On the morning of March 26th, on the 'dry' Lake Ivanpah, The Ecotricity Greenbird driven by British engineer, Richard Jenkins smashed the world land speed record for wind powered vehicles. The Greenbird clocked 126.1 mph (202.9 km/h), eclipsing the old, American held, record of 116 mph, set by Bob Schumacher in the Iron Duck in March 1999 at the same location.
The Greenbird is two vehicles: a land craft and an ice craft, powered only by the wind. The GreenBird is carbon composites to keep minimum weight, and designed every surface to provide lift is maximised, but more importantly, drag is minimised. It enables the land craft to travel at between 3 & 5 times the real wind speed, depending on the surface traction. |
