what is the history of the windsock?
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I've looked for near an hour and for the life of me I can't the history of it.  I thought it would be pretty simple, but boy was I ever wrong.  I'm sure you already found the sites that make and sell them, not to mention an airplane called a Windsock, but all the help I can give you today is good luck.  Sorry I couldn't help.  But I had to give you some sort of answer because nobody else has posted anything.
453464
How about this:\n\nhttp://www.windstreampower.com/humanpower/ppg.html\n\nGood luck!
730035
What does this have to do with boats?
180776
http://www.pipage.fsnet.co.uk/History%20of%20pi.htm
1132945
This is "Knot" an appropriate question to be asking a landlubber. Why do you 'Assail' us with these questions? You may wind up with a 'Stern' reprimand. So, I will have to 'Bow' out of this one.
607515
1952.  \n\nHere's the whole history.\n\nhttp://www.coatsandclark.com/our_company/history.htm
1090720
An anemometer is a device for measuring the velocity or the pressure of the wind, and is one instrument used in a weather station. The term is derived from the Greek word "anemos" meaning wind.\n\nAnemometers may be divided into two classes, (1) those that measure the velocity, (2) those that measure the pressure of the wind, but as there is a close connection between the pressure and the velocity, a suitable anemometer of either class will give information about both these quantities.\n\n\nCup anemometers\nThe simplest type of anemometer is the cup-anemometer, invented (1846) by Dr. John Thomas Romney Robinson, of Armagh Observatory. It consists of three or four hemispherical cups, mounted one on each end of a pair of horizontal arms, which lie at equal angles to each other. A vertical axis round which the cups turn passes through the center of the arms; a train of wheel-work counts up the number of turns which this axis makes, and from the number of turns made in any given time the velocity of the wind during that time is calculated. The cups are placed symmetrically on the end of the arms, so it is easy to see that the wind always has the hollow of one cup presented to it; the back of the cup on the opposite end of the cross also faces the wind, but the pressure on it is naturally less, and hence a continual rotation is produced; each cup in turn as it comes round providing the necessary force. The two great merits of this anemometer are its simplicity and the absence of a wind vane; but if used without electronic data logging equipment it is not well adapted to leaving a record of the actual velocity at any definite instant, and hence it leaves a short but violent gust unrecorded. Unfortunately, when Dr. Robinson first designed his anemometer, he stated that no matter what the size of the cups or the length of the arms, the cups always moved with one-third of the velocity of the wind. This result was apparently confirmed by some independent experiments, but it is very far from the truth, for it was later discovered that the actual ratio, or factor as it is commonly called, of the velocity of the wind to that of the cups depends very largely on the dimensions of the cups and arms, and may have almost any value between two and a little over three. This had the result that wind velocities published in many official 19th century publications were often in error by nearly 60%.\n\nHot-wire anemometers\nHot-wire anemometers use a thermistor or other temperature measuring device heated up to some warm temperature. Air or other gases or fluids flow past the hot wire and cool it to a steady temperature, which depends on the flow rate. The change in resistance can be calibrated to changes in flows for a cheap way to measure flow rates.\nSonic anemometers\nSonic anemometers uses sound waves to measure wind speed and direction. They're capable of measuring the wind velocity in the X (east-west), Y (north-south), and Z (up-down) directions. Additionally, they can take measurements with very fine resolution, and the lack of moving parts makes them appealing to automated weather stations. Use of such anemometers is likely to increase in the future.\n\n\nWindmill anemometers\n \nAn aerovaneThe other forms of mechanical velocity anemometer may be described as belonging to the windmill type. In the Robinson anemometer the axis of rotation is vertical, but with this subdivision the axis of rotation must be parallel to the direction of the wind and therefore horizontal. Furthermore, since the wind varies in direction and the axis has to follow its changes, a wind vane or some other contrivance to fulfill the same purpose must be employed. An aerovane combines a propeller and a tail on the same axis to obtain accurate and precise wind speed and direction measurements from the same instrument. In cases where the direction of the air motion is always the same, as in the ventilating shafts of mines and buildings for instance, wind va
1153436
try worldwind or windworld. cant remember now! From google search
84192
This is a challenging question. There are weather ships that try to measure wind speed, but of course the presence of the ship itself can produce orographic effects and produce biases. Another estimate can be made from satellite and airplane observations of cloud movement. Another technique is to fly balloons (radiosondes) up into the air column and use anemometers on the balloons to measure wind speed, or track the balloons using radio methods and try to infer wind speed from that. Dropsondes can be dropped from airplanes as well to estimate windspeed. \n\nA technique that is used from satellites and airplanes is to measure the roughness of the sea surface by boucing microwaves off it (a "scatterometer"). The windier it is, the rougher the sea surface. \n\nThere are probably other techniques that are in use or have been tried or at least considered as well\n\nProbably there is room for improvement in all of these, if you are so inclined to think about it!
900196
where the wind has blown
783713
the most sway in the heaviest winds is 15 cm\n\nit's designed with the wind in mind . . .
872399
The wind instrument has always been with us, ask anyone who has eaten beans, broccoli, cabbage or the like. I don't think there's any record of the start of the string thing.
