Anybody know what wind tunnel they intend to use during this camp? I couldn’t find the info on the website.
Seeing as how I’d LOVE to find a wind tunnel near me for some testing and I live in SC, I was all over this. I don’t have the specific answer for you, but I have a possible (and maybe likely) answer. Go to www.A2WT.com. It’s a new tunnel just a few miles up the interstate north of Charlotte. They’re not really set up right now to handle cyclists, but there’s a guy there named Bob Smith who’s working on the protocols and setups to be able to start handling cyclists by shortly after the first of the new year. They’ll be the first to admit they’re new to cycling and oriented to NASCAR, but from the discussion I had with Bob Smith, he’s committed to learning what he needs to do to meet cyclists needs, and then doing it.
I would love to see someone such as yourself get in touch with Mr. Smith and maybe help shorten his learning curve a bit. He’s a very enthusiastic guy and I’m sure he’d appreciate expert input.
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I’ve had a few conversations with Tom McManners at Discover Adventures about working the camp. Frankie Andreu and I worked one of Tom’s camps in Georgia two years ago and Frankie has done a number of his camps as ride leader.
When I spoke with Tom about this idea he mentioned the NASCAR windtunnel testing facility. I am unfamiliar with the location or the facility.
As I understand it, the current “NASCAR” wind tunnel is called the Aerodyn Wind Tunnel in Mooresville, NC. It’s primarily geared towards handling race cars … period. The A2 Wind Tunnel is a new tunnel at the Aerodyn location in Mooresville and it’s geared to a greater variety of users.
There’s a third wind tunnel in the works to be built in Concord, NC within a stones throw of the Lowes Motor Speedway. It’s not scheduled for completion until late 2007.
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Thanks for the link - I’ve never seen a wind tunnel with that sort of design before. Anyway, I’d be happy to help these guys out, but the best I could do is describe to them what cyclists desire in the way of data and the magnitude of the forces they need to be able to measure. They’d need someone like Paulo to tell them why measuring at 30 mph, and only 30 mph, is sufficient. 
BTW, one thing does immediately occur to me, which is that based on the pictures there doesn’t appear to be any way to rotate the object being tested with respect to the airflow. Since cyclists are not really “bluff bodies”, I would consider that to be a highly desirable feature, if not a necessity (depending, of course, on your starting point and how much you’re paying for the testing).
In talking with Bob Smith at the A2 tunnel I mentioned that testing at only 0 degrees yaw wasn’t gonna cut it for cyclists. He already knew that and they’re working on a setup. He was asking me what yaw angles were important and what wind speeds were important, etc – some pretty basic questions. I think he has a lot of answers already … he’s just looking for confirmation, and he has a zillion ideas. He could use some help focusing his time and attention to the things that would be most important to cyclists. He’s got a lot of ideas about things he COULD do for cyclists, but some of them don’t sound too worthwhile to me.
Like I said, he’s enthusiastic and it sounds like he’s very knowledgeable about aerodynamics and the functioning of the tunnel and testing protocols as they relate to the automotive world. He just needs help translating things to the cycling world and he’s anxious to do so. I’m sure he’ll really appreciate any help. I’ll PM you his phone number.
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Somebody like Paulo will tell you that there’s a lot of car and not enough tunnel on those pics.
Somebody like Paulo will tell you that there’s a lot of car and not enough tunnel on those pics.
IIRC, the rule-of-thumb is to keep the frontal area of the object <10% of the tunnel cross-sectional area - does that sound right?
Yes, but wind tunnel testing is really not my thing.
If anyone has pics of the tunnel, please post them, I am interested to see the inside
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If anyone has pics of the tunnel, please post them, I am interested to see the inside
I’ve just been speculating that this is the tunnel that’ll be used for the TT camp (pictures in the link). It’s not identified in the literature.
I wonder why they’re testing that car with the hood up? I guess that’s like doing a run with the tail of your TT helmet up in the air.
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I wonder how sensitive those scales are? Cars, yes, bikes, ?
this would be one hell of a …
