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Bloudek also transformed the curvature of ski flying hills, which hitherto had been
designed with straight lines and arcs, by using the parabola as the design basis.
Museum of Sport.
THE FATHER OF SKI FLYING
As an aircraft engineer, Bloudek implement-
ed in practice the principles of aerodynamics
At the foot of the ski flying hill with
a device for making snow.
Museum of Sport.
and drag. He gained experience that he would
later transfer to ski flying, achieving incredible
personal feats and helping others in the sport.
The theoretical foundations of ski flying de-
veloped by the Swiss engineer Reinhard Strau-
mann encouraged Bloudek to design and de-
velop a giant hill on which jumpers could safely
"Whoever's not jumping
isn't Slovene!"
Bloudek was the founder of the Planica ski
land increasingly long jumps at manageable jumping school and promoted the notion that
have to fly too high above the profile, and they build large hills in Planica and smaller ones else-
speeds. Jumping on his hill, ski jumpers did not
landed at a favourable angle. Bloudek’s key
contribution was the design of the hill’s curva-
ture, which hitherto had been designed using
straight lines and arcs. To approach the ideal
curvature, Bloudek added transitions, primarily
sections of parabolas, which he then compared
and adjusted to the observed trajectories of nu-
merous jumpers.
jumping should be popularised. His idea was to
where in Slovenia to create a large enough pool
of top competitors. This led him to design a net-
work of hills around the country, which to this
day remains unparalleled in the world. It was
this infrastructure that helped make the sport
so popular in Slovenia, and fans rooting for the
“Slovenian Eagles” should keep in mind who
made it possible for them to soar into the sky.
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