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Cookiemunster

Wind Tunnel in Colorado

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Check out the UK's website as their are some better photos of the vanes for you to see www.airkix.com - their tunnel is the same design as Colorado



I think this picture shows it the best:
http://www.airkix.com/photo_gallery/construction%203%20aug-sep05/slides/site-90-01sep05.jpg

The caption doesn't say, but I think that is standing under the flight chamber, looking up through the
chamber to the spot where the air that has just left the chamber turns horizontally (in two directions)
to go through the fans again. The turnvanes appear as several horizontal slats - almost like a Venetian
blind - in this picture. That makes more sense to me than just a solid wall.

Looking back at davedlg's "turnvane1" picture, I can pick out the slats a little better now. In the picture,
all the air from the flight chamber would be coming vertically out of the ground into the box section in
the center, then about half of it would go through the visible turnvanes and towards the camera. The
other half would go the other way - away from the camera.

I think it'll be interesting for experienced flyers to compare the recirculating and open tunnels. This may
have been asked before, but if it's the middle of January in the UK and the tunnel is on full recirculation
to keep the heat in, and somebody goes flying after having really spicy curry for breakfast, does it gas
everyone else out for the rest of the day? :)

Eule
PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

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the new net has a cable wrapped around it (each strand).. reminds me of the thread on a screw..



Newer cars (say 2000 and up) that have vertical, non-retracting radio antennae often have this design.
The main shaft of the antenna is straight as usual, but there is a somewhat thinner wire wound around
it all the way to the tip. The windings are fairly widely spaced, like one an inch (2.5 cm) or so. The wire
is bonded to the antenna at manufacture and then the whole thing is painted, so it looks like one unit. I
understand that this is done for the same reason - to reduce noise. The wrap on a car antenna is probably
tuned to 70 mph (110 km/h) or less; it'll be interesting to see what the windings for 120+ mph (200+ km/h)
look like.

I sort of thought they might try making the net out of airfoil-shaped metal tubing. Just like you can buy
round tubing or square tubing, you can buy tubing that has kind of a teardrop shape, like a wing. As far
as I know, though, this only goes down to the equivalent of 0.5" (12 mm) or so round tubing. You could
probably manufacture it in smaller sizes, but crisscrossing lengths of this tubing to make a net would be
extremely interesting. The pointy trailing edges would tend to cut into the round leading edges, I would
think.

In other net news... have you guys got your new net out there in North Carolina yet?

Eule
PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

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hey.. btw Rebecca is coming for the boogie!



I am aware of this. So is everybody who was at the dropzone this weekend. :) I got there fairly late on
Saturday and she told me she was thinking of going and asked about some details of the tunnel. She
bought her airplane ticket on Sunday morning and then came to the DZ and was telling everyone about
her upcoming "wind tunnel vacation". There are a couple of other semi-local folks considering going out
there as well.

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No new net yet, we're contemplating waiting until after the Halloween boogie on the 29th.. all
those costumes ya know..



Yeah... Rebecca and I bounced a few ideas around about her costume and how to keep things from
going flying on their own. Edited to add: I also told her about Barbie.

How about the new (one piece) fan?

Eule
PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

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I was out at the site today and took a few more pics. They are getting ready to get it all put together! Norm said that they may be able to test the fans within 3-4 weeks :)
front.jpg - the site as of today (10/7/05)

VFD.jpg - the Variable Frequency Drives sit ready to be installed as work continues in the basement to get ready to install the turning vanes.

diffuser&turn1.jpg - the assembled diffuser sits next to the turn 1 assembly. The diffuser (which is upside-down in the picture) will be installed on top of the flight chamber and the turn 1 assembly will sit atop the diffuser

turnvane.jpg - A closeup of what one of the turning vanes looks like. You can see the curve and characteristic airfoil shape in the picture.

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NIOCE!! I cant wait to get out there next week...might have to see if we can do a drive by and check the place out while im there :D
She is not a "Dumb Blonde" - She is a "Light-Haired Detour Off The Information Superhighway."
eeneR
TF#72, FB#4130, Incauto

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davedlg> turnvane.jpg - A closeup of what one of the turning vanes looks like. You can see the curve and characteristic airfoil shape in the picture.



Thanks for the closeup! This is much more like what I had in mind.

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GQ_jumper> You're going to post pics right??



Stills and video cost extra. I accept small, unmarked bills. :)

Eule
PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

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Anyone been up there recently? I haven;t made it in about a month now. Is the flight chamber installed yet?



Drove by yesterday... The top of the structure and roof covering the fans has been installed, and the curved staircase is in place. The flight chamber (less the glass part) is all bolted together looking ready to lift in place, and the turn veins have been moved closer... Conduits are installed and the electrical equipment is in place too....

The progress what not as visible as the first two months were big things happened quickly, but these little time consuming details seem to be the "pre-work" that will make it come together quickly once it is time to lift the components into place.

Funny story... My good friend, Craig, a wuffo, works near by. He asked me, since my dad is in real estate, "do you know what they are building by the movie theatres... It says out front retail space available, but the building looks wierd and has the biggest HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning) fans I have ever seen." :P I said, "ya, I hear the new building code requires the HVAC system to blow the air at 150 MPH to keep the dust off the shelves of merchandise."

Travis

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So I was hanging out with my cousin and her family who just moved to Littleton and was telling them I was jealous that they are only like 15 minutes from the wind tunnel. Her husband insisted that it's going to be in a bar....I told him I didn't think so, but I'm all up for getting trashed while watching people try to fly for the first time there. :D
Fly it like you stole it!

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Ok, no wonder they thought it was in the bar, it's practically on top of the bar. So beer, chili and some tunnel flying anyone?

Wonder if you can still smell farts as they recirculate through?

Ok, I'll quit hijacking the thread now also. :D
Fly it like you stole it!

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Well you please give Derek a kick, so he can post the latest pictures of the tunnel since he was just down there.
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

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