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Thanks Phil. I have already started to consider my RV a vertical wing with respect to the tail. That is, it's 100" wide, and about 130" tall. The top 50" can get a tail designed for a 50" height, and the lower 80" gets it's tail solely based on the sides.
I'm still a bit lost with less than optimal tails though. How come the Dryden van tail looks to have attached flow? It was 80" long (and truncated to 40") on an 80" wide vehicle. The optimum tail would have been 142" long based on half the width (and much longer in side view). Does it really only have attached flow for part of it's length? Did the tufts lie? We KNOW it's better than a flat rear end. And we KNOW it's less than optimum. Is it just the filling of the turbulent wake that is improving the drag? Makes me think about the straight edge tail, like the trailer tail, or the flat 10° stuff you're talking about. Would they would better with a rounded shape?
Really makes me want to build something. Been investigating removing my rear cap. a 36" tail would fit in my garage. Another 36" or so could be folded out a la trailer tail. I only need 50" to replicate the half tail from the Dryden van. Suggests I could get as good as it or better than it!
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