Wind Turbines

[Colberado]

I know folks have posted pics and vids here of them...but has anyone taken a shot at flying through one (one that is spinning)?

 

[old man mavic]

a good way to send your mav to an early grave plus the fact that you would be liable for any damage you caused to the turbine i would take it off your to do list

 

[ff22]

I grabbed this from a quick search:

"How fast do wind turbines spin? The blades of an average wind turbine have the ability to rotate at rapid speeds going up to 100 miles per hour. Larger turbines with heavier blades can possibly reach up to 180 miles per hour."

 

[Ogerdrone]

Look on you tube and you will find some.

 

[THE CYBORG]

I witnessed a seagull get cut in half by a wind turbine, if they can’t do it give it miss.

 

[johnmeyer]

The risk to your drone is pretty low, but the risk to your freedom (i.e., jail time) is almost infinitely high. Not worth it. Dumb idea.

 

[m0j0]

The risk to your drone is pretty low, but the risk to your freedom (i.e., jail time) is almost infinitely high. Not worth it. Dumb idea.

The opposite.

The risk to your drone is pretty high. The risk to your freedom (i.e. jail time) is pretty low.

Nonetheless, It is a dumb idea. Don't do it.

 

[johnmeyer]

The risk to your drone is pretty low, but the risk to your freedom (i.e., jail time) is almost infinitely high. Not worth it. Dumb idea.

The opposite

No, I stick by what I said.

Yes, if you attempt the maneuver enough, then the odds of getting hit by the blade go up. However, consider the following:

A three-bladed windmill rotates at between 5 and 20 rpm. At 10 rpm, it completes a revolution once every six seconds, or 1/6 of its revolution per second.

A drone, at 20 mph, has a forward velocity of 30 feet per second. If the width of the turbine blade is thee inches (0.25 foot), it will take the drone 1/120 of a second to get past any of the three blades (actually a little more because the drone is a foot long). To get hit, it has to be unlucky enough to intersect where one of the three blades is at that moment in time.

In 1/120 of a second, the 10 rpm turbine will complete 1/720 of its revolution. Put another way, it will rotate one half of one degree.

Without getting any more technical, if you look at this static picture of a wind turbine blade, and imagine each blade is increased in width by one half of one degree (the area it will rotate through during the time the drone passes), there is still a massive amount of space available to fly through. Again, not wanting to spend any more time on this, my engineering instinct says you have something like a 1 in 40 chance of being hit. Also, the collision avoidance might stop the drone if it got close to the blade, especially if you flew near the center where the blade velocity is less. Flying near the center doesn't change the odds of getting hit, but it does give the collision avoidance a better chance of seeing the blade.

It is still, or course, ill-advised, stupid, illegal, and probably a lot of other things.

 

[m0j0]

No, I stick by what I said.

Yes, if you attempt the maneuver enough, then the odds go up. However, consider the following:

A three-bladed windmill rotates at between 5 and 20 rpm. At 10 rpm, it completes a revolution once every six seconds, or 1/6 of its revolution per second.

A drone, at 20 mph, has a forward velocity of 30 feet per second. If the width of the turbine blade is thee inches (0.25 foot), it will take the drone 1/120 of a second to get past any of the three blades (actually a little more because the drone is a foot long). To get hit, it has to be unlucky enough to intersect the blade.

In 1/120 of a second, the 10 rpm turbine will complete 1/720 of its revolution. Put another way, it will rotate one half of one degree.

Without getting any more technical, if you look at this static picture of a wind turbine blade, and imagine each blade is increased in width by 1/720 of a degree (the area it will rotate through during the time the drone passes), there is still a massive amount of space available to fly through. Again, not wanting to spend any more time on this, my engineering instinct says you have something like a 1 in 40 chance of being hit. Also, the collision avoidance might stop the drone if it got close to the blade, especially if you flew near the center where the blade velocity is less.

And all that math adds up to an exponentially higher risk than the jailtime you suggest which is about 0

 

[m0j0]

No, I stick by what I said.

Yes, if you attempt the maneuver enough, then the odds of getting hit by the blade go up. However, consider the following:

A three-bladed windmill rotates at between 5 and 20 rpm. At 10 rpm, it completes a revolution once every six seconds, or 1/6 of its revolution per second.

A drone, at 20 mph, has a forward velocity of 30 feet per second. If the width of the turbine blade is thee inches (0.25 foot), it will take the drone 1/120 of a second to get past any of the three blades (actually a little more because the drone is a foot long). To get hit, it has to be unlucky enough to intersect where one of the three blades is at that moment in time.

In 1/120 of a second, the 10 rpm turbine will complete 1/720 of its revolution. Put another way, it will rotate one half of one degree.

Without getting any more technical, if you look at this static picture of a wind turbine blade, and imagine each blade is increased in width by one half of one degree (the area it will rotate through during the time the drone passes), there is still a massive amount of space available to fly through. Again, not wanting to spend any more time on this, my engineering instinct says you have something like a 1 in 40 chance of being hit. Also, the collision avoidance might stop the drone if it got close to the blade, especially if you flew near the center where the blade velocity is less. Flying near the center doesn't change the odds of getting hit, but it does give the collision avoidance a better chance of seeing the blade.

It is still, or course, ill-advised, stupid, illegal, and probably a lot of other things.

Well you are wrong... if you crash your mavic into that wind turbine and scratch the paint nobody cares. Nobody would actually be there to see it and if they were what could they do? Not a dang thing. You are far more likely to end up with a busted drone than going to jail. Which I would say the chance is 0.

