The attached photo shows a piece of aluminum I bent and clamped together with a vise grip. It got me thinking about an aero envelope that would work similarly to a convertible top, where the ribs could fold together like the piece in the photo or be separated to create the foundation for an aero envelope when the aluminum strips acted like battens in a sail.
The individual aluminum strips could be connected at the front and rear, where slight differences in length would allow them to befolded together or unfolded into a very light aero shell.
The material is old road signs which are fairly plentiful at the metal recycling place I frequent. Cut into 1 to 2 inch strips they could be riveted or welded together to make almost any size.
regards
mech
