A winch had to be added to the 14 foot trailer the shark wind tunnel would be hauled on.
The side rails on the front of the trailer where the fan would be located had to be removed.
The 800 pound fan was winched up on to the trailer and then had to be turned 90 degrees. The fan was raised up and the metal frame on wheels was placed under it. Doing this did two things. First it raised the fan up from the floor of the trailer to clear the bottom angle iron frame of the trailer and also allowed it to be turned.
The fan now turned and supported with 1-1/2" sleepers along the trailers angle iron frame.
The sides of the connector could be opened reducing the 72" fan opening down to 48" KidWind standard tunnel size.
The base for the standard size KidWind tunnel was set up next.
The standard 48" KidWind tunnel could now be set up and attached to the variable speed fan.
Lastly the shark was rolled up the ramp and slid back to cover the turbine testing area.
This is what the teams will see as they go up the trailer ramp to place their turbines in the wind tunnel to be tested. In this configuration the trailer ramp can be tied up and the whole unit pulled in a local parade.
For shipping to be used at annual World KidWind Challenges the fan, base and standard KW wind tunnel get folded up and secured like this.
Now there is room for the shark to be placed on the trailer and the tail gate raised up and closed. The area between the sharks jaws is open and can be used to hold the two standard KidWind wind tunnel and barn fans that are used at the annual World KidWind Challenges. The entire trailer will be loaded on a flatbed and shipped to the different sites each year.
Here it is in "parade mode" being hauled behind my truck. I think that having the shark pulled by a small yellow school bus would get students attention and be a nice touch.
Can you hear the theme song from the movie?
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