Directorly Downwind Faster than the Wind

[Rapadura]

No, Cloxxki, I didn't edit the post.

I did not say that the vehicle works this way or that way. I just said what the inventors were claiming. I don't  know the extent to which the inventors are correct.

Anyway, your answer was welcome, no problem with it.

[Rapadura]

Unfortunately, this thing doesn't work (at least not the way the inventors claim).

Look these videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBjDPhLoPJY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXk5g-fS3pY

At the end of the videos, we can see that, when the vehicle is separated from the truck that was pushing it, the propeller quickly slows down.

It seems to me that these videos where made in a place with low speed enviromental wind. And with low speed enviromental wind, this thing don't work. The thrust created by the rotating propeller is not sufficient to compensate the friction in the wheels. So, the friction make the wheels slow down, and with the wheels slowing down, the propeller slows down too.

This might work if the RPM of the propeller were sufficient to create enough thrust to keep the vehicle at a speed at which the rotation of the wheels were in the same RPM of the propeller. I think it may depend of the size of the wheels, gear ratio, etc... Maybe bigger wheels could be better...

[sparks]

   I am tired of wasting time and money traveling to work.   Now if I could anchor myself to this one point.  My job would come to me at a 1000mph.  But oh oh the Earth is moving 60,ooo mph relative to the Sun so if I anchored myself to just this one spot then the shop would kinda get to me a little faster than I could let go the anchor.  Oh oh the solar system is moving around the galactic cores and I'm not too sure how many miles an hour this is so I could end up letting the anchor go and find myself way down the road from the shop.  Damn it the galaxy is moving too.  No idea how fast the old milky way is going.  My rear end could end up in Jupiter when all I wanted to do was save a little time getting to my job.  If there is such as thing as a fixed point in the Universe and time doesnt dialate and there is an aether to reference then my job would be moving somewhere else at over a million miles an hour.  No wonder alien craft move so fast.  They just no how to get stuck.

[gmeast]

Unfortunately, this thing doesn't work (at least not the way the inventors claim).
Look these videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBjDPhLoPJY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXk5g-fS3pY
At the end of the videos, we can see that, when the vehicle is separated from the truck that was pushing it, the propeller quickly slows down.
......................................................................

Oh my ... I just know there are aerodynamicists both professional and 'armchair' that are just shaking their heads.  Number one, the L/D of the props they are using is far from optimum and certainly only in the mid 80% efficiency, at best.  Oh yes, and they are transferring power between the wheels/propeller far less efficiently with that belt drive than they think.

I don't know why people just aren't seeing that this is the most incredible adaptation of wind to mechanical energy (I've seen anyway).

As an example: take a hydroplaning catamaran and place a prop on a pivoting mast that allows you to always 'aim' the prop into the wind.  Put a collective pitch control also on it.  Drive via a 90deg gearbox vertically down to another 90deg gearbox and out the back of the vessel to a high aspect prop in the water to drive the vessel forward (like a regular power boat).

You can go any direction you want.  No polished sailing skill needed ... go up wind, down wind, cross wind (I think that's it).  You would have a very respectable 'effective' sail area.  Now get to where you want to sip your champagne, drop anchor, let the propeller keep turning but now running a generator that's keeping batteries charged up to run the lights, galley, an oh yes, that ultra-efficient electric motor also linked to the prop shaft (you'll never be dead in the water).

For close maneuvering near the docks the propeller folds, you now run electric also with electric bow thrusters, etc.

How cool would that be?

Greg

[sparks]

What I always dreamed of doing is setting up a fleet of sailing ships.  Those elgant creations that came before the smoke spewing steamboats.  Ply them up and down the tradewinds with built in hydrolizers.  When they had a full load of solid hydrogen aboard bring her into port.  Then go on back out and sail the seven seas fishing for energy.  This is how dumb people are.  The average whaling ship which was not optimized for speed could achieve over a thousand horsepower.  They neglected this scource of energy in pursuit of animal fats they could burn.  They spent more energy chasing the whales and killing them loading them etc than the whale catch produced.