Quote:
Originally Posted by Rokeby
euromodder,
you may be onto something there. However, given how close to vertical the wingy things are, I don't see them generating a lot of downforce without also generating a lot of drag.
I'm thinking maximum efficiency/minimum drag which suggests to me that the horizontal angle of the chord or fore/aft axis of the wingy things -- OK, vertical stabilizers -- represents the actual airflow over the bodywork at the higher/highest speeds the car could achieve. (This would have been determined in the wind tunnel.)
That would mean that air is moving upwards as it moves along the body, and then inwards at an angle at the back. (I'd love to see a smoke test at simulated top speed.)
So there is a question then of just what was the design goal of the vertical stabilizers. I suppose that in the absence of sufficient downforce, or perhaps too much up force, acting on the back of the car/bodywork, the vertical stabilizers acted like a fixed rudder (and drag brake?) to keep the rear of the car following the front.
It would appear that two widely separated vertical stabilizers introduced a lot of new variables to be dealt with as opposed to one single centerline stabilizer.
So why then two?
One large single one just too reactive to side winds/gusts?
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Here's my guess.
*On a long fuselage or streamliner,the cabin is at enough distance from the fin that in a quartering wind,there is no way the cabin can occult the wind to the tail,rendering it less effective for center of pressure control.
*On the 'shorter' race car,the cabin is close enough that it could block airflow to a centerline fin under some yaw conditions.Potentially very dangerous!
*By using two fins,regardless of wind direction,one fin is always in 'clean' air.
*Also,in Gran Prix racing,with right and left curves,there's a better chance that at least one fin will be providing center of pressure control during cornering.It was very windy in Canada the other day during their big race.You could see how important directional stability would be to driver safety.