Wind tunnel in shopping centers and other crowded places

In this material:

• What is a wind tunnel? Types of wind tunnels

Extreme entertainment is in trend today. Many people show interest in them, but not everyone has the opportunity to embark on breathtaking adventures in pursuit of new sensations. This is why attractions such as the wind tunnel are becoming increasingly popular. This type of leisure is not available in every large populated area, and many Russians have never heard anything about it. For this reason, investors consider the wind tunnel flight business as one of the most promising and highly profitable.

What is a wind tunnel?

A wind tunnel is a modern attraction, a sports and entertainment structure that simulates a free fall, as during a parachute jump. This structure is a voluminous vertical pipe, inside of which a strong air flow is created due to the operation of a powerful fan. It is built into the bottom of the structure. During operation, air mass movement speeds of up to 250 km/h are achieved.

The wind tunnel is made of durable thick glass and resembles a glass, this is necessary to create the feeling of free flight. The attraction is safe for visitors provided there are no contraindications. These include:

• mental illness;
• musculoskeletal disorders;
• pregnancy;
• osteoporosis;
• body weight more than 120 kg;
• recently undergone surgery.

Attention! In a wind tunnel, there is no risk of falling and injury if the fan suddenly turns off. In this case, the floating person will fall onto the elastic mesh, which is stretched below. The presence of an instructor is a mandatory requirement.

Types of wind tunnels

There are two types of wind tunnels - stationary and mobile. The first are a free-standing structure; they are used for professional training of parachutists. Stationary complexes occupy a significant area and require large financial investments - more than 10 million rubles.

Mobile free fall simulators can be placed inside large shopping and entertainment centers, parks, and clubs. They do not occupy a large area, and you will have to allocate 3–5 million rubles for their purchase. Advantages of a mobile attraction:

• quick dismantling and installation of the structure;
• the ability to change the location of the attraction;
• The wind tunnel can be used not only for entertainment, but also for training.

Additional opportunities for earning money are conducting original photo sessions, hourly rental for corporate clients. Selling monthly passes for those who want to regularly practice the free fall technique will bring a stable income.

Advantages and disadvantages of business

Before making the final decision to open a project, you need to evaluate its advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage of organizing such a business is the absence of competitors. The wind tunnel is a relatively new entertainment and cannot be found in most large cities. Other advantages of the project:

• high profitability and quick payback (subject to a properly conducted advertising campaign);
• the owner of the complex has many opportunities for earning money - conducting training for parachutists, organizing photo and video shooting, organizing corporate events, etc.;
• when purchasing a mobile structure, it is possible to change the location of the attraction - in the summer, move outside to crowded places, and in the winter, be located inside the shopping center.

The project is not without its shortcomings. For example:

• large volume of start-up investments;
• the influence of seasonal factors when placing an attraction on the street;
• significant costs for maintaining a wind tunnel;
• high advertising costs.

Wind tunnel - a new sport

The miracle installation is used for training parachutists and lovers of other extreme activities. Flying in a wind tunnel helps to practice acrobatic figures and master air flows. It is worth noting that not only parachuting is a separate sport, but also flying in a wind tunnel. Dancing in this installation is new; international competitions are already being held in it, which look very spectacular.

Wind tunnel - competitions

From the very beginning, wind tunnel flying began to become more and more popular, and it is rapidly developing as a sport. Freeflying, acrobatics, freestyle and other types of parachuting are successfully practiced in the wind tunnel. Cups and championships are held in group acrobatics in the tube, and there is even a separate discipline - vertical acrobatics. The judges evaluate the aesthetics of the tricks, the synchronicity and beauty of the execution of the figures. Maybe in a couple of years, wind tunnel flights will be included in the list of disciplines at the Olympic Games.

Dancing in a wind tunnel

The wind tunnel hosts international dance competitions called WindGames. Athletes perform complex stunts and rise to great heights. The program includes individual and group performances. Competitions in a wind tunnel are held according to all the rules, for example, there is a jury, limited performance time, penalty points, and so on. Since nothing can be heard through the tube, the participant puts on headphones to hear the music. The 2020 world champion in wind tunnel dancing is Russian Leonid Volkov.

Description of the attraction and prices for services

A wind tunnel flying business should be opened in a city with a population of more than 1 million people, where the solvent population lives. In small towns, entertainment will not be in demand.

