Postboxer wrote: ↑13 Jun 2021, 10:09pm
Coincidentally I was watching a YouTube video earlier of a vehicle capable of travelling directly downwind, faster than the wind. Skipped most of it, just looking for the theory of why it might work and whether or not it did work.
I'm interested... but did it only use aerofoils?
Jonathan
If you watched the Americas Cup you would have seen the boats 'sailing' much faster than the natural windspeed.
Easily, but never straight downwind. They were always moving with some lateral component, and when you do that you can easily have a downwind component faster than the actual wind. The trick here is to go straight downwind faster than the wind (although you could easily argue that the fan is just a way of generating a crosswind component for part of the vehicle).
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way.No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse. There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
Jdsk wrote: ↑13 Jun 2021, 10:15pm
I'm interested... but did it only use aerofoils?
If you watched the Americas Cup you would have seen the boats 'sailing' much faster than the natural windspeed.
Easily, but never straight downwind. They were always moving with some lateral component, and when you do that you can easily have a downwind component faster than the actual wind. The trick here is to go straight downwind faster than the wind (although you could easily argue that the fan is just a way of generating a crosswind component for part of the vehicle).
... which is why I asked the way I did!
; - )
[XAP]Bob wrote: ↑14 Jun 2021, 12:13am
It’s this one
I remember as a kid, there was a particular road on the way home from school that sometimes funnelled the wind so that we had a very strong tailwind. On our bikes, we would unzip our parka or snorkel coats, sit upright and hold the corners out and sail "no handed" down the road. I don't think I have the nerve or the balance to try that now.
Disclaimer: Treat what I say with caution and if possible, wait for someone with more knowledge and experience to contribute.
freiston wrote: ↑14 Jun 2021, 11:35am
I remember as a kid, there was a particular road on the way home from school that sometimes funnelled the wind so that we had a very strong tailwind. On our bikes, we would unzip our parka or snorkel coats, sit upright and hold the corners out and sail "no handed" down the road. I don't think I have the nerve or the balance to try that now.
freiston wrote: ↑14 Jun 2021, 11:35am
I remember as a kid, there was a particular road on the way home from school that sometimes funnelled the wind so that we had a very strong tailwind. On our bikes, we would unzip our parka or snorkel coats, sit upright and hold the corners out and sail "no handed" down the road. I don't think I have the nerve or the balance to try that now.
you know you want to......
A couple of weeks ago, returning home on my folding bike, the local kids playing in the street shouted out something on the lines of "Oi mister, do a wheelie", so I obliged. I didn't get very far before the back wheel was further forward than the front wheel but I had been wanting to do that for ages too.
Disclaimer: Treat what I say with caution and if possible, wait for someone with more knowledge and experience to contribute.
In the Netherlands, 30 odd years ago, I was in a particularly windy open area when I saw a lad going down wind. He was sitting bolt upright with both hands in his coat pockets and holding his arms out as wide as possible. Going like a train.
Tinnishill wrote: ↑16 Jun 2021, 10:05am
In the Netherlands, 30 odd years ago, I was in a particularly windy open area when I saw a lad going down wind. He was sitting bolt upright with both hands in his coat pockets and holding his arms out as wide as possible. Going like a train.
As ever with bikes, the idea has been taken further.