Try towing a van with an EV

Originally posted by Marum: ↑

@Q. You are seeing "prop turbulence". This is the same effect which causes light aircraft to naturally turn to the left. ie. The prop turns clockwise (from the pilot's position) the turbulence winds around the body until it hits the vertical fin of the empennage forcing it to the right. Hence the invention of the "trim tab". But I diverge. This is the source of the torsional force on the turbine tower, and its footings.

Have you any idea how massive these things are. I saw a blade being transported, and I estimate one blade to be over 100 feet (30 metres) long, for one blade that is. Therefore speed limitations would apply to the blades, for it would be very easy for the tip-speed to exceed the speed of sound. The turbulence caused would be very loud, (sonic booms) and the buffeting would destroy the whole ganz megillah. This show would be impressive to watch from a safe distance. I would say 800 - 1000 metres. (Bring your binoculars, or a big big lens for your DSLR

You can see wake-turbulence from the wingtips of a 747 taking off or landing in Brissie on a humid summer morning. This turbulence is so violent, that it would pull the wings of you little C172, if you got caught in it within ten miles or so. An Embraer business jet did this a few years ago, and the company wrote off the airframe because of the stresses it suffered. The aircraft was caused to rotate around it "pitch-axis" at GOD knows how many Gs. Probably in excess of 8G. It says loads about its construction, that the little Business Jet did not fly apart.

The turbulence from the huge Wind-turbine blades, is equally great. Any birds flying into any such area are in "dire straits". As one might say.

Read "Bernoulli Principle' to get some idea of how a wing works. For a turbine blade or helicopter rotor, is only a rotating wing.

Regards....Marum.

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Marum, this is a little belated now but I don't believe that giant smoking corkscrew is anything to do with prop turbulence or wingtip vortices. I don't know but I suspect a blade tip has been damaged and the smoke from the burning hub is flowing from there out through the hollow blade and exiting from the tip.

Yes those blades are huge and yes in a decent wind the tips could quite easily break the sound barrier creating all sorts of sound and vibration problems. That's why they are feathered and braked whenever the wind exceeds a certain threshold because if they ever loose control in high winds its "goodnight nurse" as I also suspect has happened to cause this unfortunate spectacle. That's also why every other turbine in that pic is not turning, they have been automatically shut down because of the obviously high wind speeds.