ALBERT

Description: Investigations have been conducted to determine by means of total-pressure surveys the boundaries of single and twin jets discharging through convergent nozzles into quiescent air. The jet boundaries for the region from the nozzle outlets to a station 6 nozzle diameters downstream are presented for nozzle pressure ratios ranging from 2.5 t o 16.0 and for twin-Jet nozzle center-line spacings ranging from 1.42 to 2.50 nozzle diameters. The effects of these parameters on the interaction of twin Jets are discussed. In order to ascertain the utility of the results for other than the test conditions, the effects of jet temperature, Reynolds number, and humidity on the pressure boundaries have been briefly investigated. The result indicate that for a jet of 2.6 the pressure boundaries are slightly smaller than those of corresponding unheated jets and that the effects of Reynolds number and humidity are negligible.

Description: An investigation was made in the Langley stability tunnel to study the influence of number of fins, fin shrouding, and fin aspect ratio on the spin instability of mortar-shell tail surfaces. It was found that the 12-fin tails tested spun less rapidly throughout the angle-of-yaw range than did the 6-fin tails and that fin shrouding reduced the spin encountered by a large amount.

Description: An investigation was conducted on a 35 deg swept-wing fighter airplane to determine the effects of several blunt-trailing-edge modifications to the wing and tail on the high-speed stability and control characteristics and tracking performance. The results indicated significant improvement in the pitch-up characteristics for the blunt-aileron configuration at Mach numbers around 0.90. As a result of increased effectiveness of the blunt-trailing-edge aileron, the roll-off, customarily experienced with the unmodified airplane in wings-level flight between Mach numbers of about 0.9 and 1.0 was eliminated, The results also indicated that the increased effectiveness of the blunt aileron more than offset the large associated aileron hinge moment, resulting in significant improvement in the rolling performance at Mach numbers between 0.85 and 1.0. It appeared from these results that the tracking performance with the blunt-aileron configuration in the pitch-up and buffeting flight region at high Mach numbers was considerably improved over that of the unmodified airplane; however, the tracking errors of 8 to 15 mils were definitely unsatisfactory. A drag increment of about O.OOl5 due to the blunt ailerons was noted at Mach numbers to about 0.85. The drag increment was 0 at Mach numbers above 0.90.

Description: A new formulation of helicopter rotor thickness, noise for hover and forward flight, is discussed. The parameters required for this formulation are rotor motion, planform and airfoil thickness distribution. A computer program has been developed to calculate the pressure signature due to blade thickness for a helicopter in arbitrary motion. Comparison with high-speed helicopter tests shows good agreement with calculations when the observer is in or near the horizontal plane in which the rotor disc lies. Characteristics of thickness noise are illustrated by numerical examples indicating strongly that the high-speed blade slap may be due primarily to the thickness effect. The methods of Deming and Arnoldi are discussed as the special cases of this technique.

Description: The effect of several armament installations on the drag of a 1/8 scale model of the B-32 airplane was determined. Turrets in the following positions were tested: nose, tail, upper forward, upper aft, and lower. The nose and tail turrets were each equipped with two.50-caliber guns. Upper turrets were of three types: two.50-caliber guns, four.50-caliber guns, and 20-millimeter cannon. Lower turrets were of two types: two.50-caliber guns and four.50-caliber guns. The effect of streamlining the upper two- and four-gun turrets and of extending the lower two-gun turret was determined. The tests were conducted in the Langley 19-foot. pressure tunnel at a Reynolds number of approximately 2,960,000 and a Mach number of 0.13. Large increases in drag coefficient were caused by the complete armament installations. At a lift coefficient of 0. 4 the installations with nonstreamlined upper turrets and the lower turret retracted increased the drag coefficient by 0.0022 and 0.0027 for the two-gun and four-gun turret installations, respectively. Streamlining the upper turrets reduced the drag of these installations by approximately 40 percent with the upper turrets streamlined, the drag increase was about the same for either the two- or four-gun turret installation. The streamlined two-cannon upper turrets increased the drag about the same amount as the two-gun upper turrets that were not streamlined. Extension of the lower turret. increased the drag slightly more than the whole streamlined gun-turret installation.

