JMortensen Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 I would like to know (approximately) the size of a whale tail's top surface. If you have one and can run a tape measure on it, I'd appreciate the opportunity to satisfy my curiosity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 I've still got the one from the tunnel. Can you be a little more specific on what dimensions? jt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share Posted April 1, 2011 I basically want the area of the top in sq in. Doesn't have to be exact, just ball park. 60 inches by 12 inches at the wide part with the narrow part being 40x10 or something like that would be fine. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 The front edge of the whaletail is 41" wide, and attaches to the hatch about 2" behind the glass. It tapers out to a max width of 54", this max width 7" behind the front edge. It then tapers back in to 50" wide at the trailing edge, which is 18" from the leading edge. The trailing edge is slightly curved, with a chord of about 2". There is a 1.5" lip which begins at the wide point and goes all the way around the trailing edge. Rear corners have approx a 3" radius. Sorry for the slow response. About 2:30 am I decided to load up the 930 and go to the track, and just got back. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted April 3, 2011 Author Share Posted April 3, 2011 No problem, not like this was an emergency or anything. Thanks again for the figures. So I figure if I calculate a 47.5 x 7 rectangle and a 52 x 18 and add them together, that gets me in the ballpark. Looks like that is 1268.5 sq in... That is a large area of 8.8 sq ft! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 No, the second section would be 52 x 11. The total distance leading edge to trailing edge is 18". jt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted April 3, 2011 Author Share Posted April 3, 2011 Got it. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 That looks like the 'big one' there is another smaller unit without the spill edges...perhaps that one is called the "Ducks Tail" but I've seen people refer to the big and little as 'Whale Tail'... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuyun Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 (edited) Here are some pictures of my whale tail it is 55 by 17 in or 140 by 43 cm Edited May 29, 2011 by Shuyun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted May 29, 2011 Author Share Posted May 29, 2011 Thanks. The point was to compare the whale tail's efficiency to a wing, and it did way better than I expected. Whale tails work! http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/92212-wing-vs-whale-tail-spoiler/page__st__20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I thought that was what the point of what most on the other post were saying...so you now agree? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted May 31, 2011 Author Share Posted May 31, 2011 (edited) I don't know how you could have read what I wrote and thought that I didn't agree that it was effective. I can only surmise that you didn't read it. I was amazed at its effectiveness compared to the wing. Your "test" was worthless and the numbers completely unrealistic, the Nissan Comp numbers are also not believeable, but the wind tunnel results are pretty stunning, and I said as much in my email to McBeath which I posted on the other thread. "If you figure from the test previous that the tail made 253 lbs downforce, that works out to a Cl of 1.1, which seems VERY impressive for a spoiler." EDIT--I also said this: "I've been trying to consider the effectiveness of the whale tail vs wings, and I've come to the conclusion that the whale tail is VERY efficient at producing downforce when using the wind tunnel numbers when compared to the APR wing." Edited May 31, 2011 by JMortensen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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