SS1 'Wind Tunnel' Truck Test
So how do you test the aerodynamics of a monstrosity this size for flightworthiness if you don't have access to a big wind tunnel?
You improvise.
I informed Gerald that we would be using his Mazda pickup as a test bed for simulated flight of the SS1. The plan was to take it out to a remote spot in the desert and get the craft up to a speed where the control surfaces would be usable. Gerald rode in a chase vehicle with the remote controls. I rode in the bed of the pickup just in case I'd have to... well, beats me what I would do if something went wrong. But i had a nice view.
I think when I first envisioned this test, we would get the truck up to 35 mph and the SS1 would take off sailing like a kite. I'm glad it didn't work that way, actually.
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What we did find was that the SS1 would change attitude even in a light breeze while hanging from its tether. We validated that the CG and CP were calculated properly.
We also verified that the deputy county sheriff becomes concerned when a bunch of middle-aged white guys drive out into the desert with a young black man, especially when these white guys look a little shifty and have a portable gallows installed in the back of their pickup truck.
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I wish we had some good photos of the adctual test. Once we started driving we kind of had our hands full. It was close enough to a success that we decided we would put a motor in it and see if it would fly without the rope.
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