SketchUp Models of Concept Vehicles

[Smurf]

I have several reverse trike based designs I've done over the past six months or so. I've never used anything but SketchUp 8 Pro and Falcon for aero guesswork (Falcon seems unreliable to me).

[NeilBlanchard]

Cool - the rear wheel steering on the Dymaxion was its fatal flaw, I think. I think the wheel layout could be changed, and it would make a very good small bus.

I concur with you on Falcon - the surface pressure maps look reasonable, but the Cd calculations are waaaaay off.

[freebeard]

the rear wheel steering on the Dymaxion was its fatal flaw, I think. I think the wheel layout could be changed, and it would make a very good small bus.

Fly-by-wire three-wheel drive, three-wheel steering?

The fatal flaw was being in traffic with a politician's drunk son in another car. The Dymaxions logged 250,000 miles [citation needed]. The proposal drawings had an horizontal elevator so the rear wheel could fly off the ground. Remember it wasn't a car, but a vehicle to test the ground taxiing characteristics of an Omni-Directional Transport. Bucky didn't think small.

His next, un-built design had a variable wheelbase with in-hub motors and 6 wheels in a reverse trike arrangement.

[NeilBlanchard]

Yes, he was a big thinker! And 3-wheel steering would be better than just the rear wheel. I've driven fork trucks in the past, and it is hard enough driving them at 5 or 8 MPH let alone at highway speeds. And electric drivetrain works easier in an unconventional layout. The Cg of having batteries below the chassis would be better in any car, and especially so in a 3-wheel vehicle - I think the Dymaxion has a (Ford?) V8 in the back; which is why the front overhang has to be as big as it is.

[freebeard]

Correct on the Ford V-8. In the 1930s there was enough interest in Ford powered 3-wheelers that Special Interest Auto ran an article called SIA Flashback – Teardroppers powered by Ford. Their whole category streamliners and teardrops is interesting.



Here's a pre-Dymaxion drawing by Mechanix Illustrated [as I recall]. Pneumatic Guard Rail = air bags!