Hi Doug, this discussion has been well established in the forum, beginning by yourself. @tallakt made propositions on your topic:
But it is not so easy to align the terminology with existing wind energy. After all AWES fly, unlike HAWT. AWES fall under aviation. All scientific papers are based on M.Loyd’s model. For this model, “drag” term (for turbine aloft) makes sense, because the thrust of the turbine aloft slows down the aircraft; “lift” term (for reeling) makes sense because it pulls up; “crosswind kite…” makes sense in contrast to “static kite…”.
The wind turbines you represent, as well as HAWT, are crosswind devices because the blades go crosswind. We do not ask the question for the whole of the turbine which never moves, unlike AWES.
But if the same wind turbine is lifted by at least one static kite, the whole becomes a “noncrosswind AWES” like on (with several turbines in fact):
And if the whole goes (more or less) crosswind like Makani wing (with several turbines in fact), it becomes a crosswind AWES, being slowed down by the thrust of the turbine, hence the term “drag device” mentioned above. A “crosswind AWES” as a drag device on:
