Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Lee
Wild shapes here but it was a lot of work and expense I'm sure:
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The '59 Cadillac also got the maximum use from an extra pressing and a strip of chrome over the seam. There were years when Dodge had no front panel at all, just grille and trim bits.
BTW, some of the sheet metal shapes we see are there mainly as stiffening corrugations, with styling and streamlining considerations next.
One other afterthought from reading the thread through:
I was at the first race where Matt Weaver rode a long-nosed recumbent bicycle, and he was ecstatic. In a crosswind gust, the yaw worked to automatically steer the bike away from the wind, setting up the lean needed to counter it faster than hands could react. I still wouldn't ride one on public roads, though, as passing motorists won't know to leave enough space for such antics.
This is yet another factor in the complex balance that stabilizes a bicycle. Generally, we do best with a shape and CG that would make a stable glider if unguided in any or all directions. Craig Vetter put 20 lbs of lead in the front of one of his full MC fairings and loved it for the first time.
Thanks for the thread. Is this the place to post pages from a rare text on attached vortices?