NOTICE This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States government. Neither the United States government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific

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... ommercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States government or any agency thereof. Available to DOE and DOE contractors from: Office ABSTRACT At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory * , we tested a very flexible wind turbine. This machine, the Cannon Wind Eagle turbine, exhibited an ability to significantly reduce the rotor flap-wise bending moments through a unique combination of a flexible rotor and hub design. In parallel to this testing effort, we developed analytical models of this machine using our simulation codes. The goal of this work was to validate the analytical models of this machine by comparing analytical predictions to measured results from the real machine. We first describe briefly the simulation codes used in this study. We then describe the wind turbine we analyzed. We then describe analytical model validation progress for this flexible rotor and show preliminary validation results. Finally, we make conclusions and state our plans for future studies.