The Skydiving Museum & Hall of Fame is pleased to announce it is collaborating with Skyventure iFly to co-locate the Skydiving Museum & Hall of Fame with a 16-foot iFly wind tunnel in North Orlando, Florida. The museum is currently working with a leading design firm to combine building space and functions and iFly is actively searching for a suitable piece of property as a venue for the combined facility. The co-venture is expected to open its doors in 2018.
The name on the building will be “Skydive Experience.” The museum will not be a traditional static museum… there will be displays featuring the evolution of gear over the years but even they will have an interactive component. Most displays will be interactive and many will immerse visitors in a dynamic skydiving experience through virtual reality simulators and other high-tech wizardry. The heroes of the sport, who have been inducted into the museum’s Hall of Fame, will be touted through a touch screen technology exhibit. Conceptually, the goal is to make the museum an entertaining and enjoyable experience as well as an informative one.
James F. (Curt) Curtis III, President/CEO of the Skydiving Museum & Hall of Fame Board of Trustees, made the announcement at the USPA Board of Director’s meeting and the PIA Symposium in Daytona Beach earlier this month. According to Curtis, “the perfect location for our museum is in North Orlando. We are in close proximity to DeLand, one of the finest skydiving centers in the country, and many other DZ’s are nearby. Orlando is one of the largest tourist destinations in the world which gives us an extensive age group of the public to share our sport.”
The museum also plans to open its doors to outside groups for educational experiences and after-hours receptions.
“It was the dream of Bill Ottley, a pioneer in the skydiving community, to build a museum dedicated to capturing and preserving the history of skydiving,” added Curtis. “In 2005, when Bill Ottley went to the blue skies forever, he left a sizable bequest to make the dream a reality. We are ecstatic to be able to make Bill’s dream into a grand reality.”
Updates on the museum's progress will be posted as they become available.