windmill ride question.. from switchback!! another plane on a conveyor belt topic..

[oonighttrain]

So, on our way back from Colorado we were discussing the abundance of federally subsidized windmills now in Iowa. I brought up the notion that they could be used for an extreme thrill ride. Strap a person to the end of the blade and go for a minute or so. We roughly calculated that they were turning at 130-160 mph. Pretty good for 4 farmboys from northern MN huh?! Anyways, Jake took the time to accurtely figure it out. Here it is below. Anyone want a ride??




Wind tower fair ride?



125’ blade (grand forks blades from 120'-145' long)

125’x pi (3.14) x 2 = 785.4’ (circumfurance)

785.4’ x 18 rpm = 14137.2’ / minute

14137.2 f/m x 60minutes/hr = 848230 feet / hour

848230 ft/hr / 5280 ft/mile = 160.6 miles per hour.



PLAUSIBLE



How many G’s is that you ask?

amount of acceleration is equal to the velocity squared divided by the radius of the turn: A = v2 / r



14137.2 ft/min / 60 sec. = 235.6 ft/sec

235.6 fps (squared) / 125’ radius = 441.1 ft/sec squared

441 fps squared / 32 fps squared (speed of gravity) = 13.9 Gs



A few facts:



Texas motor speedway Indy cars = 4.7 Gs



Professional pilots like the Blue Angels can top 6 G's. Under special circumstances (and in training) they can approach up to 10 G's.

 

[Duddin]

That many G's and you wouldnt even know the ride was there cause youd black out in a heart beat. You go ahead and have fun can I come watch?

 

[Wonder Bread]

Depending which way you were facing (head/feet) towards the tip of the blade it would probably kill you?

Call Mythbusters and ask them to strap thier dummy to one

 

[Super B]

Would the G's be the same if you were strapped closer to the hub instead of the blade tip?

 

[sortastock]

No, acceleration is v^2/r, both would decrease if the arm was shorter, but the driving factor is velocity since it's squared. With a 50 foot arm you'd be looking at about 5 g's...

 

[Scott]

Now for the next question....who thinks they can hang on without a harness? LOL


AND........how far would that thing fling a guy coming out of the upswing? LMFAO

And you think bungees are a thrill ride.

 

[Weekday Warrior]

I can't Utube at work, someone oughta throw up some vids of them things coming apart

holy crap lol, they explode!

 

[winter brew]

This is assuming that all the blades have people of equal mass strapped to them. One person strapped to one blade and it will rotate alot slower if at all....????

 

[Interceptor]

Good point WB - We would also need to calculate the wind resistance of the people and the loss of efficiency / surface area of the blade that they are strapped to.
In the end I still say it flies