a999  2218  24 Feb 80
. . . both at the site on 4,200-foot Howard's Knob and by remote
control from Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corp.'s headquarters in
Lenoir. A computer is also used to extract data about the py training'' for Blu-
e Ridge
operators will begin this week, and NASA hopes to turn the operation
over to the company in April or May - when power may finally flow.
    The rotor is designed to begin turning when the wind reaches 6 mph
and stop at 33 mph. At the ideal wind speed of 25 mph, it should
produce 2,000 kilowatts of power.
    Meanwhile, if the windmill hasn't generated electricity for Boone
residents, it has generated one new cult - the Pangalactic Unification
Church and Restaurant.
    Members of the spoof organization call themselves Wooshies because
the windmill goes ''woosh, woosh, woosh'' when it turns.
    Two Boone residents, Kenn Hochstetler and John Fairweather, made a
comedy film about the windmill, complete with man-on-the-street
interviews and footage of Wooshies worshiping the generator.
    That gave rise to Wooshie bumper stickers and windmill buttons, all
revealing in a lighthearted way how many residents of this town of
12,000 - plus some 10,000 Appalachian State University students - feel
about the windmill, the films' producers say.
    ''Most people in Boone feel that the windmill is a white elephant,''
they said. ''The Wooshies is a way of poking fun at the windmill in
the same way that the mountaineer makes fun of the flatlander.''
    
ap-ny-02-25 0120EST
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