Traveling Around The World To Fly In Wind Tunnels
FlyStation - St Petersburg, Russia
Traveling to Russia is somewhat complicated for many international tourists. Some people have dificulty obtaining a visa. I was surprised to know that as a braziliam I didn't need a visa to enter the coutry (dont't ask me why). Arriving is St Petersburg I, like everyone that visits this city, was shocked by it's beauty. So many things to see and to do.
As a tunnel flyer I had an even better routine than most tourists: after a day of sightseeing, head outside town to the FlyStation wind tunnel!
Its a bit far and St Pete traffic was much worse than I expected. Once there the outside impression was of desolation. We were far from everything. But this tunnel has several good things going for it. The price for one hour flight is about half as most tunnels elsewhere. And the quality of the instructors here is one of the best in the world.
I trained with Leo Volkov, world champion and a legend of this sport.
The facility is a bit old and faded, but super confortable.
There are rooms for us Sport Flyers to change clothes and do flight debriefing. While we were there we met Sport Flyers from many different countries. USA, UK, Australia, and others. The tunnel is open 24 hours a day, and there were people flying around the clock, with ridiculously high skill levels!
The tunnel is a 14ft (4.3m) single recirculating design by Indoor Skydiving Germany, silent from the outside and very good wind quality. It's the most heavilly used wind tunnel in the world and this is evident. Scratches in the glass and metal parts and a general used look.
The antechamber is small but adequate and had a water fountain and a video screen.
Inside the tunnel one of the glass panels is a mirror, a nice touch I wish other tunnels had, useful to check your body position.
The bar is located on the first floor and is well stocked.
Overall we had a very good experience here, it's a place for real bodyfligh learning.
FlyStation is located in the stunning city of Saint Petersburg and has two peculiarities:
It's the cheapest wind tunnel in the world,
and because of that has people flying 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
The building is a bit old and quite far from the city center, about 40 min by taxi or Uber.
(and that's if you get good trafic out of St Pete).
There is a small coffee shop on the first floor,
and a convenience store at the adjoining gas station.
And nothing else.
You come here to fly.
Period.
The interior is spartan but super confy.
There is a large and bright area for Sport Flyers to train and
adequate man/woman bathrooms with shower
Sport Flyers have two nice rooms to change clothes,
with video screens for flight debriefing.
You can copy your flights to a pen drive.
(some tunnels don't allow that for fear of virus)
The software system is very complete and easy to use.
You can download all your flights to a pen drive
or from the website when you arrive back home.
(from three camera angles)
The tunnel is a 14ft (4.3m) single recirculating design by Indoor Skydiving Germany.
Since it's the most heavily used tunnel in the world it shows.
There are scratches on the glass and the metal parts
and a general faded look.
But cheap prices are not the only attraction.
Many people come here to train with this guy.
Leonid Volkov, world champion and a legend of Wind Tunnel Flying!
Here Leo tryes (unsuccessfully) to teach me the "Ninja" flight pose
Leo is an incredible talented flyier and was a very dedicated and patient coach