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The following won't be a winner in utility-scale electricity production. Launching and landing could be a huge mess. During operation the aggregate forming a macro ring could get into catastrophic self-mangling in some loose arrangements; some mitigation against self-mangling would come from having sturdy ring on which are flip-wings.  Niche applications are expected.
 

Special ring, a type of coterie in one format, needing lifting when not towered or terrain lifted: 

Have a special ring arrangement where the ring is made up of elemental flip-wing kites tethered to a central point for macro tethering which would be held by a lifter system (energy kite system or tower or tree or pole or mountain, etc.) Swiveling connectors make up the connection of one elemental flip-wing to the next around the ring.  Macro rotation of the ring would be incidental and not the source of electrical generation; but each flip-wing VAWT might have its own electric generator.  Each elemental flip wing in the ring drives away from the ring's center.  HTA or neutral buoyancy or LTA versions are included in the family of rings of flip wings. Think of bols that are segmented, but the segments are fully rotating flip wings in contrast to static bol experience (notwithstanding that bols may have macro rotation about their centers).  Segment wings are rotating from the donut hole upwind and to the exterior macro perimeter where the segment wing outside edge is then driven downwind.   The "ring" is really polygonal with sides of the polygon being rotating shafts for the elemental flip wings. Many variations of mounting various shapes of flip wings on a base circular ring are possible; many different power takeoff  (PTO) means are possible.  PTO could focus on sound or heat or light or electricity or a combination of energy formats; even direct drive of the macro holding shaft option could be mined with one or two or three PTO stations on the ring.

Included in the family RoFW would be a full circular rotating ribbon circular wing, if someone could manage a materialization of such.

Included in the famil of RoFW:
Further RoFW under CC 4.0 BY NC SA :
Special arrangement: Exterior cone Venturi fill of central disk from upwind tether point (apex of cone) with the ring of elemental flip wings at the downwind final ring with the cone shading the upwind half of the flip wings while the exterior downwind-going half of the flip wings remain exposed to the cone-rushed stream.   http://www.energykitesystems.net/FlipWings/RoFWwithfillandshadingventuricone.jpg 

•  ~ JoeF    18Aug2014     CC 4.0 BY NC SA      Discuss > AirborneWindEnergy/conversations/messages/13931

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  • I find no precedent for RoFW. Lynn and Gomberg and festivals show no priors yet to me.  Patents show none. A complete search in drogues is yet to be completed. I would welcome any noticed priors.
  • Joe,
         RoFW and related FlipWing array formations are worth exploring as potentially the cheapest and highest power-to-weight of any AWES basis, and handling problems are mostly solvable. Lets suppose FW ring dynamics to be basic cymatic harmonics. Not just rings, but 3D lattice topologies are of interest.These structures need not be "too messy" at all, but only seemingly so, when laying on the ground.
    
    I discussed flipwings at length with 2kiteSam (a FlipWing Maker) today as he flew two stunt kites at WSIKF (as he taught me a mind bending line weave-unweave routine). He agrees FlipWing power is amazing, but wishes it did not have battens to be spat out in the fury of operation. I am proposing that gluing the sticks into their pockets will solve the problem (we haven't yet bothered to make the batten pocket ends bulletproof, from laziness), retaining high-performance. It makes sense to try various bonding agents (Epoxy, Slicone, CyanoAcrilate, Aliphatic Resin, etc) on the same wing, for a Darwinian trial.
    ~~ daveS         Aug. 18, 2014