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Old 08-15-2022, 04:52 PM   #1054 (permalink)
Bicycle Bob
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: N. Saskatchewan, CA
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Appliance White - '93 Geo Metro 4-Dr. Auto
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The "air keel" was intended for directional stability, but it didn't have much mass to work with. Modern underbodies are designed for downforce, while Bucky was assuming he'd get lift at the rear. His ideas about flow were not very accurate. He thought that air separated ahead of the stagnation point the way that steel fractures ahead of a machine tool point, not accounting for the difference in shear strength in a solid.
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