Aerohead's going to the wind tunnel! We're passing the hat to help with costs.

[freebeard]

aerohead -- Missing and presumed having a good time?

[Cd]

When might we get some video of the test ?

[aerohead]

Got in yesterday afternoon.
Once I'd left Battle Mountain I was fully engaged with family and friends,and no opportunity for checking in.
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While the wind tunnel experience was great,it wasn't so with the weather.
I was driving in remnants of three named storms,Dolly,Norbert,and Odile.There was never a day when I didn't encounter significant winds and sometimes rain.
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A breakdown of the trip is:
*4,873 miles total gross
*152.469 gallons regular unleaded
*31.96 mpg total gross
*$527.47 total fuel cost
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*'Trash' mileage (camping,to and from raceways,trips for groceries,etc.) 226 miles
*'trash' gallons 9.674
*'trash mpg 23.361
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*Gross 'highway' distance, 4,647 miles
*142.795 gallons consumed
*32.543 mpg total 'highway'
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*65-mph 'highway' total gross distance,3,668 miles
*109.689 gallons
*33.439 mpg total gross
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*65-mph 'highway' distance (minus Fernley,Nevada to Coachella,California:629-miles with stop and go all the way down HW-195,a stop at Scaled Composites,Orange county traffic,cold restarts,etc.),3,039 miles
*88.904 gallons consumed
*34.182 mpg average
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*Lowest 65-mph tank: 28.864 mpg,Tucson,Arizona to Dona Ana (Las Cruces) New Mexico (Hurricane Odile)
*Highest 65-mph tank,37.567 mpg,Battle Mountain,Nevada to Fernley,Nevada.
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*Lowest 75-mph tank,28.719 mpg,Santa Rosa,New Mexico to Denton,Texas
*Highest 75-mph tank,30.819 mpg,Denton,Texas to Santa Rosa,New Mexico
*Two-tank 75-mph average,29.733 mpg.
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* I have no idea what the impact of losing 7-feet of belly meant to mpg.
*The damaged front skirt never quite laid down flat against the body after my attempts to straighten it at Ogden.
*Road construction foiled constant-speed driving.
*Overnight stays on the same tank meant cold-starts when I finally got back underway.
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*Dozens of folks asked about the project.
*Many,many photographs were taken.
*A friend of the inventor of AT Dynamics' Trailer Tail stopped by at Gary's for a chat and photos.
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*I got a bunch of boat tail photos at Bonneville.
*Thanks again to Freebeard.
*Micky Thompson's son,Danny went 421-mph in the family streamliner.
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*I got a bunch of boat tail photos at the IHPVA Speed Trials.
*The girls went 64-72-mph in their streamliners.
*One of the Delft University guys hit over 80-mph.
*The '90-mph' Liverpool team won't be there 'til in the future.
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*Highway Patrol pursued and 'looked' but nothing more than that.

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*If I'd known 4-months ago, what I know now,I would have taken 4-months off and prepared some 'toys' for DARKO.
*You can do a 'run' in 4-minutes.
*With quick attachments,you could do a lot of test iterations in an hour.
*I'd like to go back.
With 372,442 miles on the T-100 now,I don't know if it would be with the truck.
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*DARKO's invoice was in the mailbox when I got home.I'm going to go ahead and pay it.
*Let's think about getting another member to the tunnel.
*Thanks again for all the encouragement,support,and well-wishing.
PS I forgot to mention,I've got the thumb drive with 15-minutes of DARKO video.I could use some help figuring out how to get the 'Spirit of EcoModder.com on You-Tube.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Phil, can you link to the technical drawing(s) you used to do the frontal area? If we know a major dimension, I can trace them in DataCAD and give you an accurate frontal area, to check your number.

Or, if you use a long (telephoto) lens on a camera and take a frontal picture with a scale (rod or measuring tape) that is on the plane of the highest portion of the truck, then that would be even better. If the lens is about at the center (particularly the side-to-side center) and from as far away as you can manage with the camera and lens you have, then that makes it more accurate.

Thanks Neil,
The drawings are from Toyota's official shop manual.I'll get that together after I shake off the 'jet lag'.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Cd

When might we get some video of the test ?

I've got the thumb drive and have been told that 'learning' You-Tube is pretty straight forward.
Any expertise will be very welcome.I could even get a copy made of the thumb drive and just mail it to a savvy member.

[deejaaa]

great info. where ya putting the pics of the boat tails?

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by myself

aerohead -- Missing and presumed having a good time?

Suspicions confirmed.

With 372,442 miles on the T-100 now,I don't know if it would be with the truck.

Ghia - Ghia - Ghia - Ghia...

[Xist]

I would recommend Basjoos for a wind tunnel, but what would there be to test?!

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by aerohead

I've got the thumb drive and have been told that 'learning' You-Tube is pretty straight forward.
Any expertise will be very welcome.I could even get a copy made of the thumb drive and just mail it to a savvy member.

Hi Phil -

If you mail me a copy, I'll post the videos. I'll send you my address in a private message.

[u.steinlechner]

Hello,
I have experience to be prepared for the wind tunel.