Flight duration can vary from 5 to 30 minutes. Beginners are advised to start with a short time interval. Before visiting the attraction, instructions are required, then visitors put on equipment. The next stage is a short workout lasting up to 1 minute. The instructor starts the setup and allows the person to try what they are about to experience. Next, the flight itself takes place in the presence of an instructor.

Attention! During the operation of the attraction, situations are possible when a visitor may need medical assistance. The instructor must be ready to provide it.

Flights are carried out by appointment. The client must arrive 30 minutes before the start of the session. This time will be spent giving instructions, changing clothes and a test run.

Cost of services

The average cost of a flight for children in a wind tunnel in Moscow is 600 rubles per minute on weekdays and 700 rubles on weekends. For adults, such entertainment costs 15–20% more. In regional centers, the price for services is slightly lower - in the range of 500–600 rubles for children and 550–700 rubles for adults per minute of flight.

Professional training costs more. So, for a half-hour flight a paratrooper will pay 8,800, and for an hour of training - 17,500 rubles. An additional fee is charged for the services of a trainer - the higher his category, the higher the cost of the work. For example, in Moscow, a category A coach charges 2,000 rubles for 30 minutes, and a category B coach charges 3,000.

Attention! The minimum flight duration is 2 minutes and is paid according to the tariff.

AERODYNAM H E S K A SMOKE PIPE

Experience, experimentation in aviation is extremely important. Without research in wind tunnels, it is impossible to either design or build a modern airplane, helicopter or any other aircraft. Problems such as problems of lift and aerodynamic loads acting on an aircraft are solved experimentally.

Typically, aerodynamic studies are carried out not on the objects themselves, but on models of these objects in an artificially created gas flow. An experimental setup that creates a flow of air or gas to study the phenomena that occur when bodies flow past a body is called a wind tunnel.

By blowing, as experts say, models of airplanes, helicopters, rockets and spaceships in a wind tunnel, designers determine the forces acting during the flight of these aircraft and study their stability and controllability. Experiments in a pipe make it possible to establish

optimal shapes of aircraft.

But sometimes in aerodynamic research it is necessary to obtain a general picture of a phenomenon, that is, its qualitative characteristics. And this makes it easier to understand the physical essence of the phenomenon under study. By using various techniques to make the flow visible, aerodynamic spectra can be photographed. Using such spectra, aircraft designers immediately see defects in the flow around the entire aircraft and its individual parts and can make corrections to the design.

Various methods are used to obtain aerodynamic spectra. In particular, smoke streams (smoke spectrum) are used. Such streams are released into the air flow either in front of the streamlined body, or from an opening on the surface of the body itself. In this case, the spectra are called smoke spectra. Examples of smoke spectra are shown in Figure 1. Here you can see how air flows around a flat plate, placed

blowing across the air flow, and the wing profile at a small and large angle relative to the oncoming flow. The smooth jet flow of air behind the plate is disrupted and turns into a chaotic vortex. The smoke veil is visible at some distance from the plate.

The air flow around the wing profile at a slight angle to the flow (this angle is called the angle of attack) is smooth. This corresponds to the solid line on the lift-angle-of-attack graph. When flowing around the profile at a high angle of attack, the picture changes significantly. The air flow breaks off in front of the profile and swirls behind it. The lift force decreases sharply (dotted line on the graph line). Normal flight is impossible in this case, as the plane becomes uncontrollable.

The most perfect smoke spectra are obtained in special aerodynamic chimneys.

You can build a small chimney yourself and observe the flow patterns around various bodies, as well as parts of your aircraft models.

Let's start with how the aerodynamic chimney works and how it works. It consists of the following main parts: a housing, a collector, a smoke generator, a fan unit, a comb for producing smoke streams, control systems for the model, smoke streams and a fan.

Its body is wooden, in cross-section it has the shape of a rectangle with sides 40 50X400 -J- 500 mm. It can be made either from 8 -:- 1/2-mm plywood, or from thin planks. The front wall of the case is transparent - glass or plexiglass, the rear wall is folding up to the stilling chamber 6. To obtain good visibility of smoke streams, it is painted black. In the center of the rear wall, the model control pin is mounted on a bearing (see section B-B).

The stilling chamber 6 is separated from the working part of the pipe by a plywood partition 5. Holes 0 30 mm are drilled in it. The casing of the centrifugal fan 1 is attached to the rear wall of the chamber.

