Technical visit

 On September 23, 2009, a technical tour will be conducted at "Soufflerie Eiffel" (67 rue Boileau, Paris). Transportation will be provided.

Places can be ordered via registration form: 30 euros per person.

Departure on September 23 from Montparnasse Station at 9.00 hrs. Return at Montparnasse station, maximum 12.30 hrs

Visit : In 1909, the famous engineer Gustave Eiffel built his first wind tunnel on the Champs de Mars, near the foot of the Eiffel Tower. His aim was to study a new science at the beginning of this century: aerodynamics. With such a device a continuous and controlled air movement is created around aircraft models in order to measure forces acting upon them.

Eiffel’s first tests aimed at verifying that the forces on a stationary body from a fluid moving around it were the same as the forces on that body moving at the same speed through still air: this is the concept called of relative motion. To achieve this purpose he compared the results obtained in his wind tunnel with those he previously obtained using his “drop machine” placed since 1903 at the second floor of his Tower. This comparison being decisive, the wind tunnel was placed at the air-conquest pioneers disposal by Eiffel: Farman, Blériot, Voisin, Bréguet… The performed tests enabled to improve wings and propellers for the new-born aeronautical industry. Eiffel’s first results were published in 1911 under the title: “La résistance de l’air et l’aviation : Expériences effectuées au Laboratoire du Champs de Mars”.

In 1912 the Town of Paris wanted to recover the ground on which the wind tunnel was built. Eiffel selected a location in Auteuil, a suburb southwest of Paris, for his new laboratory. There he erected a substantial building with offices and a large hangar. Its dominant featured were two wind-tunnels, one with a 1-meter-diameter test section, and a larger one with a test section measuring 2 meters. The technology and performances were also improved compared to his first tunnel. This small tunnel was demolished in 1933, but the larger one you will discover during your visit is still used for various industrial applications such as buildings, cars, ventilation… Today the “Aerodynamique Eiffel” society belongs to the CSTB (Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment), and both wind-tunnel and building are classified as French National Monument.