my wife and i were headed to abilene to spend the day together after attending a wedding in san angelo. on the way, we decided to get some pictures of the windmills they've been building just south of abilene. these things are monsters. while we were taking a couple of pics on the side of the highway, some guy pulls over and asks what we're doing. we told him, and he said, "well, if you just want to take some pictures of these things, follow me. i'll take you right up next to them." he lead us to a field of windmills and said, "go ahead and get some pictures. have fun," and he drove off into the field. this particular picture is of my wife standing at the base of one of them. it's pretty amazing how big these things really are up close.

by the way, my wife will probably hate me for posting this one because it's just a terrible picture of her. she's staring right into the sun. i wanted to post this one because it shows just how big around these are.

dayum, I didn't realize how big around those "poles" were.

Nice looking significant other too.

actually, rich, she's much prettier than that. of course, i'm biased. the camera wasn't cooperating for some reason. i think i need a digital SLR.

I had NO idea, Lofty.

They're HUGE! I wonder how much energy they generate & whether they are cost effective.

Btw, attractive wife- you'd better hope RDC doesn't find this thread! LOL!

Uh-oh, he found her already. LOL!!

yes, those things are huge, its really a sight to see the blades being trucked there... they usually have a police escourt when they have to go through a major road...

Lofty, it was great meeting you and your wife the other day!

she IS a looker!

whats she look'n at???

that's a good question, pablo. maybe my zipper was down. that would explain the squinting.

hey... it looks like she has Droomi's shoes on

DON'T GO THERE!

where are the blades, or does the entire thing turn?

just ask Rick

Those are tiny.

The ones that they want to put up in Nantucket Sound (Between Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod) will be about 3 times that!

120 wind turbines, each over 400 ft tall, with a 35 ft base diameter. In a stretch of water known for great fishing and sailing.

It's a catastrophy waiting to happen.

Hey lofty, do you live near the abilene/san angelo area?

Wind generated power is the way to go, but vertical propeller type blades are not physically OR cost effective. Takes too much wind to get them started and the tips of the blades can reach supersonic speed, which they are not engineered for the extreme stresses they are put under. They have a very high maintanance and poor time before replacement ratio. They usually don't operate in less than 10 - 15 miles per hour, plus, they must chase the wind when it changes direction and frequently miss the most effective gusts.

The best windmill is a verticle cylinder shaped turbine, that will initiate turning and generating power in less than 3 miles per hour AND will turn no matter which direction the wind is moving thereby eliminating the need to "chase" the wind.

Besides, because of those "tree huggers" out there, the propeller driven windmill is known for killing little birdies and have been known to be shut down on the left coast for fowl genocide where the turbine style wind generators do not endanger such fowl creatures.

BTW lofty, even if it's a "bad" picture, your wife is lovely.

Purp

*wolf whistle*

Pretty lady. Big windmill.

kcody, we lived in abilene about 10 years ago, and my wife has a lot of family in san angelo. we live in arlington now.

PSR, any further info on the vertical cylinder turbine? I'd be VERY interested!

I wish I had a dollar for everyone of those we have in California!

Charlie