In article ,
"William Wixon" wrote:

i'm glad to hear they're slowing down.
one thing i've wondered for quite a while, how come they can't manufacture
and use some sort of trailing edge fairing for the rear of a semi-truck's
cargo box? if streamlining can make it so this 18 hp airplane can fly 155
mph i'm sure ANY sort of streamlining would reduce a trucker's mpg.
http://www.aircraft-spruce.com/da11.html i bet SUBSTANTIALLY. the only
reasons i can think of is, tradition, and the fear of ridicule from his
fellows. "breaker breaker good buddy, looks like you got a "load on"! har,
har!" (reply) "i'm saving 10% a year in fuel costs. it paid for itself in
a year" silence .... (long pause) sheepishly where'd ya get one
of those things and how much does it cost?" oh, maybe another reason would
be overall length, but i'd imagine they could write some sort of amendment
to allow fuel saving streamlining devices. it would be such a simple
modification. could be very lightweight. i guess another problem would be
the fairing flying off in traffic because some dickhead didn't attach it
properly, or truckers backing into stuff and crushing/damaging them.
why don't they do that?!

The problem is not scientific, it's legal. It would be trivial to make
an inflatable trailing edge to reduce drag & turbulence, that would also
reduce injuries in case of a rear-end accident. The problem is it's
illegal and will remain so until the legislators start driving their own
trucks, about 2 weeks after hell freezes over

Free men own guns - www(dot)geocities(dot)com/CapitolHill/5357/