Quote:
Originally Posted by Cd
' Aerohead ' has proven the idea in years past on his truck.
I'm sure by now everyone here has seen those large Inflatable holiday decorations.
They use a small blower and can inflate a 10' tall object in around 10 seconds.
The main drawback is that the blower is going constantly.
This helps with punctures though.
My first thought about your idea was to inflate the tail using air going into the wake from the sides of the vehicle through a system of ducts.
That might create a parachute effect though even if it exits at the tip of the tail.
I'm also wondering about visibility. Clear plastic that is flexible is hard to see through.
Also, what about retraction in an emergency ?
With the drawer slide design, you pull the cable, and it all retracts into itself within a second or two.
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* I'm of the opinion that, ram-air is inadequate as a source for envelope inflation and tension static pressure.
* Bruce Ruefer, of Lubbock, Texas used upper snorkels to harvest ram air for his patented semi-trailer boat-tail, but his envelope was miniscule compared to what we're talking about.
* I do not believe that there'd be any parachute effect. Air would flow in until it 'pooled', flow would stop, then ram air would just continually attack the opening, maintaining internal pressure.
* For 'powered inflation' I designed a guillotine reversing-valve'd chamber, which allows the air mover to both 'inflate' as well as ' evacuate' the envelope, with the pull of a cable. It could be solenoid activated.
* I'm unsure how 'quickly' the envelope could be evacuated.