Patent ID: 8302365

Claim:
A method of erecting a wind turbine tower and attaching said wind turbine to the ground, comprising: a. providing an extendable pylon, having a base and a top; b. providing at least three rigid legs, wherein each of said legs has a lower extreme and an upper extreme; c. providing a nacelle; d. providing a hub; e. providing a plurality of blades; f. placing said base of said extendable pylon on said ground and placing said extendable pylon in a vertical orientation; g. placing said lower extreme of each of said legs on said ground, with said lower extreme of each leg being laterally displaced from said base of said extendable pylon, so that an angle formed between said extendable pylon as said extendable pylon sits on said ground and said leg is an acute angle, and placing said upper extreme of each of said legs proximate said top of said extendable pylon; h. providing a collar fixedly attached to said legs proximate said upper extreme of each of said legs and slidably attached to said extendable pylon; i. locking said collar in position with respect to said ground by attaching each of said lower extremes of said legs to said ground; j. attaching said plurality of blades to said hub; k. attaching said hub to said nacelle; l. forcing said extendable pylon upward into a raised position where said base of said telescoping pylon lies proximate said collar, and in said raised position, no portion of said base of said extendable pylon directly contacts said ground; and m. fixing said extendable pylon in said raised position.