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Topic ClosedThe Mystery of The R-Pod Total Frontal Area

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offgrid View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: The Mystery of The R-Pod Total Frontal Area
    Posted: 13 May 2019 at 10:00am
Originally posted by lostagain

.... and if you put the wings on the back edge of the Pod, it'll easily double the coasting distance.  Ermm

Wings create both lift and drag. So more than likely you'll get both sway AND worse fuel economy. Try it, let us know what happens, I wanna see the youtube video.LOL
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lostagain View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 May 2019 at 9:51pm
I was thinking of the really nice fin like wings that are not horizontally oriented.  I was hoping to get a pair off an old 1950's trailer made of aircraft aluminum and only about an inch thick.  They'd operate more as rudders than creating an airfoil for lift.  And at the snail like speeds I tend to drive, the wind resistance cause by about 10 sq. in. of leading edge surface area would be de minimus.  And if I could score unicorn wings, they'd reduce drag and make fuel unnecessary.  If I find them and mount them, I'll certainly post not only photos but a video.  Big smile
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 2019 at 10:03am
So, are you trying to make your R-Pod look like a Shasta?  (scroll down to first picture in "Original Condition Shasta Trailer")
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 2019 at 10:26am
Ok, StephenH, where can I pick up a pair of those cool fins on the blue trailer in your picture?  I think that would add to, not only the aesthetics of the Pod, but to it's aerodynamic efficiency.  Imagine the reduction of drag and the increase of lateral stability to to those sleek fins.  The only thing that would improve on them would be unicorn wings. Thumbs Up  But, I'd never want to hurt a unicorn by harvesting its wings.  Disapprove
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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