[aerohead]

I exhibited Spirit of EcoModder.com outside of the Gainesville High School cafeteria, and exhibited the ITworks' scale-wind tunnel, inside the cafeteria, for the 2024 Earth Day celebration yesterday.
I'd provided 350 black and white, and 50, color data sheets for the children/parent participants, which included the formulas, calculations, data sets, and graphical representations which led to the 'chariot' data.
The wind tunnel ran for two-hours, with hands-on 'shapes' that the kids and parents could place in the wind stream, and actually experience the physical difference in aerodynamic drag, as a function of 'shape.'
1) The mirror-image phenomena of automobile bodies was emphasized.
2) The fineness-ratio as related to drag was emphasized.
3) And the aerodynamic velocity-cubed law was emphasized.
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The sky wizards provided auspicious 20-MPH south winds yesterday, and since all the 'parents' buy the gasoline and diesel for the family car, they all picked up on what the difference at the pump might be, driving 75-mph 'into' a 20-mph 'headwind' ( 95-mph airspeed ), versus, 75-mph with a 20-mph 'tailwind ' ( 55-mph airspeed ) [ 'four-BOLT chariots ].
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The 240-mph Peregrine Falcon I brought kinda clinched the deal on the importance of 'streamlining'.
I had one of Paul Jaray's airships with me, and they picked up on that, and were surprised to learn that my Cd 0.12 'baby template' car was based upon Jaray's 1922 design.
They could see a direct connection to the 1950, 198-mph So-Cal Belly Tank Lakester which I exhibited.
And the 1987 GM OLDSMOBILE AEROTECH longtail, which still holds the land speed record for it's class.
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Everyone held my all-aluminum, 3:1 streamline body of revolution in the airstream, and agreed that it 'had no perceptible' drag.
And looking at NASA's full boat tail on the Space Shuttle Discovery, seemed to produce ' lightbulb' moments for participants.
'Spirit's' 'up to' 39.9 mpg HWY raised some eyebrows.
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It took an hour to dissemble and pack up the exhibits. We got a free supper and desert.
The Sun went down.
We'd had a tailwind driving North.
And then a tailwind driving South, home.
All in all, a pretty good day.
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Perhaps the folks will never think the same about 'what' cars look like.
PS,
presently, 284,367 'views' have accumulated at the 'Aerodynamic Streamlining Template. Part-C' thread, from back in 2009.
I'll improve on it as new empirical evidence rears it's lovely head.
Perhaps Dr. Jeff Howell et al., at Loughborough University will have something new for us one day.