I'm checked into the motel in Ogden,a little battle weary.
Yesterday,south of Montecello,Utah,driving in a strong,pure crosswind,I got popped by a Cd 1.04 Cattle-hauler.
We were closing at 130-mph and as I encountered the truck all hell broke loose.
The new front skirt was blown up,destroying the spring,bending the skirt/hinge into a vee,along with the roller bracket,tearing two sheetmetal screws out,and sending the roller to parts unknown.
I had 410 miles on the odo at the half-tank mark and was excited about the prospects for mpg.
I pulled into the first gas station to try and save the 'skirted' data.
She pulled 35.5 mpg at a max 65-mph through the mountains and high winds.
Since I left Denton 6-1/2 hours late,I went ahead and ran 75-mph with strong winds,grades,up to over 7,000 feet,returning 30.8 mpg.
From Montecello to south of Ogden I pulled another 35.5 mpg without the skirt,running a max. 65-mph through the mountains with winds all the way.
I tried to straighten the skirt last night in Green River,but I'm not sure that I can salvage it.
I'll work on it some more but I really need my 'shop.'
If I can't restore it we'll have smoke images for 'with' and '
without'.
No idea what it will mean to the Cd.(the trials and tribulations of the amateur aerodynamicist!)
There's a lot of bug juice to clean off the beast.
I got one side (drivers) 'complete' as far as the graphics go.It had a pretty good 50/50 look to it before the cows showed up.
Lots of camera action.Lots of wayside aero talks.A velomobile/EV biker from Pleasant,Texas put a $20 bill in my hand at a Dairy Queen in Chilicothe,TX.
Another guy,from College Station I visited with had seen BamZipPow's 1-wheel trailer rig and now he knows the rest of that story.
Gary gets in late afternoon.
Tomorrow should be a hoot.After 9-years,on-and-off with modding the T-100,there'll finally be some numbers to attach to it.All I need is the local air density,test air velocity,and drag force,and the Cd will fall out of the equation.
And the smoke flow imaging should reveal a lot.
I'll report in when I know something and can get online.
Am looking forward to enchiladas with Freebeard,and it will be fun to see Gary's reaction to Darko and Bonneville.
Thanks again to all the donors who've made this possible.
Talk to you soon.