Flyfisher
Senior Member
I'm in Bill. I'd be willing to work with you on a solution. I think that might be a large part of the drag coefficient for our campers. I have certainly looked at those trucks and wondered.
Gregg
Gregg
EDIT: Just saw Bad Habits post did not mean to duplicate.Wallowa said:Geez...really? Add something to back of our campers to decrease the drag? At some point it will come down to what the man previously said..."You play, you pay". You know "diminishing returns". But to each their own and good luck with your project.
Phil
It is definitely true that the trailing edge is at least as important as the leading edge in aerodynamics, and therefor fuel economy. And I think you're right that your trailer filled the low pressure area behind your van. There is a reason we're seeing these contraptions added to the back of tractor/trailer rigs. I wonder if someone will come up with an add on for campers that will be economical and usable given that we don't spend thousands of dollars on fuel each year. Given the low economy of scale and the relatively minor amount we spend on fuel it might not wind up being worthwhile. But it's an interesting idea none the less. I'll bet one could come up with a very aerodynamic long trailing edge camper, but it would probably be ugly as hell and fairly unusable. Too bad,,,,,ntsqd said:Real world experience: Flat towed my fiberglass dune buggy all over So. CA with a '66 Econoline van. Neither of those vehicles qualifies as anything approaching "aerodynamic". Mileage was the same towing or not towing (dismal) at 55, and better when towing at higher speeds than when not towing at those same speeds. My tentative conclusion is that the dune buggy filled in the vacuum behind the van and made combination more aerodynamic than the van by itself.
Consider the classic rain drop shape. It's pure physics how it gets that shape. The reason for the shape of the 'tail' is due to two things, the high surface tension of water and the aerodynamics of a sphere moving thru the air. Basically the air pulls the water into that shape. If our campers were fluid enough they too would have that tail shape.
Aw, your no fun! As a retired engineer, I need a problem to occupy my mind (can't help myself)Bill D said:As mentioned above... wouldn't it be easier, cheaper and safer to simply slow down a bit.
The reason I bought a FWC is so I didn't have to rush to my destination.
Vortex generators work on airplanes and raptor's wings, so I don't know why they shouldn't work on a camper's trailing edge. I would be tempted to try them, why not?Bad Habit said:Ive always wondered if these would help at all
Www.airtab.com
I'm with ntsqd on this. Slowing down can make a big difference, depending on the road, wind direction, and total time. Under ideal conditions, speeding up will gain you a small amount of time at best, but will suck more gas and can increase your chances of, well--you read about it in the papers, especially in the winter. The proportionality with the square of the difference in speed also applies to wear and tear as well as to collisions. I'm on a bit of crusade with this, I'll admit.ntsqd said:Wind resistance squares with speed, so 2 times faster is 4 times more resistance.