 

[johnmeyer]

Well you are wrong... if you crash your mavic into that wind turbine and scratch the paint nobody cares. Nobody would actually be there to see it and if they were what could they do? Not a dang thing. You are far more likely to end up with a busted drone than going to jail. Which I would say the chance is 0.

Oh, I misunderstood. You are saying that the chance of going to jail is zero and therefore is less likely than the drone hitting the blades. Fair enough.

 

[ZooCougar]

I did it once when the wind was pretty calm.

 

[Colberado]

No, I stick by what I said.

Yes, if you attempt the maneuver enough, then the odds of getting hit by the blade go up. However, consider the following:

A three-bladed windmill rotates at between 5 and 20 rpm. At 10 rpm, it completes a revolution once every six seconds, or 1/6 of its revolution per second.

A drone, at 20 mph, has a forward velocity of 30 feet per second. If the width of the turbine blade is thee inches (0.25 foot), it will take the drone 1/120 of a second to get past any of the three blades (actually a little more because the drone is a foot long). To get hit, it has to be unlucky enough to intersect where one of the three blades is at that moment in time.

In 1/120 of a second, the 10 rpm turbine will complete 1/720 of its revolution. Put another way, it will rotate one half of one degree.

Without getting any more technical, if you look at this static picture of a wind turbine blade, and imagine each blade is increased in width by one half of one degree (the area it will rotate through during the time the drone passes), there is still a massive amount of space available to fly through. Again, not wanting to spend any more time on this, my engineering instinct says you have something like a 1 in 40 chance of being hit. Also, the collision avoidance might stop the drone if it got close to the blade, especially if you flew near the center where the blade velocity is less. Flying near the center doesn't change the odds of getting hit, but it does give the collision avoidance a better chance of seeing the blade.

It is still, or course, ill-advised, stupid, illegal, and probably a lot of other things.

Thank you for your insight, exactly the response I was looking for. Not on my to do list, however I was filming some turbines and was wondering. It definitely looked possible. Also, I’m not sure where everyone else is flying, but turbines in CO, Kansas-there isn’t a soul within 50 miles so chances of legal issues is virtually 0%. Damage to the turbine is highly unlikely considering how fast they’re capable of rotating, wind sheer forces, hail, eagles 3x the size of a drone being cut in half. Thanks again.

 

[Tshred57]

I know folks have posted pics and vids here of them...but has anyone taken a shot at flying through one (one that is spinning)?

Do it the right way and check with the wind farm owner if they mind you flying your drone through one of their spinning wind turbines.

 

[Colberado]

Do it the right way and check with the wind farm owner if they mind you flying your drone through one of their spinning wind turbines.

This why I don’t post here anymore. All of you guys need to chill out. Never said I was going to do this. And if you fly where I fly, you’d understand the freedom.

 

[Tshred57]

This why I don’t post here anymore. All of you guys need to chill out. Never said I was going to do this. And if you fly where I fly, you’d understand the freedom.

I wrote that because I fly in Kansas, and I did check with a wind farm owner. Not to fly through turbines, but to keep a safe distance above and away from them. I could've parked a mile away and flown to one, but Google maps showed their office so I dropped by. I'm not the drone police. I got a "no" but I think I felt better having asked. I've seen plenty of YouTube vids of folks flying through wind turbines safely. Possible they might qualify as power plants(?) which flying around the FAA frowns upon. Sorry to upset you.

 

[skiptv]

I grabbed this from a quick search:

"How fast do wind turbines spin? The blades of an average wind turbine have the ability to rotate at rapid speeds going up to 100 miles per hour. Larger turbines with heavier blades can possibly reach up to 180 miles per hour."

The ends of the blades spin at 70 MPH

 

[skiptv]

There is a vortex around the blades. Similar to a sideways tornado, Flying through the blades will cause the drone to lose control do to the fact that the wind current within the vortex is faster than the top speed of the drone and will over power the drone and the GPS. We did this at a promotion for a wind farm in Palm Springs CA, we ended to stop the drone 10 feet out from the blades and not go through the blades, we were unable to stop the drone, it was sucked right into the blades. Bye Bye Phantom Pro 4 Plus. it pretty much cut the drone in half.

 

[Colberado]

There is a vortex around the blades. Similar to a sideways tornado, Flying through the blades will cause the drone to lose control do to the fact that the wind current within the vortex is faster than the top speed of the drone and will over power the drone and the GPS. We did this at a promotion for a wind farm in Palm Springs CA, we ended to stop the drone 10 feet out from the blades and not go through the blades, we were unable to stop the drone, it was sucked right into the blades. Bye Bye Phantom Pro 4 Plus. it pretty much cut the drone in half.

Very interesting, thanks!

 

[johnmeyer]

There is a vortex around the blades. Similar to a sideways tornado, Flying through the blades will cause the drone to lose control do to the fact that the wind current within the vortex is faster than the top speed of the drone and will over power the drone and the GPS. We did this at a promotion for a wind farm in Palm Springs CA, we ended to stop the drone 10 feet out from the blades and not go through the blades, we were unable to stop the drone, it was sucked right into the blades. Bye Bye Phantom Pro 4 Plus. it pretty much cut the drone in half.

That is a really great point and one I completely forgot about. My dad was a pilot and in a small plane at a big airport we had to wait two minutes before we could take off if the plane in front of us was a large ("jumbo") jet, because of "wake turbulence." It was exactly the same vortex you mention, created by the wingtips of the big jet, and it could actually flip over a small plane.