The sparrows have already been whistling it loudly from the rooftops – we are celebrating our 5th anniversary this December! Our journey from the initially crazy idea of building a wind tunnel, through the planning, realization and opening to the present day has been marked by visions, feelings of happiness, fuck-ups, changes, viruses, wobbly cheeks, great people and much more. Our vision: to enable everyone to fly with their own body. This mission still guides us today.
2016
But let’s start from the beginning: In July 2016, after many discussions, we finally plucked up the courage and sealed our commitment by founding and registering the company.
2017
Things really got underway in 2017: with a great deal of excitement and anticipation at the same time. We reached a long-awaited milestone on October 17 with the ground-breaking ceremony and the official media event. Now it was clear: we were getting the project off the ground!
2018
In May 2018, we began one of the most beautiful, but also most strenuous tasks: The operational team, consisting of 20 people in total, was put together to prepare for the opening. But before that came the absolute highlight of our journey so far: The first flight! On November 14 – after more than two years of preparation – we actually flew in our own wind tunnel. It was an incredibly good feeling. On December 8, we celebrated our big day with an opening party and looked back with joy and pride at what we had achieved. One day later, we officially opened the doors to our visitors. Since then, countless people have enjoyed unique flying experiences and unforgettable moments with us.
2019
In 2019, we were busy putting our business on an optimal footing. We learned a lot in our day-to-day business and made various adjustments to become even better in all areas.
2020
And then came the unbelievable year 2020 for all of us with a global pandemic! This period will always remain a special chapter in our history. First we had a high-performance start in January and February, the wind tunnel was running hot. Then we were faced with a completely new and unexpected challenge: COVID-19. The worst time for us was the beginning of the pandemic with the first complete lockdown from March to May. Nobody really knew how long the situation would last. But we also remember the exciting moment when Daniel Koch, then head of the “Communicable Diseases” department at the FOPH, visited us and carried out his first flight tests. And let’s not forget our mini-competition, which I’m sure some of you still remember. 2020 was definitely a challenging year, but it also showed us how resilient and determined we are to succeed.
2021
With 2021 came the hope that the pandemic was finally coming to an end. We were able to start competitions again, the Proflyer community grew and we were accepted to host the Swiss Championships in 2022. We also celebrated legendary parties in cooperation with our B2B partners and were able to host many team events again. Still one of our favorite tasks today. Of course, none of this took place in the usual setting, but was still characterized by the corona regulations.
2022
In 2022, the world was back to normal – at least in terms of the pandemic. We hosted the 2022 Swiss Championships at Windwerk, which made us extremely proud. It was a great event: killer performances, exciting dynamic flying battles, live streams and a mega after-party. Just the way we like it!
Shortly afterwards, we were able to send a team consisting of four Windwerk instructors (Team Tschaby Windwerk) to the European Indoor Skydiving Championships in Charleroi! They came back as the fourth best team in Europe! We also launched the charity campaign “When wishes learn to fly”. Together with Bine (founder of the Challenge Camps Association and professional flyer), we organize a free event once a quarter for people with disabilities or people who have suffered a severe stroke of fate to offer them an unforgettable experience and, for some, make a long-awaited dream come true.
We’ll tell you all about what happened in 2023 in the next blog post. For now, we are proud of everything we have achieved over the past five years and look forward to the challenges and opportunities ahead. For all the support, collaboration and trust, a huge thank you goes to our dedicated team and our valued customers and partners who make our success possible. We will do everything we can to introduce many more people to the world of flying and offer them unforgettable experiences.
And if you want to know more about how the Windwerk came about – up close and personal – you should read the interview with Tobias Oertle, co founder and managing director of the Windwerk.
