Random guy invents a wind powered vehicle which goes much faster than the wind. Everyone spent a decade telling him it's impossible, but he still built it and proved that it works. This is what happens when you ignore peer consensus and actually do your own science
(www.youtube.com)
? These people are stupid!
Sailboats can sail faster than the wind if they're sailed at an angle to the wind. But if the wind is directly behind the boat, it can't go faster than the wind. This guy's invention makes his test vehicle go faster than the wind when the wind is directly behind it.
I wasn’t able to watch the entire video. Do the blades on the propeller act as sails on boats that are going at an angle? Taking advantage of lift?
Ya. Basically the blades on there are at an angle to the wind so it works like 2 sailboats revolving around a center line similar to a screw thread. The propeller is attached to a gear and chain system that turns it into a giant fan. It's actually really ingenious. The bigger the delta between wind speed and vehicle speed is, the faster the propeller turns.
Cool. Thanks for sharing!
Sailboats have gone faster than the wind for a long time.
But not directly down wind. This vehicle points itself directly downwind and can travel faster than it
Is it because the propeller is acting as 2 “sails” that are angled to the wind?
Not exactly. The wheels actually power the turbine when the wind pushes the vehicle. I recommend watching the video, it's very interesting. By the end the uploader still doesnt 100% understand it, but makes a solid attempt (better than I could do) at explaining it.
Sailing ice boats can go up to 5x faster than the wind. It isn't rocket science.
Boat science I guess..
but not down wind
Our resident geniuses talking about boats really need to look up what friction is.