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Old 05-12-2008, 04:06 PM   #13 (permalink)
Otto
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Google for "aircraft turtledeck" and look for info on fabric-covered planes. A turtledeck is the fairing behind the pilot's head on old biplanes, etc., and is an elongated shape to streamline the flow. Same story would work well with your pickup truck: Fabric stretched over stringers into aero shape, with stringers runing parallel to the long axis of the vehicle.

Dacron is used extensively in homebuilt planes, comes in a slew of colors, and is heat-shrinkable to make it nice and tight over a lightweight frame, such as made of fiberglass, aluminum, wood, or even PVC pipe tubing. Once you have the shape right, you can add dope, epoxy, etc. to waterproof it, same as done on aircraft.

This would be an inexpensive, light, yet strong and translucent aero mod for your truck. You could hinge it at the upper rear edge of the cab roof, then add gas struts (as used in hatchbacks or hoods) or a stick to hold it up when you're getting stuff in and out of the cargo bed.

If Dacron is not strong enough, consider the stuff used on folding kayaks and baidarkas, whose structure is essentially as described above. Clear Mylar may be another option--it's been used to skin ultralight aircraft for decades, and makes them almost transparent.

Keep us posted.

PS: This thing will generate some lift, so take that into account. I've considered making a cockpit cover (replacement for Bimini) for my speedboat this way, as the lift would help pull the boat a bit higher in the water at speed, reducing wetted area and therefore drag. Never got around to it, though.
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