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According to my calculations, based on stuff I just looked up all over the internet, if 20mph air at 1:1 scale is enough to observe the relevant turbulence, 30mph water will work at 1:18 scale; a scale at which models of most of our cars are widely and cheaply available. That takes like 40,000gph at a 6 inch by 6 inch cross section, so a pump would be pretty expensive. A powerboat would probably be cheaper, although whatever cord you dragged your model by and the boat's wake would keep the water pretty turbulent.
But if you could hoist a lot of water 30 feet in the air, and get a few seconds of flow at the correct speed at ground level--assuming you could keep the flow laminar and drag-free--you'd have the correct ratio. The challenge, then, would be keeping the model from being immediately pulverized.
We don't have any waterfalls here in Florida, because we don't have any elevation changes. Does anybody who lives near one wanna give this a try?
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