ALBERT

Description: A study was made of the performance of a jet-propulsion system composed of an engine-driven blower, a combustion chamber, and a discharge nozzle. A simplified analysis is made of this system for the purpose of showing in concise form the effect of the important design variables and operating conditions on jet thrust, thrust horsepower, and fuel consumption. Curves are presented that permit a rapid evaluation of the performance of this system for a range of operating conditions. The performance for an illustrative case of a power plant of the type under consideration id discussed in detail. It is shown that for a given airplane velocity the jet thrust horsepower depends mainly on the blower power and the amount of fuel burned in the jet; the higher the thrust horsepower is for a given blower power, the higher the fuel consumption per thrust horsepower. Within limits the amount of air pumped has only a secondary effect on the thrust horsepower and efficiency. A lower limit on air flow for a given fuel flow occurs where the combustion-chamber temperature becomes excessive on the basis of the strength of the structure. As the air-flow rate is increased, an upper limit is reached where, for a given blower power, fuel-flow rate, and combustion-chamber size, further increase in air flow causes a decrease in power and efficiency. This decrease in power is caused by excessive velocity through the combustion chamber, attended by an excessive pressure drop caused by momentum changes occurring during combustion.

Description: Flights were made in natural icing conditions at the NACA Ice Research Project, Minneapolis, Minn. to test several designs of thermal-electric propeller de-icing blade shoes and a hub-generator design. It was found that a minimum average unit power of 2.5 watts per square inch of blade-shoe area would protect the propeller blades at the test conditions. The most satisfactory blade shoe of the three designs tested extended to the 20-percent-chord point and to 90 percent of the blade radius. A concentration of heat in the leading-edge region of this shoe was found to reduce the power input necessary for satisfactory de-icing. A satisfactory thermal design of blade shoe and a hub generator of sufficient capacity were developed.

Description: The effects of changes in aileron rigging between 2 deg up and 2 deg down on the stick forces were determined from wind-tunnel data for a finite-span wing model. These effects were investigated for ailerons deflecting equally in both directions and linearly with stick deflection. Data were analyzed for a Frise, a sealed internally balanced, and a beveled-trailing-edge aileron. The results of the analysis showed that only ailerons having linear hinge-moment characteristics are unaffected by changes in rigging and indicated that ailerons having decidedly nonlinear hinge-moment-coefficient curves, particularly for deflections near 0 deg, are very sensitive to changes in rigging.

Description: In open box beams subjected to torsion, secondary stresses arise owing to lateral bending of the spar caps. The present paper outlines a simple method for estimating the magnitude of these stresses and gives the results of tests of an open box beam in the neighborhood of a discontinuity where the cover changed from the top to the bottom of the box.

Description: A correlation of what are believed to be the most reliable data available on duct components of aircraft power-plant installations is presented. The information is given in a convenient form and is offered as an aid in designing duct systems and, subject to certain qualifications, as a guide in estimating their performance. The design and performance data include those for straight ducts; simple bends of square, circular, and elliptical cross sections; compound bends; diverging and converging bends; vaned bends; diffusers; branch ducts; internal inlets; and an angular placement of heat exchangers. Examples are included to illustrate methods of applying these data in analyzing duct systems. (author)

