The real TRUTH...IS "BLOWIN IN THE WIND"

[Shultzie]

Hope this link flies.... www.gwtwforum.com/index.php?topic=4336.0

Many years ago....Gary Lestinger, my almost lifelong friend, amazingly gifted aerodynamic Engineer, gifted CLPA designer, builder and flyer and I were bagging up the sails on his beautiful Catalina 27 sail boat after an extremely windy afternoon and a similar topic like this came up.

Hey Gary...or any other model headed aerodynamical wizaaarooo's' care to jump in here on this topic that may help shed more TRUTH THAT FICTION ON THIS "GOIN FASER THAN THE  DOWN WIND THANG THING?

[ptg]

Shultzie,

Thanks for posting this link.  Just another case that proves being crazy is not popular, not easy but it sure is fun to do and prove the impossible! 
We don’t need no stinkin’ fat airfoils!

[Shultzie]

Shultzie,

Thanks for posting this link.  Just another case that proves being crazy is not popular, not easy but it sure is fun to do and prove the impossible!  
We don’t need no stinkin’ fat airfoils!

Good morn'  my good Balsa Brother Philbert!!!
Great to have you "jump in and get the jive team goin on this strange post this morn that I found on my GWTW daily kite fix website.


While trying to find some info the other day, while trying to find some info that was requested by another CLPA E mail friend that was interested in "tweaking" an old Sig Super Chipmunk kit that he was building...I FOUND THIS OLD PHOTO that illustrates just how long an  ADDICTION TO THE WIND AND THINGS THAT GO FLY IN THE DAY AND THE NIGHT can take hold on so many human beings that often also can last for a LIFETIME.

[Randy Powell]

Very cool, Donnie. I watched the video. Interesting idea.

[Howard Rush]

It's true.  I think it's a good way to show how you can get beyond the limitations of your intuition.  Here's how I think you can look at the problem: First, note that there is energy available from wind blowing over the ground.  Windmills work.  Next, make a free-body diagram of the machine going downwind faster than the wind.  There's road force on the wheel, drag force on the vehicle, and aerodynamic force on the prop.  Now look at power at the wheel and at the prop.  Power at the wheel is ground speed times the force at the wheel; power at the prop is airspeed times the force at the prop.  The thing is going downwind, so ground speed is greater than airspeed.  The intuitive breakthrough is to see that the wheels are driving the prop: not the other way around.  The difference between those powers is available to counter the drag.  If you know the drag coefficient (and what was defined as the reference area), you can calculate how fast it can go.  I'm sorry I never met Andy Bauer.  He was a very cool guy.

It's swept wings that don't make sense to me. 

[Shultzie]

It's true. 
It's swept wings that don't make sense to me. 

Howard! Thanks for your gifts of aerodynmical expertise and wizzzardreee'....and "Swept wings that don't make sense" sounds like another very interesting topic for today?