809239
Here are some sites/links that may interest you.  I assume you are a pilot and know what these maps represents. (Past, current, forecast) \n\nThese are the type of maps I used for my pilot weather briefing days.\n\nPast winds aloft mainly using satellite estimated wind speed and direction. (This first link - winds are streamlines)\n\nhttp://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/tropic/real-time/eastpac/winds/winds-dlm.html\n\nNext two links (need to zoom in)\n\nNCEP (4-Panel included) 200 mb, 250 mb, 300 mb, (Not on the label, but also include) 500mb, 700mb, and 850 mb winds.\n\nRegular single map - \n\nhttp://www.nco.ncep.noaa.gov/pmb/nwprod/analysis/epac/nam/00/model_m.shtml\n\nhttp://www.nco.ncep.noaa.gov/pmb/nwprod/analysis/npac/gfs/00/model_lu.shtml\n\n850 maps\n\nhttp://wwwt.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/mmb/mmbpll/opsnam/nam.npac.850wind_animate.html#picture\n\nPlease use with caution as computer model forecast winds can have higher error rate over the ocean due to lack of measured sounding data and few ship and low level pilot weather report data available.  \n\nHope this is what you are looking for.
274617
Breeches Buoy:\nThe breeches buoy essentially is a life ring sewn into a pair of short pants. It is used to transport the wreck victim from the ship to the beach. It is attached to the traveling block which rides along the hawser and pulled back and forth by the surfmen manning the whip line.
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''The history of surfing is well documented, and due to commercialization and media in the United States, it has become, world-wide, the most popular water sport and lifestyle.\n\nSurfing is an old sport. Its actual beginning is unknown because it is so old. It is, however, known that it began in Polynesia. Most people are under the impression that surfing originated in Hawaii. The truth is that the Hawaiians were people who, based on the similarities of cultures, are believed to have crossed the ocean in old outrigger canoes to Hawaii from Tahiti and Bora Bora. Since the early Polynesians had no written language it hard to know exactly what their history is. We can only come to our conclusions of their origin by the evidence that we have. (Dixon 20)\n\nSurfing was the Polynesians most popular sport. Long before white men discovered the sport, competitions were held and much gambling was done. In the ancient Hawaiian and Polynesian way of life, nakedness, adultery, sexual freedom and all kinds of sports and games were loved.\n\nCaptain James Cook, a British explorer, discovered Hawaii in 1778. He and his crew were the first westerners to witness surfing. In his log, Captain Cook gave a description of the scene. After describing the scene of men an women riding the face of great waves on planks of wood, and the skill in which they did it, Cook wrote, "The boldness and address with which we saw them perform these difficult and dangerous maneuvers was astonishing and is scarce to be credited." (22)\n\nCook's discovery lead to the arrival of Christian missionaries to Hawaii. They believed that the Hawaiians way of life was evil and surfing was included. The missionaries traveled all over the islands teaching the Hawaiian people about western ideas and beliefs. They succeeded in the conversion of many Hawaiians.\n\nProbably one of the biggest successes of the missionaries was the conversion of Queen Kaahumanu by Hiram Bingham.\n\nIn 1810, Kamehameha I took over all the Hawaiian Islands and declared his kingdom which lasted until 1893 when Queen Liloukalani was dethroned. (Compton's 58-61) King Kamehameha and his wife Kaahumanu were incredible surfers. The king had private beaches. Violation of these beaches was forbidden on pain of death. Kamehameha and his queen ignored the missionaries. After the kings death, Kaahumanu took over as the kingdoms ruler. (Compton's 26)\n\nThe new queen came under the influence of a man named Hiram Bingham, who was a missionary. The Queen and Bingham became close friends. She even had a house built for him next to hers. They were seen together often and eventually Kaahumanu was converted to Christianity.\n\nAs was mentioned earlier, the cultures and traditions which the Hawaiians held so dearly, including surfing, were considered evil and an abomination to the Christians. As a result of Kaahumanu now holding Christian beliefs, all the Hawaiian cultures and traditions were banned. The hula was done away with, surfing banned, nakedness illegal, and adulterers were banished. Hawaiian hearts were literally broken and many deaths resulted. (27)\n\nSurfing was almost destroyed forever. The young king Kamehameha III made a short attempt at reviving the Hawaiian way of life. He was unsuccessful. ( 28) He did, however, grant a constitution for the kingdom of Hawaii in 1840. (Compton's 91)\n\nNearly 50 years after Kamehameha III's attempt to revive the Hawaiian culture, the new king, David Kalakaua, succeeded in restoring the hula and then all of the other traditions and cultures of his Hawaiian forefathers. In a short while Kalakaua succeeded in getting rid of all the bans on their culture. Unfortunately, after Kalakaua's death in 1891, his wife, Liliukalani took over the rule of the kingdom. (Dixon 28-30) She tried to abolish the constitution granted by Kamehameha III. In 1893 Liliukalani was dethroned. A new government took over. (Compton's 58-59) Surfing again
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west·er    audio  (wstr)  KEY  \n\nNOUN:\n\n    A strong wind coming from the west.\n\nintr.v.\nwest·ered , west·er·ing , west·ers\n\n    To move westward. Used of the sun, the moon, or a star.
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There are similarities such as assessing wind direction but any windsurfer will tell you that windsurfing is the purest form of sailing because you don't have a rudder so it is very different from that point of view.\n\nIf you are reasonably co-ordinated and have decent balance you shouldn't have any problems learning to windsurf especially on the new equipment that is available now. I would recommend going along to a course at least to get the basics and then practise from there.\n\nGood luck!