What is the maximum speed a Blackbird (wind-powered vehicle) can achieve?

Asked Nov 11 '21 at 06:47

Active Nov 11 '21 at 06:47

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Can someone drive/calculate the maximum speed which can be achieved by a Blackbird (wind-powered vehicle, link below) when going downwind?

Suppose mass of the vehicle is $m$, wind speed relative to the ground $w$ (horizontal) ,vehicle speed relative to the ground $v$, the area of the vehicle perpendicular to the wind $A$, maximum static friction coefficient on the ground $k$.

If I missed some info you can add more parameters.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackbird_(wind-powered_vehicle)

asked Nov 11 '21 at 06:47

Ebi

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It is not that simple, a physics college professor already lost 10K – Nov 11 '21 at 06:48
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This is a tricky question, but a crude analysis is perfectly reasonable at a high school level. See pp. 10 - 12 of the USAPhO 2013 solutions. – DanDan0101 Nov 11 '21 at 06:55
Possible duplicates: https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/649726/2451 and links therein. – Qmechanic Nov 11 '21 at 06:57
@DanDan0101 I didn't read it yet, but thanks! – Nov 11 '21 at 07:00
@Wolphramjonny I've always doubted that story - where would a college professor get 10K ? :-) – StephenG - Help Ukraine Nov 11 '21 at 07:58

What is the maximum speed a Blackbird (wind-powered vehicle) can achieve?

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