Down wind faster than the wind?

reply to post by jibeho

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math is evil i think im just going to take up sailing and go with the trial and error method

reply to post by neonine

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No I think you picture it right.
Moving parts cause friction
Wheels cause friction
Propeller causes friction and turbulence

All of these cause drag.Either by conversion of that wind speed to friction/heat.Or by wind redirection and turbulence of the propeller.

It would be more effective putting up a sheet between two poles.

Props cannot create "more windspeed" unless they're powered mechanically.

Yeah, you can go faster than the wind when you're at an angle to the wind usine Bournelli's. Ice boats are even better than sailboats at this since there is less friction loss. I've seen some mathematical equations whereby sailing at an angle not only results in your "ground speed" being faster than the wind, but the overall "net" speed, in the direction of the wind, can be faster than the wind, again using Bournelli's. I'm not too sure about the "net" part though, maybe in a perfect mathematical situation it could work.....

But directly down wind? Nope. There's no way to do it without the lateral interaction of the skate blades and Bournelli's.

He seems to think that it depends on the interaction between the wind speed and the ground. He doesn't get that if the vehicle is in motion, whether it's a boat or a cart, the interaction is between the wind and the vehicle, so going down wind faster than the wind is not possible.

We need Rube Goldberg on the case.

YouTube Link

Hmm.. Interesting stuff. Reminds me of the forever car.

YouTube Link

reply to post by Freezer

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What are we waiting for? Send that baby up to Detroit.

THey could use a little help right now.

i am no maths guru or engineer but i would imagine that
the gear ratios and the pitch of the prop and the size of the wheels
would have a large effect on the treadmill experment

they did a special on this very thing in full size scale on Myth Busters(I think) full size plane and a tarp was drug out from under the plane @take off......... It was proven false very very fast........ I will try to find the link..

Not the same principle. The "plane on a conveyor belt" doesn't rely on wind energy, there is an engine in the mix. This vehicle is powered only by the wind (or by the treadmill, or by the vehicle we can't see towing it).

[edit on 12/10/2008 by Phage]

Actually, this is a new inventions which crosses a previously thought 'uncrossable' boarder. It only works on flat ground and with a vehicle that has very low wind resistance. It translates the energy it recieves from rolling into fan energy, funneling it backwards, making the (extremely light) vehicle go faster than the air that's pushing it. Pretty simple when you think about it.

It'll probably just end up as another 'fun toy' or something. Nothing big here, move along.

If the wind is pushing it directly from behind, once it's going as fast as the wind is, from it's perspective there will be no wind, and it will slow down until the wind can push it again. It's possible to travel faster than the wind's speed in other directions, especially perpendicular to the wind. Especially in a vehicle with a high resistance to being pushed sideways, like a craft with wheels, hydrofoils, or ice skates.