flexible boat tail

[drmiller100]

so I'm imagining a flexible cloth or rubber tail for an SUV which fills with air to reduce form drag.

surely someone has done such a thing.

pictures? links?

thanks!

[Tango Charlie]

It's been discussed several times here in the forum. The general consensus is that the power required to keep the thing inflated, either from a blower or from ram air, would negate any benefits.

But I'm sure any one of us would love to be proved wrong by somebody actually implementing one.

[drmiller100]

there has not been one made?????
seems pretty easy to me.

[BamZipPow]

Originally Posted by drmiller100

there has not been one made?????
seems pretty easy to me.

Construction is pretty easy. Finding the right material that will handle the wear and tear from oscillations, abrasions, and UV exposure will be key. Cost will be the other key.

Finding out that yer new inflatable tail has broken away and you have traffic weaving to avoid the new road hazard isn't a good way to find out that it didn't work.

Mylar might seem like a good choice but UV will erode it over time and oscillations from the air moving over the structure will break it.

I know that aerohead had one on the back of the T-100. Not too sure what material they used and how long it lasted. I think you should find it using search and bubble butt.

I know there is a "backpack" system fer SUVs that will contain extra cargo to the rear hatch instead of a hitch based cargo carrier or roof top carrier.
Luggage Carriers | Car Back Carrier | Cargo Bag

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by drmiller100

so I'm imagining a flexible cloth or rubber tail for an SUV which fills with air to reduce form drag.

surely someone has done such a thing.

pictures? links?

thanks!

From an inflated empty bean bag chair proof of concept,I tailored a Naugahyde boat tail for the T-100,sewn on an old high school Singer gear drive machine and tacked to a wooden inflator box which hung off the tailgate.
I used the Bosch 12-VDC blower fan out of a VW Westfalia Campmobile for inflation,just running clip-on leads and a long umbilical under the truck to the battery.
With a 1/2-tonneau cover and the tail,the T-100 got 30 mpg.
There's an image of it in the photo-archives.
This is a 1936 idea from Fachsenfeld for Omnibus R&d.It works very well.

[aerohead]

ps2fixer has a thread: 'Idea:Boat Tail construction (non-rigid ).
At permalink#3,Darin has put up an image of the inflatable tail on the T-100.
If you look hard you'll see the tufts sticking straight back.