Comment on why do reverse thrusters work on an airplane, but a fan on a sailboat doesn't work?

• AnAmericanPotato@programming.dev ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  They tested the fan on a sailboat on MythBusters, and were shocked that it actually worked. mythresults.com/blow-your-own-sail

  It didn’t work well, but it did work.

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• gastroglizzy@piefed.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  “The idea works if you just remove this half and reverse the other half.”

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  • Kyrias@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I prefer Lemmy to Reddit but the userbase here is way more insufferable.

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    • cattywampas@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      It’s a venn diagram of people banned from reddit and people who think they’re too good for reddit, what do you expect.

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      • Kyrias@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Haha, good point.

        Just wait, what does that make us?

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  • remon@ani.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Well yeah, because the sail is not needed at all, you just need the fan.

    A jet engine is just a very powerful fan anyway, so nothing else is needed.

    The sail would just be a very inefficient reverser.

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    • gastroglizzy@piefed.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Yeah, so inefficient as to be completely ineffective. In other words, “it doesn’t work”.

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      • remon@ani.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        No, it’s not completely ineffective, just very ineffective.

        If you blow enough air a sufficient sturdy sail you can absolutely generate trust from the airflow the sail deflects.

        But you’ll be more efficient if you remove the sail and just point the fan in the other direction.

        You’d be even more efficient if you put the fan under the boat and push the water instead of the air.

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