Another sample of indoor skydiving's resilience in the face of SARS-CoV-2 will be given on 7 August, when the ZerOGravity wind tunnel opens its doors in Poitiers, France. The spectacular facility is located at the doorstep to the Futurescope, a 53-hectare theme park and one of the country's prime tourist destinations with close to 2 million visitors per year.
The visible heads behind the ZerOGravity project are Domi Kiger and Fabrice Couzet. The technology is provided by ISG Group, the Germany-based manufacturer of wind tunnels for mostly the European market. ISG Managing Director Boris Nebe met up with Domi and Fabrice at the facility on 4 August. "I am proud to be a little part of this project," Boris said, wishing the operators "a good start in these difficult times."
The contributions of ISG to ZerOGravity's success are significant in every respect, but in the face of the COVID-19 threat, one particular feature could be decisive. ISG's flagship tunnel, Indoor Skydiving Bottrop, was first to open back up after the COVID shutdown. That was in mid-May, after the tunnel was issued a safety certificate for "clean air" ... Maybe the patented Air-Exchange Louver System helped in that respect.
"It is officially certified by one of Germany's most recognized hygienic institutes that freefall simulators equipped with the patented ISG Louver System, by design, exchange and mix sufficient volumes of air during operation," Boris said in a statement to our media partner Indoor Skydiving Source. The addition of air from the outside reduces the risk of COVID-19 transmission inside the flight chamber, it is assumed.
The Louver System was initially designed as a ventilation system (at very low energy loss) that helped to bring down the ambient temperature in the flight chamber. We will try to get more information on the system from ISG and report on the Grand Opening of ZerOGravity.