![]() | Flint Hills Beaumont, Kansas J.S. and S.W. Aber |
The Elk River Wind Farm went into operation in Dec. 2005. It generates 150 megawatts of electricity, sufficient for 42,000 homes, for the Empire Electric Company's system, which is based in Joplin, Missouri. Each tower is 262 feet tall and blades are 125 feet long. Total height with a blade in the upright position is ~390 feet.
![]() | Closeup portrait shots. | ![]() |
![]() | Left: turbine shut down for repair or maintenance with large crane to left. Right: sign on gate. All our ground and kite aerial photography was conducted from public roads. | ![]() |
Our visit took place on Friday the 13th in November 2009. Broken cloud cover raced overhead with a strong south wind (15-25 mph) on the ground. We used a small delta kite to lift our Canon S70 camera rig. The kite was relatively stable in the gusty wind, but the camera rig swung quite a bit. Working from the side of a gravel road next to a barbed wire fence severely restricted our mobility on the ground.
Lighting varied rapidly between overcast and sunlit conditions. Best illumination appeared at brief intervals with sunlit foreground and cloudy background. In spite of the unlucky date and other limitations, we had some success with kite aerial photography.
Lowest vantage point, ~200 feet.