Military theme for fun ...and function

[Flakbadger]

Originally Posted by christofoo

How about a vertical stabilizer?
I've always thought that would make a boattail more fun.

Your picture reminds me how cool the Plymouth Superbird's tail fin was. THAT would look good on a boattail too, so long as you took care to make sure it didn't create additional up or down force.

[Weather Spotter]

I would do one but it would be an issue in side winds.

[Flakbadger]

Originally Posted by Weather Spotter

I would do one but it would be an issue in side winds.

True, but isn't looking cool the main point of car ownership?

[Weather Spotter]

no, getting from point a to b is the rational.

[Sven7]

I've been doing some thinking on horizontal fins for my high efficiency three wheeler project... they would serve a functional purpose of displaying tail lights across nearly the full width of the car compared to the truncated rear end. Presumably they would have little effect when presented with side winds, and they would look really cool.

[freebeard]

I would do one but it would be an issue in side winds.

I would think the Superbird's extended nose, ahead of the center of gravity, would be a bigger liability in crosswinds. But here're vertical fins with no lift-inducing wing. The vertical slots are to kill side-force in cross winds


What's wrong with looking cool while you get from a to b?

[Cd]

Panhard 64

[freebeard]

Another good example. Am I correct in thinking the fins being canted inward towards the rear is to reduce yawing in crosswinds?

[christofoo]

I was thinking a single vertical stabilizer in the center just to enhance the airplane look. You could even go all the way and add some little stubby horizontal stabilizers and arrange an extra-large third taillight to look like a jet nozzle.

A vertical stabilizer might help keep Cd from increasing at high yaw angles. It also may slightly increase Cd at low yaw angles. I doubt it matters much in either case.

I wouldn't expect side-winds to affect the car much from a handling standpoint either. Look at the side cross-sectional area of an SUV, does you expect it to be unsafe in side-winds? (Sure it's going to sway more than a sedan.) Side-winds do make fabrication and attachment of the stabilizer a little more challenging, but no more so than on a real airplane.

To me its just a question of aesthetics. Is it, in fact, more fun to make a teardrop car look more like an airplane?

[Sven7]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Another good example. Am I correct in thinking the fins being canted inward towards the rear is to reduce yawing in crosswinds?

I'm guessing if you tufted the car the fins would be parallel to the airflow coming off the rear window.

Originally Posted by christofoo

I was thinking a single vertical stabilizer in the center just to enhance the airplane look. You could even go all the way and add some little stubby horizontal stabilizers and arrange an extra-large third taillight to look like a jet nozzle.

A vertical stabilizer might help keep Cd from increasing at high yaw angles. It also may slightly increase Cd at low yaw angles. I doubt it matters much in either case.

I wouldn't expect side-winds to affect the car much from a handling standpoint either. Look at the side cross-sectional area of an SUV, does you expect it to be unsafe in side-winds? (Sure it's going to sway more than a sedan.) Side-winds do make fabrication and attachment of the stabilizer a little more challenging, but no more so than on a real airplane.

To me its just a question of aesthetics. Is it, in fact, more fun to make a teardrop car look more like an airplane?

Maybe the physics guys can weigh in with jargon, but when you have a fin out back on a boat tail it effectively creates a lever with which to move your car around more easily (the rear tires are the fulcrum). Most of an SUV's aero cross section is between its axles, not behind the rear bumper, so wind has little mechanical advantage.

I've noticed the Probe is more susceptible to side winds now- a big fin on the back would be downright scary sometimes.