Undersized Tail vane

[Shadow]

I'm pretty sure my tail vane is undersized, So What am I gonna notice? It just wont keep it into the wind?..and What effect will it have on furling?..Thanks (It can be seen Below)

[amiklic1]

The pressure that wind produces on the tail vane is critical in keeping the generator in the right position.

In your case, the pressure ( I guess) would be small, and the pressure on the blades is quite large. So, it would start furling at much lower winds. Also, furling speed is also determined by tail weight, so maybe to change something on it?

It seems it is easy to make bigger tail and tail vane, if needed.

[RobC]

I would say try it if it won't track into the wind put a bigger tail on it. It looks like your tail boom is fairly long it might work the way it is. RobC

[DanB]

A couple of things...

the lighter weight it is, the earlier it will furl.  I don't usually mind if it furls early - its safer to start out in that direction than furling too late!

But - if its simply too small, the machine probably won't run square with the wind which will cost you power.  I also notice when the tail is too small (or not far enough back which is about the same affect) - you may notice it's not stable - it will constantly be yawing away from, and then back into the wind.  You might notice that in stronger winds the machine turns away before it actually starts furling (raising the tail).

for a machine this size, I would make the tail at least 5 square feet.. probably more like 7 square feet, assuming the tail boom is about 5' long.  I could be wrong.. but that's my current thought on the matter.