[aerohead]

I was going to kick some numbers around from the Bonneville trip as related to the 'Template'.
*From the 'travel' portion of the 4200 + mile trip I was indicating 34 mpg at 70 mph.
*This would be a 45.92% improvement from the truck's baseline of 23.3 mpg at the same velocity.
*From GM's SAE Paper relating HWY mpg to drag coefficient,the 45.92% mpg increase would require that the Cd fall 76.53%,from 0.44 to 0.103.
*If I used a high-elevation air density value for the entire distance based on Rick Gold's density altitude for Bonneville of 5,600-feet,and 0.0019309 slugs vs 0.00238 (standard) then the Cd degrades to Cd 0.1268.
*With the new,lower, frontal area based on the photo-enlargement of Toyota's T-100 front elevation view,the Cd degrades to 0.1349.
*I'm not entirely comfortable with the number,so just for talkin' purposes,maybe we'd say it's in Cd 0.16 territory.
*I have brought the nose up to the 1968 R.G.S.White' minimums for low drag,but otherwise,the significant modifications have been in the aft-body as per Hucho's recommendations for body elongation.
*It appears to work.
* If I finish the 18-inch 'stinger' and install it,along with restoring the other missing components,it seems like it's not much of a stretch to the imagination that the truck will come right down to a Cd on the order of 0.13.
*Next stop is the A2 Wind Tunnel LLC facility in North Carolina.With their load cells,I should be able to finally nail down the actual Cd.
*Until then,I'd say that the "Template" can be used with a pretty high degree of confidence for drag reduction.
*And we can thank the likes of Jaray,Fachsenfeld,Kamm,Elliott,Heald,Lay,Breer,and so many others who did all the heavy lifting for us so long ago,such that we can have such simple tools to work with today.
*Another thing is that much of the elongation can be done with inflatable structures which won't impact urban driving 'practicality.'
*For those of you who will be trick- or -treating this season,you can be thinking about some of the inflatable yard decorations you'll be seeing.Christmas also!