Slovenia to host Europe’s second inclined flight chamber for ski jumpers and adrenaline seekers
A Swedish company is building a special kind of wind tunnel, an inclined flight chamber, in Žirovnica in northwest Slovenia, in what will be only the second such facility in Europe. It is targeted primarily at ski jumpers, but wingsuit flyers and adrenaline junkies will be welcome as well, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.
Inclined Labs already operates an inclined flight chamber in Stockholm, and due to high demand it has decided to build another one in central Europe.
The company had been thinking about investing in Austria, Germany, Italy or Slovenia as markets where ski jumping is popular. It picked Žirovnica because of its proximity to three ski jumping centres and Ljubljana Airport, project coordinator Jože Lavtižar told the Slovenian Press Agency.
Construction of the €6.5 million, 800 m2 facility is currently ahead of schedule and it is due to open in November at the latest, according to Lavtižar.
The original inclined flight chamber in Sweden is a repurposed wind tunnel, while the Žirovnica facility is being built from scratch.
The project is a joint venture between Inclined Labs and several Slovenian partners, including retired ski jumping champion Peter Prevc, Lavtižar's son-in-law, who had used the inclined flight chamber in Stockholm several times.
An inclined flight chamber better simulates ski jumping conditions and Lavtižar says almost all ski jumping teams now practice in Stockholm, because one minute in an inclined flight chamber is the equivalent of air time during ten jumps on the giant hill.
Lavtižar expects strong demand. In Stockholm an hour of flying costs €800 and its result suggest the investment could break even in three years.
