2.1 ANOTHER LOOK at the SIERRA WAVE PROJECT: 50 YEARS LATER Vanda Grubišic and John Lewis Desert Research Institute, Reno, Neva
2.1 ANOTHER LOOK AT THE SIERRA WAVE PROJECT: 50 YEARS LATER Vanda Grubiˇsi´c∗ and John Lewis Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada 1. INTRODUCTION aerodynamically-minded Germans found a way to contribute to this field—via the development ofthe In early 20th century, the sport ofmanned bal- glider or sailplane. In the pre-WWI period, glid- loon racing merged with meteorology to explore ers were biplanes whose two wings were held to- the circulation around mid-latitude weather systems gether by struts. But in the early 1920s, Wolfgang (Meisinger 1924; Lewis 1995). The information Klemperer designed and built a cantilever mono- gained was meager, but the consequences grave— plane glider that removed the outside rigging and the death oftwo aeronauts, LeRoy Meisinger and used “...the Junkers principle ofa wing with inter- James Neeley. Their balloon was struck by light- nal bracing” (von Karm´an 1967, p. 98). Theodore ening in a nighttime thunderstorm over central Illi- von Karm´an gives a vivid and lively account of nois in 1924 (Lewis and Moore 1995). After this the technical accomplishments ofthese aerodynam- event, the U.S. Weather Bureau halted studies that icists, many ofthem university students, during the involved manned balloons. The justification for the 1920s and 1930s (von Karm´an 1967). use ofthe freeballoon was its natural tendency Since gliders are non-powered craft, a consider- to move as an air parcel and thereby afford a La- able skill and familiarity with local air currents is grangian view ofthe phenomenon. Just afterthe required to fly them. In his reminiscences, Heinz turn ofmid-20th century, another meteorological ex- Lettau also makes mention ofthe influence that periment, equally dangerous, was accomplished in experiences with these motorless craft, in his case the lee ofthe Sierra Nevada.
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