Aerodium Sigulda is a company based in

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, which owns and runs the first

vertical wind tunnel A vertical wind tunnel (VWT) is a wind tunnel that moves air up in a vertical column. Unlike standard wind tunnels, which have test sections that are oriented horizontally, as experienced in level flight, a vertical orientation enables gravit ...

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, wh ...

. The wind tunnel is located near

Sigulda Sigulda (; german: Segewold, pl, Zygwold, russian: Сигулда) is a town in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, from the capital city Riga. Overview Sigulda is on a picturesque stretch of the Primeval forest, primeval Gauja river valley. Because o ...

, the most visited tourist area in Latvia. It is affiliated with Aerodium Technologies, a designer and producer of vertical wind tunnels. While being open to the public, it also serves as a testing base for new technologies and a training place for instructors.

History

In 2003 the Latvian entrepreneur Ivars Beitāns decided to elaborate on the

wind tunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...

concept and by summer 2005 the first wind tunnel was opened in Sigulda. It was an open wall-less tunnel installed outdoors reaching a wind speed of 200 km/h with a diameter of 3.7 meters. In the "Sigulda county's man of the year 2005" competition, Beitāns was awarded in the category "For contribution to development of Sigulda county" and Aerodium won an award in the nomination "For the investment in county's community life". More importantly, having a wind tunnel allowed Ivars Beitāns and his friends to train for the Torino 2006 Olympic games, where Aerodium surprised the world with a flying

snowboard Snowboards are boards where the user places both feet, usually secured, to the same board. The board itself is wider than most skis, with the ability to glide on snow."snowboarding." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 17 Ma ...

er performance in an open tunnel at the closing ceremony. For this purpose, Sigulda's wind tunnel had to be sent over to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in February 2006. On May 3, 2017, a new generation open wind tunnel replaced the already outdated first model. It features air velocity of 215 km/h and a 2.8 meters flying zone. Major improvements were made towards ensuring safety by expanding the safety net and adding very safe, custom-built safety cushions. Aerodium also managed to significantly lower the noise emissions, which allows this technology to be operated in

urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, ...

References

External links

* {{Official website Companies of Latvia Tourist attractions in Latvia Sigulda Wind tunnels