"SteveB" wrote in message
...


I assume that windmills that big must have rotating blades like planes
(and probably also brakes) so they can be stopped in high winds. My
guess is that the rotating mechanism failed, and the brakes probably
aren't strong enough to stop it with the blades in the normal
position.

We did a convention in Las Vegas, and they brought in one of the blades.
It was the longest load I have ever seen come into the LVCC. I have seen
two or three of these going down the Interstate, but looking at them in
National Geographic, they must be some of the smaller ones compared to
what's in Europe. The ones on the Interstate were a caravan of guide
cars, and I would estimate that they were about 125' long. In England and
Europe, they can be built dockside, and then barged to the towers, never
getting on asphalt.

I would say that something failed, as those blades are meant to rotate so
that when they start spinning fast, they turn so that the edge hits the
wind straight on, therefore creating no spin.

No doubt about it in my mind as to what happened. Something or someone
screwed up. Yep. Definitely.


It's called feathering. With the blades fully feathered, no brakes would be
necessary.


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