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On Tuesday 20 Jan members of the British Speed Ski team (Nigel Brockton,
Millar Reid and Richard Abram) tested their equipment and positions
in the Argyll Wind Tunnel (Acre Road, Glasgow) courtesy of the University
of Glasgow, Department of Aerospace Engineering - a welcome opportunity
since success in the sport of speed skiing, where skiers reach speeds
of up to 155mph (250kph) and accelerate faster than a Formula1 car,
depends on the optimal aerodynamics.
FIS 2003 World Cup win
The British Speed Ski team had a very successful season in 2003;
they scored the first ever FIS World Cup win by a British ski racer
(Nigel Brockton, Loser/Altaussee, Austria) and had three members
of the team in the top 10 at the FIS World Championships (Marc Poncin
3rd; Nigel Brockton 5th and Millar Reid 10th).
The team hope that,
by refining their equipment and positions in the wind tunnel and
exploiting the expertise of the members of the Dept. of Aerospace
Engineering, they can achieve even higher goals in 2004. Previous
testing in 2001 led directly to changes in equipment and strategy
during race runs. The aim of Tuesday's testing will be to build
on the knowledge already gained. Millar Reid said, "There are many
factors to consider in a run, but aerodynamic forces are the most
important".
Aerodynamic fine tuning
The skiers will be mounted on a "load cell" which will measure the
resistance they cause to the airflow through the tunnel. By refining
their equipment they can reduce this "drag", enabling them to go
faster.Professor Galbraith points out, "The vortices created use
up energy which detract from the possible speeds attainable; by
eliminating or reducing these, we can increase their speed". The
margins of victory are often very small so any advantage gained
can have a big impact. As Brockton says: "We're right up there with
the top racers in the World and using data from this kind of testing
could give us the edge to enable us to dominate".
This testing represents fine tuning ahead of training and a series
of races in Switzerland and Austria during February. Those events
will enable aspects tested in the wind tunnel to be applied in the
"real world" and, if necessary, can adapted in time for the really
fast races in France and Switzerland during April.
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