Soufflerie Hispano-Suiza, Historical wind tunnel in Bois-Colombes, France.
The Soufflerie Hispano-Suiza is a reinforced concrete wind tunnel in Bois-Colombes originally built to test aircraft designs. The structure measures 55 meters in length and 16 meters in width and housed a fan with an 8-meter diameter and 16 blades.
The facility was built in 1937 by the Haour Brothers for Hispano-Suiza to test aircraft performance near ground level. Operations ended in 1953, marking the close of this aircraft testing phase.
The testing chamber displays the Guynemer stork emblem at its top, marking the company's ties to French aviation history. This symbol recalls the role the facility played during a pivotal period of flight advancement.
The building now houses a school, a leisure center, and education department offices, making it publicly accessible. Visitors can view the massive reinforced concrete structure and its impressive scale from outside.
The facility generated wind speeds up to 325 kilometers per hour and was once the largest wind tunnel in the world. This remarkable capacity allowed for testing under extreme conditions that were rarely possible elsewhere at that time.
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