gordon_dunn Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Effects of wind turbines clearly visible with this picture from Aeolus- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyfreefly Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Perhaps the owners of my local airport would like to see that Photograph..... http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-w ... -28210119/ Or perhaps NOT................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Just got to pinch that one. What an awesome picture. SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clivefreeman Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Amazing pic that Gordon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enzo200500 Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Why are they not 'staggered' to reduce the effect of turbulance upon the turbines downwind? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_b Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Why are they not 'staggered' to reduce the effect of turbulance upon the turbines downwind? Depends which direction the winds coming from Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 I put this on my facebook page. I can't believe that a fairly well known PPG pilot suggests that it is OK to fly behind wind turbines. LOL Guys, please do not fly behind wind turbines for reasons which can clearly be seen in this picture. For those who do... http://www.facebook.com/simon.westmore SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgy Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 There is nothing wrong with flying behind wind turbines at all..... as long as there is no wind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoobySnacks Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Those are amazing pics. I've seen wake vortices from wing tips of heavies, but never really thought about the effect a turbine could have. Some of the larger ones have blades not much smaller than a small jet so I guess it's not so surprising. Wonder if they are double helixes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 The picture shows vapour trails behind each turbine. Under some humidity and temperature conditions, vapour trails can be generated by relatively small pressure changes, such as occur where the moving air contacts the turbine blades. What the vapour trails show is very little disturbance of the air behind the turbines. If there were any significant turbulence in the lee of the turbines, they would have to be staggered to maintain the efficiency of the second and subsequent rows. There are other good reasons for keeping clear of wind turbines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdEves Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Not quite vapour trails PT: to be really anal what this fantastic pic shows is mixing. A vapour trail is condensation of moisture in clear air precipitated by the aerofoil induced pressure changes. This photo shows the existing cold/damp layer already creating fog at the water surface then being mixed by the turbine's wake with cooler air above. This mixing causes more condensation downwind and is effectively the opposite of radiation fog on land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Thanks AdEves - more to it than I thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoobySnacks Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 That'll teach me to look at pics on my phone, they looked lime vortices! After proper examination on the computer it all becomes clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curiosity Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 Are there still plans afoot to site a turbine at Membury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoobySnacks Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 I've not heard of any, and I live pretty close. Simon will certainly be able to tell you though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 It pops up about once a year.... Its been popping up on and off for years. It is unlikely to happen. Solar panels however....... SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoobySnacks Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 What're the thermals like over solar panels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_b Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 What're the thermals like over solar panels? shocking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helimed01 Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 (edited) Hi. Dew point is the temp that water in the air becomes visible. The air temp and dew point were probably only 1degree different and the increase in air speed over the surface of the aerofoil (Bernoulli and Venturi effect) caused the temp of that air to drop to dew point. Hence the water in the air becoming visible. The wind behind turbines is rarely turbulent in the conditions we fly in. Which is just as well because I am surrounded by both wind farms and stand alone Farmers turbines. I am more concerned about the sola panel farms that are springing up everywhere and what a mid summer midday blast from one of them may bring. Edited October 25, 2013 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helimed01 Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 (edited) Simon can you delete tis and the next repeat. iPad finger trouble and I can't find out how to delete it. Cheers matey. Hi. Dew point is the temp that water in the air becomes visible. The air temp and dew point were probably only 1degree different and the increase in air speed over the surface of the aerofoil (Bernoulli and Venturi effect) caused the temp of that air to drop to dew point. Hence the water in the air becoming visible. The wind behind turbines is rarely tut ulnar in the conditions we fly in. Which is just as well because I am surrounded by both wind farms and stand alone Farmers turbines. I am more concerned about the sola panel farms that are springing up everywhere and what a mid summer midday blast from one of them may bring. Edited October 25, 2013 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helimed01 Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 Hi. Dew point is the temp that water in the air becomes visible. The air temp and dew point were probably only 1degree different and the increase in air speed over the surface of the aerofoil (Bernoulli and Venturi effect) caused the temp of that air to drop to dew point. Hence the water in the air becoming visible. The wind behind turbines is rarely tut ulnar in the conditions we fly in. Which is just as well because I am surrounded by both wind farms and stand alone Farmers turbines. I am more concerned about the sola panel farms that are springing up everywhere and what a mid summer midday blast from one of them may bring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptwizz Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Since solar panels absorb energy from the sun and that energy is carried away from the site, I would expect them to heat the air less than a dark, absorbent surface such as a road or car park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdEves Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Very good point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoobySnacks Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Solar panels extract some of the incident energy as electricity. They are not very efficient at it, so quote a bit of heat is generated within the panels. The theoretical maximum possible efficiency of a single junction silicon cell of about 15%. This means that almost 85% of the energy is converted to heat, increasing the temperature of the cells a fair bit. Maximum incident energy on a warm summers day is something like 120 Watts per square meter, so a one square meter panel will receive approximately 120 joules a second of total insolation. Of this, 15% (18 watts) will be converted to electricity. So you have 102 watts of energy to dissipate. Most of this will be transferred to heat energy. Without looking up the SHC of the materials, I can't work out the actual temperature reached, but a dark surface on a warm day will reach quite a temperature. Now imagine that reduced by 15% (ok, maybe a bit more due to air movement) and you will see that the solar panels will get pretty warm, and if there are a lot of them in a smallish area the thermals could get quite interesting. Granted, they will not be as warm as a road or similar, though possibly warmer than a light coloured structure like concrete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 We function out of an airfield with tarmac runways I suppose it's like any other site... you suss out where is good and where is not so good SW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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