The design of the fan itself is shown in the lower figure. It is made from any sheet material with a thickness of 0.5-^0.8 mm and is driven by an electric motor of the UAD-72 type with a power of 50-60 W with a maximum speed of 3000 rpm. The electric motor is mounted on the base of the wind tunnel at the rear of the body. The speed of air flow in the pipe is adjusted by changing the rotation speed of the electric motor. Therefore, you will have to provide a unit for adjusting the engine speed. This may be a rheostat of the RSP type. The maximum air flow speed in the pipe is 8-:-10 m/s.

The collector 3, made in the form of a truncated pyramid, is tightly attached to the left side of the pipe body, without gaps. The collector inlet must be covered with a fine-mesh mesh.

Comb 8 for producing smoke streams has the shape of a drop-shaped pipe (see general view, section A-A), to which thin tubes with internal

Organizational plan

An organizational plan includes a series of steps that a business owner must go through. First of all, the activity needs to be legalized. Then you will have to look for a suitable place to place the wind tunnel and purchase it. Further work is related to the formation of personnel and preparation for the launch of the attraction.

How to register an activity?

Since the company will have large amounts of cash in circulation, it is worth opening an LLC. To do this, you need to submit a package of documents to the tax office at your place of registration:

• application (form P11001);
• a receipt confirming payment of the state duty (4,000 rubles);
• decision or protocol of the founders;
• documents for the premises (if the attraction will be located in the building);
• founders’ passports with copies;
• charter in 2 copies.

Attention! When submitting documents, you should immediately notify the tax inspector of your desire to switch to a simplified taxation system. For this project, the ideal rate would be 6% of income.

The wind tunnel business project falls into group 93.2 in the classifier of activities. When filling out the application, you must indicate this OKVED code. In addition to the listed documents, before opening the wind tunnel you will have to obtain a work permit from the following organizations:

• SES;
• Rospotrebnadzor;
• fire service.

Choosing the location of the attraction

First you will have to decide where the wind tunnel will be installed - outdoors or indoors. The first option is more profitable in terms of rental cost, but in this case the profit will be affected by seasonality. Placing an attraction on a closed area will allow you to earn money all year round, but it will increase rental costs. In addition, not every building can install such a structure - you will have to look for rooms with very high ceilings and take care of sound insulation.

The ideal location is the first floor of a large shopping center with convenient entry and a large area for installation and dismantling. Other possible accommodation options are sports complexes, countryside indoor areas such as former warehouses, hangars. The recommended area for installing equipment and arranging a locker room is 40 square meters. m.

Renting an outdoor space in a shopping center will cost 50,000–60,000 rubles. When placing an attraction in the fresh air, you will have to use equipment that runs on diesel fuel rather than from the electrical network. It is important that the wind tunnel is located away from the residential sector, because the equipment makes noise during operation.

Buying a wind tunnel and equipment

The cost of purchasing equipment is the most significant part of the costs. When drawing up a business plan for a wind tunnel, you should find out in advance what kind of attractions exist and what their differences are.

An entrepreneur has the opportunity to acquire a unit that runs on mains power or diesel fuel. The first option is more profitable, in this case the cost of 1 hour of pipe operation will be equal to 1200–1300 rubles (the equipment consumes on average 350–380 kW/hour). Diesel fuel installations consume 50 liters of diesel fuel in 60 minutes. The costs will be 1650 rubles/hour.

Wind tunnels vary greatly in cost - from 1.5 to 30 million rubles. The price of the unit depends on the manufacturer and the power of the design. Mobile attractions can be purchased relatively inexpensively – ranging from 1.5 to 4 million rubles. On the Internet you can find advertisements for the sale of used units. Their price is attractive, but there is a risk of breakdowns and other pitfalls.

Let's consider several options for wind tunnels:

1. "Tornado". Manufactured in the city of Voronezh. The cost of the simulator is 12,950,000 rubles.
2. “Free Flight” made in Belarus. Runs on diesel fuel. Cost – 3–3.5 million rubles.
3. Chinese units will cost a businessman a little less, but they are inferior to domestic ones in terms of reliability.
4. Installations from German and Dutch manufacturers are considered the most durable and meet all safety requirements. The price of foreign equipment starts from 6 million rubles and reaches fabulous figures.

In addition to the installation itself, you will need equipment - helmets, suits, gloves of different sizes. The cost of 10 sets is 110,000 rubles. It is also worth thinking about arranging the manager’s workplace. To fully operate the attraction you will need a laptop, phone, and software.