Description: An investigation has been made in the Langley free-flight tunnel to obtain an experimental verification of the theoretical rudder-free stability characteristics of an airplane model equipped with conventional rudders having negative floating tendencies and negligible friction. The model used in the tests was equipped with a conventional single vertical tail having rudder area 40 percent of the vertical tail area. The model was tested both in free flight and mounted on a strut that allowed freedom only in yaw. Tests were made with three different amounts of rudder aerodynamic balance and with various values of mass, moment of inertia, and center-of-gravity location of the rudder. Most of the stability derivatives required for the theoretical calculations were determined from forced and free-oscillation tests of the particular model tested. The theoretical analysis showed that the rudder-free motions of an airplane consist largely of two oscillatory modes - a long-period oscillation somewhat similar to the normal rudder-fixed oscillation and a short-period oscillation introduced only when the rudder is set free. It was found possible in the tests to create lateral instability of the rudder-free short-period mode by large values of rudder mass parameters even though the rudder-fixed condition was highly stable. The results of the tests and calculation indicated that for most present-day airplanes having rudders of negative floating tendency, the rudder-free stability characteristics may be examined by simply considering the dynamic lateral stability using the value of the directional-stability parameter Cn(sub p) for the rudder-free condition in the conventional controls-fixed lateral-stability equations. For very large airplanes having relatively high values of the rudder mass parameters with respect to the rudder aerodynamic parameters, however, analysis of the rudder-free stability should be made with the complete equations of motion. Good agreement between calculated and measured rudder-free stability characteristics was obtained by use of the general rudder-free stability theory, in which four degrees of lateral freedom are considered. When this assumption is made that the rolling motions alone or the lateral and rolling motions may be neglected in the calculations of rudder-free stability, it is possible to predict satisfactorily the characteristics of the long-period (Dutch roll type) rudder-free oscillation for airplanes only when the effective-dihedral angle is small. With these simplifying assumptions, however, satisfactory prediction of the short-period oscillation may be obtained for any dihedral. Further simplification of the theory based on the assumption that the rudder moment of inertia might be disregarded was found to be invalid because this assumption made it impossible to calculate the characteristics of the short-period oscillations.

Description: Two graphical methods are presented for determining the stick-free neutral point, and they are extensions of the methods commonly used to determine the stick-free neutral point. A mathematical formula for computing the stick-free neutral point is also given. These methods may be applied to determine approximately the increase in tail size necessary to shift the neutral point (stick fixed or free) to any desired location on an airplane having inadequate longitudinal stability.

Description: No abstract available

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: An experimental investigation concerned primarily with the extension of test data on the drag of revolving disks, cylinders, and streamline rods to high Mach numbers and Reynolds numbers is presented.

Description: Detail calculations are presented of the shifts in stick-fixed neutral point of the Republic XF-12 airplane due to the windmilling propellers and to the fuselage. The results of these calculations differ somewhat from those previously made for this airplane by Republic Aviation Corporation personnel under the direction of Langley flight division personnel. Due to these differences the neutral point for the airplane is predicted to be 37.8 percent mean aerodynamic chord, instead of 40.8 percent mean aerodynamic chord as previously reported.

Description: Pressure distribution and spray measurements were carried out on rectangular flat and V-bottom planing surfaces. Lift, resistance, and center of pressure data are analyzed and it is shown how these values may be computed for the pure planing procees of a flat or V-bottom suface of arbitrary beam, load and speed, the method being illustrated with the aid of an example.

Description: An analysis is made of the stability of an airplane with ailerons free, with particular attention to the motions when the ailerons have a tendency to float against the wind. The present analysis supersedes the aileron investigation contained in NACA Report No. 709. The equations of motion are first written to include yawing and sideslipping, and it is demonstrated that the principal effects of freeing the ailerons can be determined without regard to these motions. If the ailerons tend to float against the wind and have a high degree of aerodynamic balance, rolling oscillations, in addition to the normal lateral oscillations, are likely to occur. On the basis of the equations including only the rolling motion and the aileron deflection, formulas are derived for the stability and damping of the rolling oscillations in terms of the hinge moment derivatives and other characteristics of the ailerons and airplane. Charts are also presented showing the oscillatory regions and stability boundaries for a fictitious airplane of conventional proportions. The effects of friction in the control system are investigated and discussed. If the ailerons tend to trail with the wind, the condition for stable variation of stick force with aileron deflection is found to determine the amount of aerodynamic balance that may be used. If the ailerons tend to float against the wind, the period and damping of the rolling oscillations are found to be satisfactory (in a mass-balanced system) so long as the restoring moment is not completely balanced out. Unbalanced mass behind the hinge, however, has an unfavorable effect on the damping of the oscillations and so shifts the boundary that close aerodynamic balance may not be attainable.

Description: An extensive series of wind-tunnel tests on a half-scale conventional, nacelle model were made by the United Aircraft Corporation to determine and correlate the effects of many variables on cooling air flow and nacelle drag. The primary investigation was concerned with the reaction of these factors to varying conditions ahead of, across, and behind the engine. In the light of this investigation, common misconceptions and factors which are frequently overlooked in the cooling and cowling of radial engines are considered in some detail. Data are presented to support certain design recommendations and conclusions which should lead toward the improvement of present engine installations. Several charts are included to facilitate the estimation of cooling drag, available cooling pressure, and cowl exit area.

