Academic

I?M KEEPING MY HIGHLANDER: Wind-Powered Car Proves Naysayers Wrong: ?This is Blackbird, it?s a win?

By Glenn Reynolds

I’M KEEPING MY HIGHLANDER: Wind-Powered Car Proves Naysayers Wrong: “This is Blackbird, it’s a wind-powered car designed by an aerodynamicist to end a longstanding internet debate, namely, ‘Can you go downwind faster than the wind?’ Using high-tech designs and precise instrumentation, Blackbird proves you can.”

I have to say that this explanation isn’t very persuasive: “Cavallaro explained the car is able to move faster than the wind because the propeller is not turned by the wind. The wind pushes the vehicle forward, and once moving the wheels turn the propeller. The propeller spins in the opposite direction to that expected, pushing the wind backwards, which in turn pushes the car forwards, turning the wheels, and thus turning the propeller faster still.”

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on July 06, 2010 (boomark / email).