does aerodynamics work?
 

My sube. its got a goofy rack rail right on the edge of one of the roof, and another tough rail on the other end, 2 front tires look like they are peeking out of the wells...
14.6 feet long.
hearing the front rail whistling through the wind at speed...there is ZERO difference in the high 30s mpg..connected to the roof or not. it just deletes a whistle of slight strain...

is the quest for aerodynamics lack of power for the given body?
even 120mph is not quite like the space shuttle, and that has goofy pieces of foam getting tortured on leading edges...

I flew on old planes, every rivet straining. I think aerodynamics is a hoax. our goal is to defy air and stay on earth...and even utilizing it through our grills to keep an engine running cool.
I am just trying an argument. My dads rig? 13 foot 6 loaded or not, it doesn't care about wind either...at 65 feet long 26 tons or 50. it just doesn't matter. my old sube at 2750 pounds on 1781cc doesn't care either. I conclude..it is weak drivetrains driving people into aerodynamics.:eek:
I just don't see why...we have weak drivetrains.

Oh my.

I can't help but wonder about the validity of the above statements. I've fiddled with 'weak drive trains' on a bike—meaning me, on a bike, in different positions, in a wind tunnel, wearing things from regular helmets to tear-drop shaped lids—and they make a huge difference data-wise and in the real world (in races). I'm certainly not flying, or even spending much time over 30mph.

Are you being serial????????

Obviously the added structure of the all-welded rockers renders unitized body flex mute. Combine that with the inherently self-balanced three-main boxer and then if that wasn't enough, delete the insanity of fuel injection and EGR and put a proper carb on there and there you have it: no lack of power even at 40+ mpg. Like Dave Humongous says, piddle around mods beget piddle around results. That is why he has taken the giant stride of commuting in a mear 6 passenger V8 automobile instead of a V8 3/4 Ton truck. Evidently the man is serious! But not serious enough to get a carb Sube even though there is one sitting in Minnesota for $50 and it has the duel range trans to boot. So you see we have weak drivetrains because the knowledge of old is forgotten.

The "goofy pieces of foam" on the shuttle are actually ceramics - aerated silica. The leading edges are actually all reinforced carbon carbon.

Troll, or math-phobic, and/or unable to comprehend neither how air drag scales to the square of velocity, nor how that relates to power requirements just to push a body through the atmosphere. :rolleyes:

quest
 

The quest is more efficient use of available power ( streamlining )in existing vehicles, or designed-in low drag forms for all around performance with less power ( fuel,emissions,oil imports,etc.)with new vehicles.------------- The "science" of aerodynamics(fluid-mechanics) has been observed since the time of Leonardo da Vinci,the science has been quantified since before the turn of the 20th Century,and essentially refined to a state-of-the-art since 1922.--------------- Each vehicle should be evaluated on a case specific basis.

BGD, if you only had fuel injection, you could install instrumentation sensitive enough to detect small changes in MPG. Then you'd see, as I have, that driving faster burns more gas, aeromods save gas, and small cars use less fuel than large cars.

But even if all you have is a stopwatch, you can prove to yourself the existence of aerodynamics. Strap a mattress to your roof rack, and time how long it takes to coast down from 45mph to 35mph in neutral on a flat road. Remove the mattress and repeat, heading the same direction on the same stretch of road. If the mattress slows you down, I say it's because aerodynamics is real.

If aerodynamics is a hoax why were the rivets on the plane straining. The only forces they were subject to were aerodynamic.

I am assuming the plane was flying when the rivets were straining to hold the plane together.

regards
Mech

Yeah, I believe aerodynamics is a hoax too. That must be why only five or six fully faired bicyclists were able to ride in speeds of excess of 70 mph at Battle Mountain this year.
Check the link for results.
The Recumbent and Human Powered Vehicle Information Center
JJ