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stonedpilot

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Joined: 08/01/2009
Location: Canada
Posts: 2

Posted: 02:16am 08 Jan 2009

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new to the forum, I'm wondering if anyone has heard of, seen, or experimented with a vawt style windmill in horizontal configuration.

I ask because I remember a series of experiments done a model airplane enthusiast I knew some years ago in which he had placed a vawt like drum in each wing of a remote controlled aircraft, running linear out from the fuselage towards the wingtip, and in flight the vawt drum would spin very rapidly due to the airflow over the wings, and as it spun it created a hefty chunk of lift, which allowed the plane to be flown much slower than it would have were it flying on only standard wings.

So while I learn about vawts, and get ready to start experimenting with them, I have been thinking about this and wondering if a horizontally arranged vawt might not be somewhat more efficient due the lift generated relieving strain and drag off bearings...maybe an F P motor at each end?

Anyone have any input in this direction?

"There is no try... there is only do.
Do.. or do not."

SparWeb

Senior Member

Joined: 17/04/2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 196

Posted: 05:22am 08 Jan 2009

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Several funny pictures jump to mind... an airplane that looks more like a combine harvester!

In airplanes, it is referred to as circulation control. Use a rotating drum on the leading edge, which acts like a high-lift device. Some experiments have been carried out, but I don't know of any aircraft in service with it. It's not practical in the real world (due to ice accumulation, bugs, dust, motor reliability, plus a few other reasons that only come up when you actually try to build it).

Then there are wind turbines that turn on a horizontal axis, but are cylindrical, not circular. That can be made to work - one way is to have a machine on the roof of a building. The roof guides the prevailing wind into the blades to turn them, though wind from other directions will just be shrouded by that roof.

Steven T. Fahey

Ahshucks

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Joined: 23/02/2009
Location: United States
Posts: 1

Posted: 05:03pm 22 Feb 2009

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There has been success in a home built machine and you can see it here along with build instructions:

http://www.windstuffnow.com/main/vawt.htm
Edited by Ahshucks 2009-02-24

stonedpilot

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Joined: 08/01/2009
Location: Canada
Posts: 2

Posted: 06:18pm 10 Mar 2009

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thank you... excellent site, I'm excited by what he's noted about increasing the airspped thru the windmill by adding an airfoil to the center... going to be experimenting with this.

"There is no try... there is only do.
Do.. or do not."

hamish

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Joined: 03/01/2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 1

Posted: 10:50am 11 Mar 2009

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I found this on the tube the other day. It is what SparWeb describes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ5kX5Yw4eY&feature=related

It is in Western Australia. It occured to me that it could be useful for capturing the 'Freemantle Doctor' (A legendary and very strong sea breeze in Perth)

As long as you have a roofline that runs parallel to the coast ; )

para hills, 6.6 meters/second average windspeed : )

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