Wind Power B/C

[HandsFreeCookieDunk]

Would anyone say that making the blade assembly using paper is helpful? I want to try...

Our blades last year were a built from a paper product and did very, very well at the National Tournament.

Well this has me interested. You don't mean standard printer paper, right? I feel that would be far too flimsy. Probably more along the lines of cardstock?

[Sasstiel]

Would anyone say that making the blade assembly using paper is helpful? I want to try...

Our blades last year were a built from a paper product and did very, very well at the National Tournament.

Well this has me interested. You don't mean standard printer paper, right? I feel that would be far too flimsy. Probably more along the lines of cardstock?

I am using multiple sheets of thicker paper, but not too many. I am also using cardboard.

[JonB]

Would anyone say that making the blade assembly using paper is helpful? I want to try...

Our blades last year were a built from a paper product and did very, very well at the National Tournament.

Well this has me interested. You don't mean standard printer paper, right? I feel that would be far too flimsy. Probably more along the lines of cardstock?

We have experimented with about every paper product we could think of. Some work well, others not. Try different types. Also, I would suggest that different types of paper product could work differently (better/worse) depending on the actual design you are using.

[P2P]

I have a question about the optimal angle of the rotor. A lot of sources say that 15 degrees is generally accepted as the best angle to have (probably depends on design as well but let's use it as an example). Is that 15 degrees from the CD, or 15 degrees from the direction of the wind?

EDIT: hehe disregard this ^.^

[Alex-RCHS]

Have you all been finding that the lighter the design is, the better it performs? (assuming all else is constant)

I read somewhere that due to the resistance wired into the circuit, that may not necessarily be true.

[Chameleon02]

What are some reliable sources to build a binder with? Barely able to find any resources for the second category of questions in the binder.

[ashmmohan]

Have you all been finding that the lighter the design is, the better it performs? (assuming all else is constant)

I read somewhere that due to the resistance wired into the circuit, that may not necessarily be true.

Ehh depends. At Cornell, I saw plenty of teams with heavy designs, too heavy in my opinion. I go with a lighter design, and with higher resistance I just give it a tap at competition, within the 3 minute modification period of course.

[Alex-RCHS]

Have you all been finding that the lighter the design is, the better it performs? (assuming all else is constant)

I read somewhere that due to the resistance wired into the circuit, that may not necessarily be true.

Ehh depends. At Cornell, I saw plenty of teams with heavy designs, too heavy in my opinion. I go with a lighter design, and with higher resistance I just give it a tap at competition, within the 3 minute modification period of course.

By "a tap" do you mean to get it to start spinning?

Do you know if those heavy designs did well?

What I read was that a heavier design might generate a larger voltage against higher resistance than a lighter design would. That seems weird to me -- I kind of doubt that the resistance would have that much of an effect.

[ashmmohan]

Have you all been finding that the lighter the design is, the better it performs? (assuming all else is constant)

I read somewhere that due to the resistance wired into the circuit, that may not necessarily be true.

Ehh depends. At Cornell, I saw plenty of teams with heavy designs, too heavy in my opinion. I go with a lighter design, and with higher resistance I just give it a tap at competition, within the 3 minute modification period of course.

By "a tap" do you mean to get it to start spinning?

Do you know if those heavy designs did well?

What I read was that a heavier design might generate a larger voltage against higher resistance than a lighter design would. That seems weird to me -- I kind of doubt that the resistance would have that much of an effect.

Well, we use a lighter design and placed 1st at the Cornell invitational. For me, the higher resistance just impacts the beginning of the spin. Then you would have to tap it, or as you said, get it to start spinning.

[CVMSAvalacheStudent]

Is balsa wood a good material to use for the blades?