Description: Unduly high diving speeds can be effectively controlled by diving brakes but their employment involves at the same time a number of disagreeable features: namely, rotation of zero lift direction, variation of diviving moment, and, the creation of a potent dead air region.

Description: The hazards of lightning strokes to aircraft fuel tanks have been investigated in artificial-lightning-generation facilities specifically constructed to duplicate closely the natural lightning discharges to air craft determined through flight research programs and analysis of lightning-damaged aircraft over a period of many years. Explosion studies were made in an environmental explosion chamber using small fuel tanks under various simulated flight conditions. The results showed that there is a primary hazard whenever there is direct puncture of the fuel-tank wall, whereas the ignition of fuel by hot spots on tank walls due to lightning strikes is unlikely. Punctures of fuel-tank walls by artificial-lightning discharges produced explosions of the fuel in the mixture range from excessively lean to rich mixtures. None of the aluminum alloys, 0.081 inch thick or over, were punctured by the laboratory discharges representative of natural-lightning discharges to aircraft; however, reliance on this wall thickness for complete protection would not be justified, because occasional strokes are known to be of greater magnitude and because statistics reveal variations in the damage pattern. Data gathered by the Lightning and Transients Research Institute on lightning strokes to aircraft show that 90 percent of the strokes recorded have occurred in the temperature range of -10 to +10 C, where many of the jet fuels are flammable but where aviation gasoline is overrich. Also, 10 percent of the strokes recorded have been to the wings, which are the principal fuel-storage areas for modern aircraft. Thus, there is a hazard, particularly for jet fuels. Certain protective measures are indicated by the studies to date, such as the use of lightning diverter rods, thickening of the wing skin in areas near the most probable stroke paths, and the use of fuel-tank liners in critical areas.

Description: The aerodynamic characteristics in pitch of the Army Ordnance Corps T205 3.5-inch HEAT rocket with various head designs and one fin modification have been determined at velocities of 500, 700 and 900 feet per second in the Langley high-speed 7- by 10-foot tunnel. The results presented are those of the full-scale model. Comparison of results obtained at 500 feet per second shows, in general, that for changes on the forward portion of the head the missile configurations having the greatest stability - most rearward center-of-loads location - were those having the highest drag. However, very limited comparisons indicate that the shape of the rear position of the head may be an important factor in reducing the drag and increasing the restoring moments. Generally, large increases in drag were noted for the various head designs with an increase in Mach number from 0.62 to 0.82. Pitching-moment-curve slopes increased with Mach number on all models except those having reasonably well-faired forward sections. These models showed a decrease in stability with increases in Mach number.

Description: An experimental investigation has been made in the Langley stability tunnel at low speed to determine the static longitudinal and lateral stability characteristics of a l/9-scale powered model of the Convair XFY-1 vertically rising airplane. Effects of thrust coefficient were investigated for the complete model and for certain components of the model. Effects of control deflections and of propeller-blade angle were investigated briefly for the complete model. Most of the tests were made through an angle-of-attack range from about -4 deg. to 29 deg, and the thrust-coefficient range was from 0 t o 0.7. In order to expedite distribution of these data to interested persons, no analysis of the data has been prepared for this report,

Description: This paper contains tail and hull loads data obtained in an investigation of a l/15-scale model of the Goodyear XZP5K airship. Data are presented in the form of tabulated pressure coefficients over a pitch and yaw range of +/-20 deg and 0 deg to 30 deg respectively, with various rudder and elevator deflections. Two tail configurations of different plan forms were tested on the model. The investigation was conducted in the Langley full-scale tunnel at a Reynolds number of approximately 16.5 x 10(exp 6) based on hull length, which corresponds to a Mach number of about 0.12.