Wind Tunnel Bulletin #02: The Scale Effect

<p>How does scale present itself? What are <em>scale effects</em>? Do you only find them in a wind tunnel or do they also show up in art and literature? If the model of an aircraft is tested in a wind tunnel, a successful test does not guarantee that the full-scale aircraft will be able to fly – the aerodynamic properties of the prototype cannot simply be transferred to its full-size analogue. In issue 2 of the <em>Wind Tunnel Bulletin</em>, we deal with the relationship between big and small, which sometimes function cooperatively and other times in (productive) competition. It is a truism that bigger and taller are not necessarily better. A prominent example in architecture and a model for <em>Failed Scale</em> is the Gothic cathedral of Beauvais, which was planned to attain a superlative height, but collapsed twice and has since eked out an existence alongside its pre-Romanesque predecessor church (pp. 22-23). In four essays we deal with <em>scale effects</em> from different perspectives: <em>The Dimensions of Scale Effects</em>, <em>Aircraft Engineers in the Dollhouse</em>, <em>Big and Small</em>, and <em>Scale in 3D</em>. We look at what happens when texts themselves are scaled. Do they gain in meaning or do they lose in effect? Some things remain unsaid, others appear in a concentrated form. Our four essays were written according to the following guidelines: three-word title, four-word subtitle, 3200 characters of text (including spaces, excluding title), three paragraphs, four footnotes, no image (pp. 24-31). In the <em>Update</em>, you can see our wind tunnel both in its definitive form and in comparison with its model shortly before its move to Toni-Areal (pp. 32-33). Questions of scale have preoccupied writers for centuries. A selection of <em>Quotations</em> is collected here as well (pp. 34-43). Finally, in an <em>Interview</em>, we discuss the importance of scale for our research project and beyond (p. 44).</p> <p><em>German.</em></p>