Aerodium
| Aerodium
|
|
|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | 1979 |
| Seat | Riga , Latvia |
| management | Ingus Augstkalns Uldis Baumanis Ivars Beitāns Irita Kukoja |
| Number of employees | 73 |
| Website | www.aerodium.technology |
Aerodium is a designer and manufacturer of vertical wind tunnels based in Riga , Latvia . The core business is the sale and rental of wind tunnels for the entertainment and military industries, but Aerodium also operates various locations under franchise agreements. A second is associated with organizing shows and demonstrations for brand promotion , festivals and other celebrations around the world.
history
In 1979, the Canadian inventor Jean Saint-Germain came up with the idea of building the first vertical wind tunnel for body flying . After accumulating investments of $ 450,000, he opened the first commercial wind tunnel in Saint-Simon-de-Bagot, 70 km east of Montreal . Saint-Germain, a former army parachutist , owned two parachute schools when he hit upon the idea that an Aerodium would help his students practice free fall more efficiently. 1982 Jean Saint-Germain sold the concept of vertical wind tunnels at Les Thompson and Marvin Kratter making their own wind tunnel in Pigeon Forge ( Tennessee ) and Las Vegas ( Nevada built). Soon after, Saint-Germain sold the franchise rights to Kratter for $ 1.5 million. Originally known as "Aérodium", it was registered by Jean Saint-Germain in the USA in 1984 and 1994 as the "Levitationarium" under Patents Nos. 4,457,509 and 5,318,481, respectively.
After meeting François Saint-Germain (son of Jean Saint-Germain), the Latvian entrepreneur Ivars Beitāns decided in 2003 to further develop the concept of the Aerodium wind tunnel. In the summer of 2005, the first vertical wind tunnel in Eastern Europe was opened in the Latvian city of Sigulda . Step by step, the company improved the technical solutions and began to manufacture commercial wind tunnels in Latvia under the name Aerodium Technologies.
Shows, performances and milestones
Aerodium specializes in open wind tunnels and over the years has become the leader in various body flying shows and performances around the world.
A milestone in the history of the vertical wind tunnel was the “wind machine” at the closing ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin , which was custom-made by Aerodium. Most viewers in the world had never seen a vertical wind tunnel and were fascinated by the flying people without cables. The show revolved around a flying snowboarder (performed by Ivars Beitāns himself) and other visual effects never seen before.
A vertical wind tunnel performance on the Red Square in Moscow in 2009 during the presentation of the logo of the 2014 Winter Olympics from Sochi shown.
In 2010 , a vertical wind tunnel was exhibited in the Latvian pavilion at Expo 2010 in Shanghai , China . Aerodium was the general contractor of the pavilion and air shows were presented to visitors every 30 minutes for 6 months. It attracted a large crowd and some VIPs were even allowed to train and fly in the tunnel. The tunnel was the world's first completely transparent wind tunnel with a ring-shaped air flow, which enabled the audience to view the performances from all sides.
A new wind tunnel application was introduced in 2013 when Aerodium built the world's first tunnel suitable for indoor base jumping at the “Sirius Sport Resort” in Finland . Compared to other models, skydivers could not only enter the wind tunnel from the ground, but could also jump into it from a height of 15 meters and thus simulate a jump from a building.
In 2016 Aerodium presented the “Flying Dream” project, a unique wind tunnel amphitheater. It is located in Dengfeng , next to Song Mountain , near the famous Shaolin Monastery in China. The wind tunnel is part of a flight and monk kung fu show.
That same year, Shanghai Disneyland Park , the first in mainland China, opened in Pudong , China. Aerodium was invited to design a unique permanent, wall-free wind tunnel for the live action show Pirates of the Caribbean "Eye of the Storm: Captain Jack's Stunt Spectacle". As of 2019, it is the only wall-less wind tunnel with a ring-shaped air duct in the world.
Film projects
Aerodium's outdoor wind tunnels have also caught the interest of the film industry. During Expo 2010, Jackie Chan tried to fly in a vertical tunnel in the Latvian pavilion. Two years later, in 2012, he spent three weeks training and filming in Latvia for an aerial combat scene for the film Armor of God - Chinese Zodiac .
In 2017, Aerodium built the world's largest vertical wind tunnel with a size of 3.5 m × 6.5 m, which is four times the size of a typical wind tunnel. It was named Peryton and was used by Tom Cruise during training for the sixth episode of Mission: Impossible , entitled Mission: Impossible - Fallout . To shoot one of the movie's opening scenes, Tom Cruise had to perform over 100 HALO jumps . Neil Corbould , Special Effects Supervisor , said, "It was quite a lot, but if he hadn't had the time in the wind tunnel it would have been 250."
Individual evidence
- ↑ It's a Bird! It's a plane! No, It's Man Who Takes Flight in Jean St. Germain's Aerodium
- ^ A Complete History of the Vertical Wind Tunnel
- ↑ Patent US4457509 : Levitationarium for air flotation of humans. Applied on May 24, 1982 , published July 3, 1984 , Applicant: Airflite, Inc., Inventor: Jean St-Germain.
- ↑ Patent US5318481 : Levitating apparatus. Applied on July 23, 1993 , published June 7, 1994 , applicant: Aerodium International Ltée, inventor: Jean St-Germain.
- ↑ Ivars Beitāns: Man tauriņi vēderā ir joprojām
- ↑ Olympic Wind Machine 2006 Closing Ceremonies . In: Bodyflight Network Vertical Wind Tunnels . Archived from the original on August 25, 2006. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
- ↑ WINTER OLYMPICS TURIN 2006 / ON TO BEIJING
- ↑ Aerodium Technologies page "Torino Olympics closing ceremony"
- ^ Wind Tunnel at the Red Square in LiveJournal
- ↑ Aerodium Technologies page "World Expo"
- ↑ Aerodium Technologies page "About us"
- ↑ Aerodium Technologies page "Flying Dream"
- ↑ Shanghai Disney Opens With a Distinctly Chinese Focus Amid Stiff Competition . In: Variety , June 14, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
- ↑ Shanghai Disneyland Features Indoor Skydiving Performance
- ↑ The Chan film shot in the "Aerodium" tunnel has its premiere (Latvian)
- ^ How Mission Impossible: Fallout led to the biggest wind tunnel in the world