Ron Dickey wrote:I Wrote Camp Inn and they wrote back first I said,
Hi,
My name is Ron and I am a member of tntt.com
We are having a discussion about trailers curved like the RainDrop by Camp Inn.
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=49872&p=959995#p959995we have just started into it.
But I had wondered sense you have trailers with front end both bowed up and down and left to right, can you tell any difference when you pull it.
I am thinking about a 2nd build and The Rain Drop is my dream trailer But out of my budget for now.
I am considering making it not only because it might be better pulling but also so I have more room in the front like a closet.
Can you offer us an opinion or what you have found.
And will you be offering other models in the future with the left to right bow.
Ron Dickey
Los Osos, CA.
I lived in Milwaukee 1966 to 79 Kind of miss the winter not the summers.
Cary Winch of
Camp-Inn travel trailers replyed.
Ron,
You betcha. This is a often discussed point. Interestingly enough no one guesses the correct answer on this. Believe it or not the Raindrop is actually more aerodynamic as a trailer than the 550 series. There are several factors that come into play here.
1) Wing chord. If you look at the side profile of a teardrop you generally see a wing profile. On a 8' long trailer like the 550 series this is a fairly short chord thick wing. It would be a low speed wing. With the 550 at about 60mph it is generating a nice amount of lift and is very clean aerodynamically. At about 63mph it overspeeds the wing a bit and the wing stops trying to lift and settles down hard on the road. This causes extra drag and will lose some mileage at higher speeds over 2 lane road speeds. The 560 series is a 10' long wing and the longer chord gives you a more high speed wing giving allowing you to cruise the interstate without the trailer getting aero dirty at speed. We honestly do not know at what speed the 560 starts to turbulate off the back.
2) Frontal area. This is the one that causes the most confusion. First off, the 550 and the 560 have the exact same amount of frontal area. Both are 5' wide and 4' high. They punch the same size hole through the air. The 560 creates a dirty transition edge along the upper roof line. 5' of sharp transition area that hurts the aero. However, the 550 has two dirty transition areas. These are the vertical edges of the side wall, 4' on each side for a total of 8' of sharp transition area that hurts the aero. So, from what we have seen the 560 has the cleaner, though less than perfect, front shape of the two.
3) Tow vehicle matching. This is where there is great variance in the performance of the 560. With the 550 the shape of the tow vehicle does not seem to make much difference. However with the 560 there is the real chance of the tow vehicle benefiting from the aero shape of the trailer. Most SUVs, vans and some trucks seem to work great with the 560 design. The aero off of most of these vehicles is problematic without a trailer because of the bluntness of the rear. Attaching a tail cone (like on the space shuttle in transit) for instance has been shown to greatly enhance the aero of the average SUV. The teardrops tend to become that tail cone in some cases. The 560 shape helps match the back of the tow vehicle better creating a streamliner train of sorts. We actually see tow vehicle GAIN mileage whenever the 560 is hooked up. Granted those few cases are indeed extreme cases of course.
We don't have any plans for new models at the moment.
Let me know if you have any questions at all.
Thank you
Cary Winch
Camp-Inn travel trailers
Just so you know the Raindrop is the 560
http://tinycamper.com/tourrain.htmand
the 550 teardrop
http://tinycamper.com/teardrop550ultra.htmRon
by IamJerryP » Thu Oct 09, 2014 1:21 am 
