Desktop Wind Tunnel

A small smoke wind tunnel for 1:43 model cars: a fan pulls air through a straw honeycomb (for a smooth, laminar flow), and smoke lines show how the air flows over the car.

Students see streamlines, turbulence and drag, and can test their own car or wing shapes.

Design by Tom Wilkie on Printables, shared under CC BY 4.0. The files and photos are the designer's, unchanged.

1. Print the tunnel parts; you also need a fan, drinking straws for the inlet, a light bar and a small smoke machine.
2. Pack the inlet with straws so the flow is steady.
3. Compare a boxy shape with a streamlined one: where does the smoke break up?