Description: Experience has shown that the determination of the take-off and. landing characteristics of airplanes requires specialized, equipment of a high degree of precision and reliability and demands great care in the evaluation and interpretation of data. It is believed, therefore, that a description of the apparatus and methods that have been developed by the NACA for these measurements might be of considerable interest, particularly to flight-test groups that have had little experience with landing and. take-off measurements. The basic principles and essential details of the Committee's equipment are described, the methods of utilizing the apparatus and of reducing the data are explained, and sample test results are presented.

Description: The available test results of internally balanced ailerons have been correlated and summarized herein. Although several variables have yet to-be-investigated, the results presented will be useful in the preliminary design of internally balanced ailerons and in the determination of the most promising modifications to unsatisfactory ailerons.

Description: The extent of agreement of the theoretical impact computations with the actual phenomenon has not as yet been fully clarified. There is on the one hand a certain imperfection in the theory (simplifying assumptions made) and on the other an insufficiency in the experimental data available. The object of our present paper is to show how far test results agree with the available approximate computation methods, to investigate in greater detail the physical nature of impact on water, and to perfect the experimental method of studying the phenomenon.

Description: For computing the critical flutter velocity of a wing among the data required are the position of the line of centers of gravity of the wing sections along the span and the mass moments and radii of inertia of any section of the wing about the axis passing through the center of gravity of the section. A sufficiently detailed computation of these magnitudes even if the weights of all the wing elements are known, requires a great deal of time expenditure. Thus a rapid competent worker would require from 70 to 100 hours for the preceding computations for one wing only, while hundreds of hours would be required if all the weights were included. With the aid of the formulas derived in the present paper, the preceding work can be performed with a degree of accuracy sufficient for practical purposes in from one to two hours, the only required data being the geometric dimensions of the outer wing (tapered part), the position of its longerons, the total weight of the outer wing, and the approximate weight of the longerons, The entire material presented in this paper is applicable mainly to wings of longeron construction of the CAHI type and investigations are therefore being conducted by CAHI for the derivation of formulas for the determination of the preceding data for wings of other types.

Description: The few available test data on the heat dissipation of wholly or partly heated airfoil models are compared with the corresponding data for the flat plate as obtained by an extension of Prandtl's momentum theory, with differentiation between laminar and turbulent boundary layer and transitional region between both, the extent and appearance of which depend upon certain critical factors. The satisfactory agreement obtained justifies far-reaching conclusions in respect to other profile forms and arrangements of heated surface areas. The temperature relationship of the material quantities in its effect on the heat dissipation is discussed as far as is possible at tk.e present state of research, and it is shown that the profile drag of heated wing surfaces can increase or decrease with the temperature increase depending upon the momentarily existent structure of the boundary layer.

Description: No abstract available

Description: The report presents a method for the computation of axial fan characteristics. The method is based on the assumption that the law of constancy of the circulation along the blade holds, approximately, for all fan conditions for which the blade elements operate at normal angles of attack (up to the stalling angles). Pressure head coefficient K(sub a) and power coefficient K(sub u) for the force components in the axial and tangential directions, respectively, and analogous to the lift and drag coefficients C(sub y) and C(sub x) are conveniently introduced.

Description: An approximate theory of buffeting is here presented, based on the assumption of harmonic disturbing forces. Two cases of buffeting are considered: namely, for a tail angle of attack greater and less than the stalling angle, respectively. On the basis of the tests conducted and the results of foreign investigators, a general analysis is given of the nature of the forced vibrations the possible load limits on the tail, and the methods of elimination of buffeting.

Description: A method that utilizes the Doppler effect on radio signals for determining the speed of an airplane and the distance traveled by the airplane has been developed and found to operate satisfactorily. In this method, called the NACA radio ground-speed system, standard readily available radio equipment is used almost exclusively and extreme frequency stability of the transmitters is not necessary. No complicated equipment need be carried in the airplane, as the standard radio transmitter is usually adequate. Actual flight tests were made in which the method was used and the results were consistent with calibrated air speed indications and stop-watch measurements. Inasmuch as the fundamental accuracy of the radio method is far better than either of the checking systems used, no check was made on the limitations of the accuracy.