[stcyrwm]

Again, thanks for the response George.

To have a an actual useful interior that one can stand up in, it is a single hinged at front lift at back roof with tent-like triangle sides in the erect position. The walls are about a foot thick with built-in's, 12" radius at top/roof. 8-foot wide trailer minus 12" and 12" leaves 6-foot wide of maneuverable waking surface and ceiling surface.

There is no taper to the sides, the sharp rear edges have a little cavity box effect to them to act as a water drip edge.

Maybe I'll post something after Monday, but I don't want to hijack this thread. I want stcyrwm to start posting some of his sketches.

No worries on my end about hijacking thread - I would love to see your design. I am a little confused as to why you would do 12" thick walls though. I was thinking more of 3" to 4"max, considering that frontal area is a major aerodynamic factor.

I am not sure how soon I will be able to post sketches myself as I am still just learning how to use Sketchup. Also I am still just sitting with which design to go with. I guess one of the questions I need to settle in myself is whether i want to go to a hinged setup like you are speaking about or let that idea go and just run with the partial boattail.

I am leaning toward something shaped like the bus in the graphic above with a Cd of .218. This design would allow a queen bed in the back where we wouldn't need as much headroom anyway and get a fair amount of the aerodynamics without the complications of a hinged top.

In my opinion, unless the wood construction is honeycomb Bass/Balsa epoxy and fiberglass cloth coated, it's going to be much heavier than composite foam and fiberglass or aluminum construction.

I think I could do a relatively lightweight 2x2 lumber with some strategically place 3/4 plywood for frame with some thin plywood interior sheathing and then 2" styrofoam with poor man's fiberglass exterior (canvas, titebond and exterior house paint) and easily keep the weight in the 2 to 3000 lb range.

Using the image search terms "camper trailer construction" provides a wealth of construction types.

You can say that again. I have spent countless hours watching people build campers, canoes and planes recently - haven't checked out the hovercraft yet. The "foamie" section of the ttnttt.com forum also has days worth of reading about lightweight trailer construction.

Thanks, Bill