Flying the SkyBow under a Lifter Kite
Yesterday we flew Roy Mueller's SkyBow
vertically under the Gomberg Falcon. We were able to walk around a
wide arc testing different angles and shapes. Only when the radius of the
arc became too tight did the SkyBow stop spinning.CC BY NC SA
The 250ft SkyBow Pro experienced a nice boost by being lifted
higher. The Pilot-Kite also made launching and starting the SkyBow easier.
In effect, we created 1/2 of a 500ft SkyBow arch which might someday
usefully feature a Pilot-Lifter at its center. There was a lot of empty
space in our configuration to festoon the sky with multiple SkyBows in
peacock arrays.
We will be adding a generator next, but for now we judge the power by
lightly pinching the shafts at the swivels, and feeling the heat. Its
clear there is a few watts just waiting to be tapped, but how to judge the
raw efficiency? The ribbon is about 2cm wide by 80m long, so that comes to
just 1.6m2 of wing. To extract 10W in a good breeze seems doable, at
fairly low total efficiency (~10%, compared to ~30% for a normal power
kite. Careful testing will tell if these ~informed guesstimates hit the
target.
Disclaimer: KiteLab/kPower tests all kinds of AWES ideas, even marginal
concepts, for maximal domain experience, with no pretense to an early
downselect. Only a formal comparative validation program is suited to pick
AWE's "winners". ~ Dave Santos
21Mar2014
Discuss
Comment and development of this topic will be occurring here also:
All, send notes, links, drawings, papers, videos, plans, safety-critical
findings, and photographs!
- Terms and aspects:
- Related links and concepts:
- Commentary is welcome:
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Nice! Next? Have both SkyBow anchors be on the main
tether. This is a veering tactic to set the lift left (or right,
depending on the rotation direction initiated on the SkyBow).
~ JoeF
20Mar2014
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Then .. Two SkyBows where all anchors of the SkyBows are on main
lifted tether; one SkyBow turning clockwise; the other turning
counterclockwise; they will spread, one left and the other right.
~ JoeF 20Mar2014
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