Staff

The personnel of the complex includes operators and instructors working every other day. Management will be taken over by the project owner; accounting can be outsourced. There are no high demands placed on operators taking calls. Young, sociable people with a pleasant voice are suitable for this vacancy.

Instructors must be well prepared physically and have free flight experience. It will be a plus if applicants for this vacancy understand the technical characteristics of the attraction, know safety precautions and know how to provide first aid to a person.

Advertising and Marketing

The target audience for which this business is oriented is quite wide and diverse. Visitors to the attraction can be:

• children from 5 years old;
• adults who want to experience new emotions are people aged 18 to 40;
• skydivers in need of training;
• corporate clients.

To attract targeted visitors, you will have to competently build a marketing strategy, since the wind tunnel is a fundamentally new entertainment. Effective methods of business promotion:

• creating a website and promoting groups on social networks;
• distributing leaflets in places where target audiences gather - near large shopping centers, universities, sports complexes, on college campuses;
• organizing demonstration flights involving a large number of spectators;
• advertising on radio, TV and billboards.

It is worth developing a loyalty program for athletes to encourage them to visit the wind tunnel regularly. For such people there should be discounts that increase in accordance with the amount of flight time purchased.

Wind tunnel attraction device

The functionality is based on the simulation of the effect of free fall. For those who dream of parachuting, a wind tunnel is an excellent and safe simulator that allows you to evaluate your strengths and capabilities, practice jumping techniques and the automaticity of correct actions while soaring. Large screws of the structure pump a powerful stream of moving air into it, the speed of which reaches two hundred kilometers at one o'clock. This allows you to maintain the weight of a person in the wind tunnel, preventing him from falling and being floating in the air. The fan develops a force sufficient to hold a visitor to the attraction, whose weight ranges from 25 to 120 kg. The height of the structure itself is 10 meters or more, the diameter is about 3 m. The developers of the attraction recommend it for use by people aged 6 to 70 years . According to experts, such soaring in the air does not pose any danger to the human body, but nevertheless, novice testers are recommended to start with a short flight duration, no more than 5-6 minutes, although technically they can stay in the wind tunnel for an arbitrarily long time.

Read also: How much money do you need to open your own business?

Financial part of the business plan

The business plan reflects all the costs of opening a project and its maintenance, as well as estimated income. By comparing these data, you can assess how effective the business will be and how quickly the investment will pay off.

Investments at the start

The costs of starting a project are as follows:

• purchase of an attraction – 3,500,000;
• arrangement of the site, purchase of a change house - 400,000;
• delivery and installation of equipment – ​​200,000;
• expenses for registration and obtaining permits – 10,000;
• purchase of equipment – ​​110,000;
• purchase of a computer and furniture for staff – 60,000;
• advertising – 150,000.

Total: 4,430,000 rubles.

Current expenses

You will have to allocate funds monthly to maintain the project. This includes the following expenses:

• rent – ​​50,000;
• purchase of fuels and lubricants – 240,000;
• Payroll – 130,000;
• accountant services – 8,000;
• advertising and promotion – 150,000;
• depreciation – 50,000;
• tax deductions – 6% of income.

Total: 628,000 rubles plus tax.

Attraction income, profit calculation and project payback period

To calculate income, assume that the attraction will operate for 5 hours daily. During this time, it is possible to conduct 15 sessions lasting 15 minutes. Daily revenue will be 225 minutes x 500 rubles = 112,500 rubles. Multiplying this amount by 30 days, we get a monthly income of 3,375,000 rubles.

Attention! In the first few months, the actual income of the attraction may be only a third of the indicated amount. It is important to constantly work on attracting customers in order to reach the planned sales level by mid-season.

To calculate profit, we first determine the amount of tax deductions: 3,375,000 x 0.06 = 202,500 rubles. Now let’s subtract current expenses from expected income:

3,375,000 – 628,000 – 202,500 = 2,544,500 rubles.

The actual payback period for the investment will be 5–6 months, since the first quarter after the launch of the wind tunnel is the time required to promote the business. It will take 1 warm season to fully return the funds spent on opening the attraction and start making a profit.

Calculations show that a wind tunnel as a business is an economically viable and extremely profitable idea. However, its implementation will require a lot of capital. Owners of such projects recommend that beginners hire an experienced marketer. With its help, you can attract customers faster to reduce the payback period of investments.