R-pod Owners Forum Homepage

This site is free to use.
Donations benefit a non-profit Girls Softball organization

Forum Home Forum Home > R-pod Discussion Forums > I need HELP!!!
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed: The Mystery of The R-Pod Total Frontal Area
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Calendar   Register Register  Login Login

Topic ClosedThe Mystery of The R-Pod Total Frontal Area
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1234>
Author
Message Reverse Sort Order
  Share Topic Share Topic  Topic Search Topic Search  Topic Options Topic Options
offgrid View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member


Joined: 23 Jul 2018
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: The Mystery of The R-Pod Total Frontal Area
    Posted: 15 May 2019 at 5:51am
Yes, as i understand it, to reduce flow separation and turbulence, you want to try to bring down the rear (or sides)of an object at no more than about a 20 degree taper as long a possible. Then, when you can no longer continue to do that you make as clean a break as possible so that the turbulent flow separates from the rear of the object, "spoiling" the airflow and reducing the area of low pressure immediately behind the object. Take a look at the rear of a Prius for example. Or at the tail fairings you see on some semi trailers now. 

I was thinking to try to do that with a full width 350 watt-ish solar module on the top rear of my rPod overhanging the back window. It would also provide some summer shade in that area. I'm thinking the side treatment would be 0.090 aluminum sheeting which i would extend forward to enclose the sides of two additional solar modules in front of the rear one. The a/c unit and tv antenna would go away, so that the front modules would drop down to meet the existing roofline. I would also need some type of small front fairing to smooth the airflow where the front module comes down to the roof.  That's about as far as I've gotten with the concept so far. 
1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
Back to Top
David and Danette View Drop Down
podders Helping podders - pHp
podders Helping podders - pHp
Avatar

Joined: 24 Nov 2009
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1214 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 2019 at 8:20pm
   The Curtis Wright Clipper may be the first camper to be built with wind drag in mind. I think for the r-pod to have less wind drag it would need to have a tapered back to minimize wind turbulence creating drag.
2018 Vista Cruiser 19BFD (2018-              
2012 Vibe 6503 (2014-2019)
2009 r-pod 171 (2009-2014)
Middle Tn
2014 Ram 1500 Quad cab


Back to Top
lostagain View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 06 Sep 2016
Location: Quaker Hill, CT
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2587 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 2019 at 6:51pm
But not my unicorn wings.Thumbs Down
Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
Back to Top
offgrid View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member


Joined: 23 Jul 2018
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 2019 at 4:49pm
Originally posted by GlueGuy

.

I think the only way to figure this out is to rent the wind tunnel at Moffett Field. 

I have not checked what the rental rate is on that puppy.

Its waaay too much. Disapprove

But, its not the only way. You can use coast down testing as I mentioned earlier. This is how folks evaluate the effectiveness of aero add-ons for semis.  There are free calculators to input the data into, and as you are coasting from a high speed where aero drag dominates to a low speed where rolling resistance dominates, you can get decent numbers for both factors. The calculators use linear regression analysis to obtain the two coefficients. 

I dd it for my Highlander last year and got pretty decent initial results. I haven't done it for the combined rig yet because I want to  remove my a/c unit and install my solar array first. I'm going to shoot for 1 kW. Once that's on I want to do coast down testing to optimize the solar module tilts to see if I can get them to act as spoilers. 

Not only saving energy towing but simultaneously producing energy, that will beat lostagain's Shasta wings  Big smile 
1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
Back to Top
lostagain View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 06 Sep 2016
Location: Quaker Hill, CT
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2587 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 2019 at 3:00pm
There were some videos of a Pod with wind in different colors, I think late last year or early this year.  But there would be nothing cooler than testing a Pod in the Moffett Field wind tunnel.  When can we sign up?
Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
Back to Top
GlueGuy View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 15 May 2017
Location: N. California
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2629 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 2019 at 1:15pm
You all know that if it was "just" frontal area, it would be a simple thing. Problem is, it's not. The real issue is total drag, and to be fair, it is the total drag of the TV/TT combination. If your TV is a pickup (as are a lot of TVs), then there is also the length/height of the bed of the pickup and whether it has a tonneau or not, and what sort of thing(s) might be on any rack that may or may not be there.

And finally, there is the issue of the GIGANTIC vacuum at the tail end of the R-pod.

I think the only way to figure this out is to rent the wind tunnel at Moffett Field. 

I have not checked what the rental rate is on that puppy.
bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
Back to Top
lostagain View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 06 Sep 2016
Location: Quaker Hill, CT
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2587 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 2019 at 1:03pm
They may provide too much lift, thus creating the phenomena about which offgrid warned.  

To keep on topic, the purpose of the fins would be to assist in the frontal drag and cut through the wind with a minimal amount of fuel, kind of like a streamlined locomotive of 1938.
Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
Back to Top
David and Danette View Drop Down
podders Helping podders - pHp
podders Helping podders - pHp
Avatar

Joined: 24 Nov 2009
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1214 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 2019 at 12:44pm
  How about wings like the 59 Chevy impala had. Maybe could make them adjustable.
2018 Vista Cruiser 19BFD (2018-              
2012 Vibe 6503 (2014-2019)
2009 r-pod 171 (2009-2014)
Middle Tn
2014 Ram 1500 Quad cab


Back to Top
lostagain View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 06 Sep 2016
Location: Quaker Hill, CT
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2587 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 2019 at 11:19am
I thought I might take a look in some junkyards around area 51.  It's only about 3 1/2 hours from home.  Who knows what I might find; maybe some flying saucer parts.  I'd have to go all the way to Buffalo, NY, to get Buffalo wings.  That may be in the plans for next summer.  But I don't know the aerodynamic characteristics for them.  Ermm
Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney
Sonoma 167RB
Our Pod 172
2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost
Back to Top
StephenH View Drop Down
podders Helping podders - pHp
podders Helping podders - pHp
Avatar

Joined: 29 Nov 2015
Location: Wake Forest, NC
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6288 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 2019 at 10:33am
Ask in a Shasta forum? Likewise, harvesting unicorn wings would not be a good thing. Maybe buffalo wings? Big smile
StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1234>

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Bulletin Board Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 9.64
Copyright ©2001-2009 Web Wiz