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sailingsoul
SFN Addict
2830 Posts |
 Posted - 06/11/2013 : 15:28:50 [Permalink]
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I expect that at sometime the "link" to the Ebay ad will eventually be deleted. For historical reasons I'm posting in the qouote box below what someone may find interesting to view after the "link" is removed by Ebay.
This is the wind powered vehicle we made to prove that you can in fact make a wind powered vehicle that will go DIRECTLY downwind - faster than the wind. It will also go directly upwind faster than the wind. Surprisingly, this baffled physicists, engineers, and professors alike. We took the vehicle to El Mirage, California and established a world record by achieving a steady-state direct downwind speed of 2.8 times the wind speed. We later modified it to go directly into the wind and set a record of 2.1 times wind speed going directly upwind on the New Jerusalem runway in California. Both records were ratified by the North American Land Sailing Association (NALSA.org) and by Guinness. The project received a great deal of press and caused tremendous controversy across hundreds of forums and blogs around the world.
I learned just yesterday that it was used as the basis of a question the American Association of Physics Teachers used on a test to select the group of students to send to the International Physics Olympiad.
The Blackbird did everything we wanted it to do. But now it has to go. You can take it off our hands and save it from the chopping block.
Here is a sample of video and documentation of the project:
Downwind video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5CcgmpBGSCI
Upwind video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7PNSyAfCjk
Our downwind project blog: http://www.fasterthanthewind.org/
Our upwind project blog: http://fasterthanthewind.wordpress.com/
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackbird_(land_yacht)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing_faster_than_the_wind
And some selected press the project received:
CNN: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8MWCvKIi7E
Discovery channel: http://watch.discoverychannel.ca/daily-planet/may-2010/daily-planet---may-04-2010/#clip298008
Wired #1 http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/06/downwind-faster-than-the-wind
Wired #2 http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/07/downwind-faster-than-the-wind-possible-and-theyll-prove-it
Wired #3 http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/07/its-settled-downwind-faster-than-the-wind-officially-possible/
Wired #4 http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/08/ddwfttw/all/1
Wired #5 (print article – March 2011) http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/02/ff_fasterthanwind/all/1
Wired UK http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2011/04/features/faster
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/11/downwind_faster_than_the_wind_black.html
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/11/what_ive_learned_about_wind_carts.html
Popular Science: http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2010-06/wind-powered-car-looks-odd-answers-tricky-physics-question
Discover Magazine: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/sciencenotfiction/2010/06/10/impossible-seeming-wind-vehicles-are-quite-real%e2%80%94and-might-one-day-produce-abundant-energy/#more-647
German coverage:
http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/technik/0,1518,699497,00.html
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wissen/windkraft-auto-von-luft-getrieben-1.955017
http://www.spektrumdirekt.de/artikel/1035421&_z=859070
Spektrum der Wissenschaft is the German edition of “Scientific American”
http://wir-klimaretter.de/nachrichtensep/forschung-nachrichten/6071-ein-auto-schneller-als-der-windThx
June 2011 Flying magazine:
Page 80; http://www.flyingmag.com/pilots-places/pilots-adventures-more/technicalities-something-nothing?page=0,0
Skeptic podcast: http://skeptech.net/wp-content/Podcasts/skeptech_ep_007_2009_02_07_128kbps.mp3
Sail Magazine: appeared in print magazine June or July of 2010
Full story here: http://sailmagazine.com/racing/running_faster_than_the_wind
Popular Science: http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2012-07/wind-powered-car-travels-upwind-twice-speed-wind
Wired: http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/07/wind-powered-car-upwind/
Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/07/17/record-breaking-wind-powered-car-is-faster-than-wind/
Chinese: http://jandan.net/2012/07/13/wind-powered-car.html
Top Gear: http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/top-gear-solves-tvr-problem-2012-07-12
Hispanic: http://www.neoteo.com/un-coche-propulsado-a-helice-que-le-gana-al-viento
And: http://blogingenieria.com/
Romanian: http://www.sportaz.ro/2012/07/topgear-vine-cu-o-solutie-pentru-tvr/
Austrailian forum: http://www.thebackshed.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5066
Turkish: http://www.haberdesin.com/haber/dunya/ruzgar-enerjisiyle-ruzgari-gecti
French: http://www.sur-la-toile.com/discussion-234711-1-Le-Blackbird-remonte-le-vent-sans-moteur.html
Hungarian: http://www.autopult.hu/ujdonsagok/szellel-hajtva-haromszor-gyorsabban-mint-a-szel.html
Portuguese: http://oglobo.globo.com/ciencia/blackbird-bate-recorde-de-navegacao-terrestre-5450879
Polish print magazine Swiat Wiedzy (that's “World of Knowledge” in English)
Questions and answers about this item
Q: ive never had so much fun reading a listing this has got to be the most fun thing to sell on ebay
A: Thanks! We had a lot of fun building it and showing people it could work.
Jun 07, 2013
Q: Will the buyer own the design? Are there any copy protection or intellectual property etc. limitations?
A: There is no protection. Anyone can copy it, modify it, etc.
Jun 07, 2013
Q: How come the Smithsonian is not buying this? Don't you guys know a Congressman or Senator?
A: If they had any sense they would have called and it would have been a free donation.
Jun 06, 2013
Q: What is the length, width and height of the Blackbird? Can it be disassembled and what size trailer will we need to get it? Thank you, Lisa
A: When it's on the trailer we remove the "boat tail" fairing behind the rear axle, both rear axles, and propeller. We fold the pylons down, and then it looks like this: https://www.dropbox.com/s/6qd0z2n9vnnxkrm/Tra... Continue reading
Jun 06, 2013
Q: As long as the prop is collecting energy, either facing up or down wind, greater than the resistance at the wheels through its gearing + aero drag of the body, it will continue to accelerate until it reaches equilibrium,... Continue reading
A: Keep in mind it has two distinctly different modes of operation. When going upwind, we use a turbine. The wind turns that turbine and the turbine turns the wheels. For downwind we have a propeller. In this case the wind... Continue reading
Jun 06, 2013
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There are only two types of religious people, the deceivers and the deceived. SS |
| Edited by - sailingsoul on 06/11/2013 15:30:11 |
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A most counter-intuitive feat!
