Talk:Magnus effect
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Although discovered by Heinrich Magnus in 1853, it remained little studied until the 1920's and 1930's. Most all of the research was done in Germany. The Magnus Effect force can be very powerful, and was studied first and utilized in hydrodynamics, and then came aerodynamic utilization and measurements. Probably the best book written on the subject, in order to understand it, was By Anton Flettner in a translation published in the U.S. ( see Wikipedia discussion under "Anton Flettner" Also: "Applied Hydro- and Aeromechanics," by L. Prandtl and O.G. Tietjens, McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc.,
1934.
Note: Anton Flettner was the first to use rotating cylinders to produce Magnus Force to drive a wind driven ship. Also noteworthy, was the fact that this was the only sailing ship that could be driven in reverse - simply by changing the rotation direction of the cylinders! Note: See also the NASA web site that discusses the Kutta-Joukowski lift theorem, which explains the Magnus Force
and provides an equation to estimate its magnitude. This site also mentions the Flettner-proposed wind driven ship that used an engine to spin a cylinder. (A picture of the ship is shown.) It further notes that: "the propulsion force generated was less than the motor would have generated if it had been connected to a standard marine propeller!" (www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/cyl.html) Stephreg 20:42, 30 July 2006 (UTC)
