Hopefully you will remember the Greenbird? A project we were involved in with British engineer & adventurer Richard Jenkins, which successfully smashed the world land speed record for wind powered vehicles… Richard just sent me an email about another wind powered vehicle project that is quite a mind boggler. Here’s Richard’s thoughts on it – we’d be interested to hear yours…
So, one night, I was happily drinking my beer and tending to my inbox of endless boring emails that had be answered but were of no real consequence, when Lester, my landsailing buddy texted me a link to fasterthanthewind.org. Lester knows a lot, and if he says this needs my attention, then it gets it. I am not sure if it was how many beers I had had, or simply the inane nature of the quest, but I laughed enough to email all my friends to share the absurdity of their mission. My heart is split between belittling idiots, and saluting eccentrics, and this downwind quest lay somewhere in the middle. These loonies were pursuing a pointless goal, doomed to failure, but there was some genuine merit in the myth and their enthusiasm.
I dismissed it as utterly impossible. Travelling through zero apparent wind, with no stored power? Impossible. Why would you even attempt it? (Though I’m no stranger to that question myself!) But had I been asked to bet at that moment, I would have just lost a lot of money.
A few months later I actually met the idiots in question and, to my surprise and concern we not only have a few mutual friends, but they seemed to be rather technically credible. But, everyone makes mistakes, and I let them off as decent people with a blinkered view of fundamentally flawed engineering….
A few months later they were claiming success and if it was not for another great friend, Bob Dill, advising that they were actually correct, I would have discarded their claim as an April fool. I thought about the possibility that I was wrong, and then considered that as Bob was getting on a bit and had a bit of a shake with his stopwatch finger, maybe it was he who was mistaken. There was, however, a growing momentum of technical people (who should have known better), saying that these idiots have actually proven that it is possible to travel faster than the wind going directly down wind.
Not content, I had to witness this myself. When I heard it was on for the official record at El Mirage, I jumped on a plane and went to check it out.
The video speaks for itself. These guys are not idiots, but sincere, genuine, technical people who took a myth and made it real. It works. It starts from rest, trundles to true wind speed, then powers to a multiple of about 3 times the true wind speed. Bob will confirm the final number I am sure.
To all fellow skeptics, start baking that humble pie, or eat your hat. Your choice
Here’s a video Richard shot on the day he visited.
Check out the Faster Than the Wind site for more info.
ETA: Just in case you are wondering at the strange tone in Richard’s post (and references to ‘idiots’ and such) – this story has a lot of history, so Richard is referencing the often heated debates about whether this DDWFTTW idea is actually possible or not. As Wired magazines puts it “The concept known as DWFTTW can cause world-renowned physicists to throw their Nobel Prizes in fits of rage.”
You can check out some of those lengthy & heated discussions in the links below:
http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/propulsion/ddwfttw-directly-downwind-faster-than-wind-25527.html
http://forum.mythbustersfanclub.com/index.php/topic,12948.0.html
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=128483
Why hasn’t it been on the news?
Seems like an obvious news story.
Oh yes I remember. Journalists are scientifically illiterate jerks.
It’s not necessarily news-worthy. We haven’t discovered any new laws of physics. This thing was intended as nothing more than a brain-teaser. But we let it get completely out of control. It was the subject of a segment on the Discovery channel however. I doubt I can post a link here, but you can easily find it if you search “spork33″ on YouTube.
(blog manager note: here’s the link to spork33‘s Youtube channel – Paul)
Hiya Rick – thanks for dropping by!
You can post links on here – it’s just a little tricky at the moment (that’ll probably be fixed with the next update).
You just need to use the HTML tags – I will edit you comment to add the link to Spork33 Youtube channel, but for reference here’s the code I used:
<a href=”http://www.youtube.com/user/spork33″>spork33</a>
Cheers
Paul
Yes Rick.
But the media like teasing don’t they?
Hello everybody,
Working on the basis that the rotor will have the same inherent characteristics as a static HAWT, would there be any advantage – in order to have a more manoeuvrable vehicle – if the wind car had a VAWT instead? This might make it possible to drive in any direction (except downwind).
Please tell me if there is any flaw in my reasoning.
Best regards,
Jonny.
I can explain it but you may prefer not to know. Look away now.
A brick does no work sitting on a table. A little vehicle does no work standing still. Think of energy and forces but separately. Work done is different from force.The vehicles start stationary and use drag on the vehicle body to move it forward which spins the propeller which now has its own rotating velocity with lift separate from the vehicle.The vehicle speed matching wind speed is nothing special to the propeller. Its just levers and vectors and lift!
>> Its just levers and vectors and lift!
Levers and vectors and lift – OH MY! : )
I read the mythbusters forum that is linked to in the post and the RoofGuy got it then lost it. I thought it was amusing that they got confused between moving water and a ‘stationary’ ground, suggesting the physics would be different!
There was a yacht built in the 60s or 70s that had a similar prop set up and no sail. Not sure if it was as efficient.
Actually there is a modern wind mill yacht:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/02/windmill_sailbo.php
However I’m sure I have seen photos of an earlier yacht.
Dale,
i am a 15 year old male, and am fascinated on how you achieved all of this. i am also on work experience with “Ecotricity” and am enjoying it very much, so i’d just like to say thanks
I think you should read what Audi is developing right now.
Hello Yoni,
Re: “what Audi is developing right now”, please can you post a link?
It might be that you are referring to their 2009 e-Tron concept and other more recent developments from that car. I am not aware that they are doing a DWFTTW vehicle. If so that would truly be “Vorschprung Durch Technik”.
Best regards,
Jonny
Yes, you understand me.
do you know cars that really build that car?