i actually want a wind tunnel
We had one at school, which worked well enough. It was hooked up to the dust extraction, which is basically an extremely high powered vacuum cleaner. It was a very wide PVC pipe with a clear plastic pipe section set in it as a door/window, and a platform for the things being tested. The amount of drag is calculated with a fishing line tied to the front of the test model, out through the bottom of the pipe and tied to a heavy metal block on scales. The amount lighter the scales read is the amount of tension in the line, hence the amount of drag. It obviously doesn't reach rocket airspeeds, but it does allow comparisons between rocket designs. |