Patent ID: 8100663

Claim:
A wind power installation comprising: a pod including a rotor hub and a hub cladding at least partially surrounding the rotor hub; a rotor blade mounted to the rotor hub, the rotor blade having a rotor blade leading edge, a rotor blade trailing edge, exterior surfaces spanning between the leading edge and trailing edge, and a rotor blade cross-section at a root of the rotor blade defined in part by the rotor blade leading edge and rotor blade trailing edge, the rotor blade rotatable about a longitudinal axis to adjust a pitch of the rotor blade; and a fixed rotor blade base structure separate from the rotor blade and fixedly connected to the hub cladding, the fixed rotor blade base structure having a profile that substantially corresponds to a profile of the rotor blade near the rotor hub, the fixed rotor blade base structure being positioned longitudinally immediately adjacent to the rotor blade with respect to the longitudinal axis and shaped such that, when the blade is in a nominal position, exterior surfaces of the rotor blade base structure transition substantially without obstruction to the exterior surfaces of the rotor blade at the root.