DIY Wind Tunnel: Introduction

Welcome!

Today's project is recreating the iconic wind tunnel scene from the pizza party arc of Full House season 3. Who could possibly forget the shocking truths revealed in the climax of season 3? Among both casual Full House fans and Full House original series purists alike, this finale to Jesse's obsession and Michelle's dark secret certainly delivered, making its mark in cinematic history. Faithfully recreating the suspense and drama of Danny Tanner's sudden hospitalization from the wind tunnel incident of episode 57 is a difficult task, but with the proper tools, we can definitely come close to accurately recreating the wind tunnel prop. Wind tunnels are used by many companies that use the power of aerodynamicity in their products. This is especially important in the aviation industry, and the car industry. Wind tunnels work by blowing large amounts of air at the object. Several streams of fog, sometimes colored, will be put into the flow of the wind. Using high speed cameras, the wind tunnel researchers will observe the flow of air over the vehicle, from which they can determine drag and fuel efficiency. Have mercy!

It’s really quite simple to build a wind tunnel. You will need the following materials:

-A couple cardboard boxes (Note: You may want one of the boxes to be smaller, and longer rather than a large box. The cavity created by the box will disperse the air, and may not create results if it is too big.)

-A plastic cup or two

-A fan

-Duct Tape

-A humidifier or fog machine. Something that just makes steam or fog.

-Skyzzyz™©® brand

-Plastic bag of some sort (optional)

-Bendy straws or small rubber tube

-Stick or dowel (It should be as straight as possible)

-Light (optional, but a nice extra if you want to accurately simulate and relive the heartbreaking moment when Michelle trips and falls against the pavement at school with no one to help her, with the blazing sun looming overhead.

1.Take your smaller box. This is going to be the test chamber for your wind tunnel. (DISCLAIMER: Because of the available materials for this project, we had two boxes of the same size that were formerly boxes holding reams of paper). Cut a hole in the end of the box the size of about midway through the cup. This is going to be where the air comes from.

2. Cut out the other side of the box completely. This will be the output of the air from the box, and also allow you to change what you are testing.

3. We created a sort of wing sort of thing using cardboard. You can test nearly anything in the tunnel but it might be nice to have a little default thing. Take a piece of the cardboard that you cut off the end, make a small rectangle, and cover it with the duct tape to prevent it from soaking. Tape it to the center of the dowel. 4. This is completely optional, but can be cool. On one of the sides that you have not yet cut into, make a viewing port. It should not be too big, and you may consider covering it with some transparent covering, such as Plexiglas or Ceram wrap.

5.Optional again, but if you have a lid to your tunnel, you may want a light so that you can see what is happening inside.

6. In the cup that is midway through, cut a hole in the top the size of a straw. It should be tight enough that not too much air can escape, but also loose enough that you can move the straw. This should be in the top of the cup.

7.Now, we will use the other box. Set up the fan about 1.5 feet to 2 feet away from the opening of the cup. Using a flat surface of the box, draw a line from the edges of the cup, to the edges of the fan. If your box is smaller than the diameter of the fan, just go to the ends of the box. This is the top of the tunnel Then, using the unused sides, fill in the gaps like so:

8. Use tape to ensure that all of the open spots are closed up, especially in the tunnel from the fan to the test chamber.

9. Enjoy your wind tunnel and recreate the magic.

The wind tunnel uses the same principles of fluid dynamics, just with air instead of a fluid. As the tunnel gets smaller before going into the test chamber, the air speeds up, because of the flow rate. The same amount of air molecules pass through in the same amount of time, just in a smaller space, being more condensed.