-to-wall airflow virtually eliminates the danger of falling off the column of air – a problem prevalent in primitive wind tunnel designs.

Alain is partnered in this venture with fellow Chartered Accountant Pierre Beaudoin. Together, with the support of private shareholders they originally considered seven sites for their tunnel, all in greater Montréal. They have recently narrowed the seven locations down to three and are moving forward with negotiations.

“This tunnel is sure to be successful when located in a city as vibrant and active as Montréal,” says SkyVenture VP Trevor Thompson.

SkyVenture Montréal will be built in a shopping venue near movie theatres, restaurants, and other family entertainment, and not far from downtown Montréal, the second largest city in Canada.

“Our mission is to provide the Québec market with the most advanced, efficient, safe, reliable, powerful and realistic skydiving simulator in the world,” says Guerin. “More specifically, to become the most sought-after, fun, exhilarating experience for the local population, the tourism industry, corporate-groups and skydiving enthusiasts.”

About SkyVenture, LLC:

SkyVenture is the world’s largest and most experienced designer and builder of vertical wind tunnels. It has sold twenty-five VWTs in nine different countries across the globe. SkyVenture’s wall-to-wall airflow, multiple overhead fans and other unique technologies provide the safest and most accurate freefall simulation possible. These technologies are protected by multiple patents in 32 countries worldwide.

Contact:

SkyVenture: Trevor Thompson, 512.674.9200, Trevor@skyventure.com

Potential Franchisees: info@iFLYfranchising.com

Interested Investors: InvestorRelations@skyventure.com

The facility is getting rave reviews from other tunnel owners, trainers, staff, customers and the press. The tunnel is so quiet, customers say they can’t tell if the tunnel is operating or not when standing outside of the building.

People with tunnel experience were also impressed with how comfortable the flight chamber was during cold weather conditions. With temperatures in the upper 20’s and heavy snow falling, tunnel flyers were enjoying themselves with no gloves and just t-shirts on under their jumpsuits.

Norm Rosendale and SkyVenture Colorado also invited the International BodyFlight Association (IBA) to return for additional training of their staff after their first month of operation. Joe Winters and Rusty Lewis of the IBA completed training of the staff so that they could handle the needs of virtually all of their customers.

Trevor Thompson of SkyVenture Management, LLC, has made several extended visits to assist with behind-the-scenes improvements to the customer experience. He passed on the tricks of the trade that he has learned from his six years of tunnel operations.

Jamie Lindsey, former staffer to the President and Mrs. Clinton, was also brought in to help with a promotional kick-off during the facility’s opening weeks. His PR campaign resulted in stories in local papers and on websites, and segments on every local TV station.

Contact:

SkyVenture: Trevor Thompson, 512.674.9200, Trevor@skyventure.com

Potential Franchisees: info@iFLYfranchising.com

Interested Investors: InvestorRelations@skyventure.com

During a September 3-16 retrofit, the five 125-horsepower electric motors were replaced with 200 hp units, and the fixed-speed, variable-pitch fans replaced with a fixed-pitch, models mated to variable frequency drives. The result is both a faster and more quickly adjustable airspeed.

“We’re getting about 150 miles per hour now,” says SkyVenture CEO Alan Metni. “This makes for an even more realistic training environment, especially for the freeflyers, and we can now change speed in two or three seconds – compared with ten to fifteen seconds before.”

A redesigned flight chamber and staging area adds to the tunnel’s new efficiency.

“The flight chamber staging area now has two doors instead of one,” says Brannan Johnson, SkyVenture’s director of marketing and product development who also oversees tunnelcamp.com. “Before, when one group came out, the next group had to wait to go inside. Now, there’s an entrance door and an exit door, so that bottleneck is eliminated.”

Johnson says the motor and flight chamber changes, which will be standard on all future SkyVenture tunnels, will benefit both tunnel operators and users.

“It will increase the ticketed customer capacity from 24 per hour to 28 per hour,” Johnson says, “and jumpers buying time by the hour will get more usable time; they’ll be able to get in and out faster, and ask for and get windspeed changes much faster, so they’ll end up with more actual flight time per booked flight hour.”

Another major change is a complete rework of the flight chamber walls, designed to increase both customer and spectator pleasure.

“The solid walls and small windows have been almost completely replaced with 9-foot high acrylic panels,” says Johnson. “The whole thing is now open, so jumpers in training can watch their teammates more easily. In the Orlando tunnel, the other open sides make it easy for spectators inside the building to see the flight chamber; in the new tunnels, those sides will be visible to outside spectators and pass-by traffic.”

The final upgrade on the Orlando tunnel is a completely redesigned control room. Gone is the bulky, complicated analog panel, replaced by completely new software, two touch panels and a joystick.

“One panel is for general tunnel control,” says Johnson, “the other is for camera control during tunnel camps. The joystick is a one-axis unit for very simple control of tunnel wind speed.”

Metni say the Orlando upgrades raise SkyVenture’s offerings to another level.

“We’ve raised the bar again,” he says. “This ensures that SkyVenture will not only be the fastest but also the most efficient in the world.”

Contact:

SkyVenture: Trevor Thompson, 512.674.9200, Trevor@skyventure.com

Potential Franchisees: info@iFLYfranchising.com

Interested Investors: InvestorRelations@skyventure.com