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Inflatable aerodynamic add-ons

Inflate a cone to improve aero of trailers
  (+11, -2)(+11, -2)
(+11, -2)
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Have an inflatable cone at the back of semi-trailers to lower aerodynamic drag.
MisterQED, Dec 24 2007

"Retracting anti drag appendage" Retracting_20anti_20drag_20appendage
Redundant? [BJS, Dec 26 2007]

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       Handy if you happen to drive into the back of one, also.
MaxwellBuchanan, Dec 24 2007
  

       And a Merry Christmas to half and all.
MaxwellBuchanan, Dec 24 2007
  

       Would also be handy for the modified-with-skirts and spoilers crowd. Instead of fiberglass repair, you just detach the mounting points and install a new car-loon.
normzone, Dec 24 2007
  

       Yay! Gonflable.
skinflaps, Dec 25 2007
  

       Saw this idea in PopSci long time ago, no one ever went anywhere with it. I don't know why not, but whatever the reasons are I'm applying all of them to your idea.   

       And bunning it anyway. Anything that raises fuel mileage in the fuel-thirstiest vehicles on the road can't be all bad.   

       BMW car carriers have a sort of curvy arse, why is that? Does anyone know what's going on inside that big rounded bustle on BMW's enclosed transporters?
elhigh, Dec 26 2007
  

       [UB], I agree, I think you could add a couple of aero add-ons reasonably easily to cover the gap between the trailer and the cab, the trailer and the ground and maybe even a hollow nose cone(for cooling), especially for cab-overs with flat fronts.   

       The idea being to design them to be inflatable on the highway and then vacuum deflated and auto-stored away for city trafic.
MisterQED, Dec 26 2007
  

       [UB], some designer cranked out a stack of aerodynamic concepts, and named them all Utah x (x = positive integer). A couple of them were trucks, one had a central driving position and, strangest of all, a gigantic hole in the center the directed airflow at the front of the trailer. With a rounded front on the trailer, that plus the airflow coming around the side of the cab made for a nearly-laminar flow around the trailer. Neat, but weird.
elhigh, Dec 27 2007
  


 

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