New invention could benefit RVers.

Popsie wrote:
I applaud this youngster for his efforts, and predict he will go far just by applying well known principles.

However, the real impact would come from getting a number of large school districts (to make the carrot big enough) to issue fuel efficiency goals as part of their high volume bus acquisitions.

Take a look at bus concepts.

I sent a congratulatory e-mail in 2010 when he started this idea for a school project but warned him that the school bus industry moves slow.

The Blue Bird school bus body that he is standing in front of has not had a change in body shape since 1965 and the windshield has the very same dimensions and vertical mounting since 1962 and up to the present day. 51 Years same windshield.

The very first bus shown in the bus concepts is a Flxible bus. A popular type used in many WWll movies & the movie "RV" staring Robin Williams. Our family converted 2 into motorhomes and I still have the 1941 model that my father converted in 1952.
Dwight

Good effort by the young man but it certainly isn't a decrease in fuel savings for ALL vehicles and I doubt school buses would even see those numbers. Around here, in suburbia, the buses are operated on side streets at low speeds and make frequent stops and starts. Not the best test situation for aerodynamics.

Popsie wrote:

Anyone who has worked in a wind tunnel studying ground vehicles has seen how much drag can be affected by the shapes of the front and back, extraneous items like air conditioners or rear view mirrors, windows (compare a school buses windows to a passenger plane) the ground clearance and smoothness of the underside, etc. etc. PS eleven degrees is a magic number :)

Aerodynamics is the secret to getting good fuel economy.

Saab-Scania was an aircraft manufacturer that diversified just after WW-II and started building automobiles that were designed in a wind tunnel; imagine a 5 passenger sedan with a 3 cylinder engine that got 30+ MPG, cruising at 70 MPH.

Side bar:
The Saab Model 37 is still the only STOL Mach II+ fighter-bomber.

Now imagine a 26 ft motorhome that got 16 MPG using the Oldsmobile Toronado drive train (the Olds got around 8 MPG).


1971 Travco.

It looks like it takes the air being blasted vertical by the windshield, and helps to more efficiently turn it horizontal along the roof of the bus.

Seeing this renews my hopes for youth!
So many young folks have the talent and drive to do something.
So many are discouraged or derailed by distraction.

camperpaul thanks for posting!
Interesting stuff.

Son of Norway wrote:
It makes me wonder why designers went to such a flat, boxy front on class A's.

Miles

Easier and cheaper to build, and yields more usable interior space.

We may see more aerodynamic designs in the RV industry if the government starts requiring more fuel efficient RVs. I won't be surprised if truck makers in the near future start rolling out hybrid chassis that can be used for buses and RVs.

Sorry but IMHO this thing smells more than a tuna fish that has been in the sun for 10 days.

Like a TT the back is every bit as important as the front. Aerodynamics is a complete package. You just don't glue something on to the front of a bus and pick up 20% in mileage.

I don't know what the angle is but there is one.

Might work if your RV is a schoolie, recent enough for the shield to fit.

Any other RV, you would be starting over figuring out the aerodynamics, because a piece to improve the shape of one particular vehicle will not necessarily fit, or be effective on, a different vehicle.

Like the school bus manufacturers, RV manufacturers need to go back to the drawing board, assuming customers will buy whatever an aerodynamic RV looks like. R-Vision, Winnebago, Newmar have all tried to sell us shapes with 10% (or better) reduction in drag, but so far we haven't been buying.

The B+ is another start, just a small step, but a step. Within a couple years we might see a European-style "profile."

Anyone who has worked in a wind tunnel studying ground vehicles has seen how much drag can be affected by the shapes of the front and back, extraneous items like air conditioners or rear view mirrors, windows (compare a school buses windows to a passenger plane) the ground clearance and smoothness of the underside, etc. etc. PS eleven degrees is a magic number :)

I applaud this youngster for his efforts, and predict he will go far just by applying well known principles.

However, the real impact would come from getting a number of large school districts (to make the carrot big enough) to issue fuel efficiency goals as part of their high volume bus acquisitions.

Take a look at these bus concepts.

I bet it is even better than 10% I went from a 25' Airstream and gas pickup to 24' class C. The overall weight is very similar between the rigs. The truck/Airstream got about 20 percent better fuel economy overall under most highway driving conditions. Its not quite fair because the C is taller and more frontal area.