In Hollywood, Breast Cancer Takes Flight

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., Oct. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- From its colorfully-illuminated wind tunnel to pink flight shirts and pink decor, iFly Hollywood (www.iflyhollywood.com), the world's premiere "flying experience," where people actually fly through the air—no strings attached, is pink all over for the benefit of October's "Breast Cancer Awareness Month."

A portion of the proceeds from every flight during the month of October will go to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, the country's premiere charity for the past 30 years benefitting breast cancer research and education.

iFly is inviting Hollywood stars and personalities to come and fly for charity throughout the month and plans to announce a celebrity ambassador for the event.  

Recent stars testing the iFly Hollywood skies include Oscar® winning actor Robert Downey, Jr.

Over 40,000 American every year die from breast cancer and 190,000 new cases are annually diagnosed.

While the breast cancer cause over three decades has featured many novel fund raising ideas, the iFly tie-in ranks among one of its most unusual efforts.

"Despite skydiving's macho image, our indoor vertical wind tunnel experience is a family affair, attracting a number of women fliers, so supporting the Susan G. Komen is a great fit for our customers," says Brianna Cook, Director of Marketing.

The U.S. Military began building vertical wind tunnels for freefall training in 1964.

In 1982, the first tunnels for the general public opened. While these tunnels were great fun, they only approximated true freefall, and were difficult to master. In the years to follow, tunnel flyers began advancing their skills quickly. These "tunnel rats," as they are affectionately called, began to dominate skydiving competitions. It became clear that tunnels were the ultimate training method, and the quest to design one that would more accurately simulate freefall was born. In 1998, the call was answered when the world's most advanced vertical wind tunnel was opened on which the 5 year-old iFly Hollywood experience is based.

ABOUT iFLY:

iFLY Hollywood is manufactured by SkyVenture who is the world's largest and most advanced manufacturer of vertical wind tunnels. Twenty three wind tunnels currently operate in nine countries around the world. iFLY Hollywood was especially designed to make a major impact on Universal City Walk and expose the masses to indoor skydiving.

SOURCE iFLY