Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead
If you'll look at the graphics at #515 permalink (I think) of the Aerodynamic Streamlining Template Part-C thread you'll find a drag table for the streamline bodies of revolution.
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I utterly and completely didn't understand a word of that but it sure sounded cool. : D
I guess in part my assumption or what I remember reading in the past seemed to indicate that as long as laminar flow was maintained it didn't matter too much. Some lumpy looking shapes could be had, with wierd things going on, but there wouldn't be much drag - for instance tumbles of air could be happening in the pickup bed behind a truck, but it was a localized occurance, and the air coming over the top of the cab just maintained a separation from the 'tumbling' spinning air, so that laminar flow was never broken.
I mention that because that's concerning things in the middle of the body - if I have a smooth front and a streamlined tail, there's still issues of say pickup-rear to trailer-front to be concerned about.
What I was wondering in specific though was like the Airflow Bullettruck has ALOT of work put into streamlining the front of it. A long sloped nose extension primarily. What i'm wondering is whether one could dispense entirely with that, use a flat nose semi, and just boattail the heck out of the rear of the trailer, and insure a good cab-to-trailer seal, to get better mileage.