Windmills

Connie and I decided to drive to Phoenix and back instead of flying this time. We took two days to go and two days to return. Each day required a full eight hours of driving to do it. We had done it many times when we were living in Tucson and came to visit family living here in McKinney, Texas. We were younger then and left early and arrived late, but we did it in one day. It is true that now it is an extra hour and one half to go on to Phoenix, so two days is best.

On the first day of travel across Texas we came to an area around Noland and realized how much the area has changed in the last five to seven years. It used to be wide open space with some windmills located up on a distant ridge, but now they are everywhere. I didn't want to stop now for pictures, but was determined to do so on my return.

The area is known for its petrol products and along the way we saw a new well being drilled.

But it was windmills that caught my attention and they were everywhere.

They were right there beside the road.

They were with the cows out on back roads, which I couldn't resist.

I checked the Internet and found an article discussing the efficiency or their lack of efficiency. http://www.nov55.com/wdm.html is the address of such a sight. There I learned that blade size and number of blades is related to the diameter of the blade plane. The larger the diameter the slower it turns and the fewer number of blades. A diameter of 300 feet requires a two blade configuration. A 150 foot diameter allows three blades. The more blades the greater the efficiency, but the smaller the diameter. Why the industry standardized with three blades I can't explain.

Seeing the country side filled with windmills, I can now understand why some people think they obstruct your view. I am sure as the industry matures there will be other options of a very small nature used by home owners. Time will tell.