ALBERT

Description: Limited flight - test data obtained from an automatically controlled interceptor during runs in which oscillatory rolling motions were encountered have been correlated with the pilot's comments regarding his ability to tolerate the imposed lateral accelerations.

Description: A simulator study and flight tests were performed to determine the levels of static stability and damping necessary to enable a pilot to control the longitudinal and lateral-directional dynamics of a vehicle for short periods of time. Although a basic set of aerodynamic characteristics was used, the study was conducted so that the results would be applicable to a wide range of flight conditions and configurations. Novel piloting techniques were found which enabled the pilot to control the vehicle at conditions that were otherwise uncontrollable. The influence of several critical factors in altering the controllability limits was also investigated. Several human transfer functions were used which gave fairly good representations of the controllability limits determined experimentally for the short-period longitudinal, directional, and lateral modes. A transfer function with approximately the same gain and phase angle as the pilot at the controlling frequencies along the controllability limits was also derived.

Description: The problem of return to a specified landing point on the earth from flight in space is considered by studying the interaction between an assumed control over the lateral and longitudinal range and the initial conditions of approach to the earth, given by orbital-plane inclination, vacuum perigee location, and time of arrival. The maneuvering capability in the atmosphere permits a point return for a range of entry conditions. A lateral-range capability of +/- 500 miles from the center line of an entry trajectory can allow a variation in the time of arrival of over 3.5 hours. Variation in the orbital-plane inclination angle can be as much as +/- 13 deg.

Description: This paper is concerned with a discussion of some of the problems of flutter and aeroelasticity that are or may be important at high speeds. Various theoretical procedures for treating high Mach number flutter are reviewed. Application of two of these methods, namely, the Van Dyke method and piston-theory method, is made to a specific example and compared with linear two- and three-dimensional results. It is shown that the effects of thickness and airfoil shape are destabilizing as compared with linear theory at high Mach number. In order to demonstrate the validity of these large predicted effects, experimental flutter results are shown for two rectangular wings at Mach numbers of 6.86 and 3. The results of nonlinear piston-theory calculations were in good agreement with experiment, whereas the results of using two- and three-dimensional linear theory were not. In addition, some results demonstrating the importance of including camber modes in a flutter analysis are shown, as well as a discussion of one case of flutter due to aerodynamic heating.

Description: Tests were conducted at Mach numbers of 3.96 and 4.65 in the Langley Unitary Plan wind tunnel to determine the static longitudinal stability characteristics of a fin-stabilized rocket-vehicle configuration which had a rearward facing step located upstream of the fins. Two fin sizes and planforms, a delta and a clipped delta, were tested. The angle of attack was varied from 6 deg to -6 deg and the Reynolds number based on model 6 length was about 10 x 10. The configuration with the larger fins (clipped delta) had a center of pressure slightly rearward of and an initial normal-force-curve slope slightly higher than that of the configuration with the smaller fins (delta) as would be expected. Calculations of the stability parameters gave a slightly lower initial slope of the normal-force curve than measured data, probably because of boundary-layer separation ahead of the step. The calculated center of pressure agreed well with the measured data. Measured and calculated increments in the initial slope of the normal-force curve and in the center of pressure, due to changing fins, were in excellent agreement indicating that separated flow downstream of the step did not influence flow over the fins. This result was consistent with data from schlieren photographs.

Description: A low-speed investigation has been conducted in the Langley stability tunnel to study the effects of frequency and amplitude of sideslipping motion on the lateral stability derivatives of a 60 deg. delta wing, a 45 deg. sweptback wing, and an unswept wing. The investigation was made for values of the reduced-frequency parameter of 0.066 and 0.218 and for a range of amplitudes from +/- 2 to +/- 6 deg. The results of the investigation indicated that increasing the frequency of the oscillation generally produced an appreciable change in magnitude of the lateral oscillatory stability derivatives in the higher angle-of-attack range. This effect was greatest for the 60 deg. delta wing and smallest for the unswept wing and generally resulted in a more linear variation of these derivatives with angle of attack. For the relatively high frequency at which the amplitude was varied, there appeared to be little effect on the measured derivatives as a result of the change in amplitude of the oscillation.

Description: The mission requirements for some satellites require that they spin continuously and at the same time maintain a precise direction of the spin axis. An analog-computer study has been made of an attitude control system which is suitable for such a satellite. The control system provides the necessary attitude control through the use of a spinning wheel, which will provide precession torques, commanded by an automatic closed-loop servomechanism system. The sensors used in the control loop are rate gyroscopes for damping of any wobble motion and a sun seeker for attitude control. The results of the study show that the controller can eliminate the wobble motion of the satellite resulting from a rectangular pulse moment disturbance and then return the spin axis to the reference space axis. The motion is damped to half amplitude in less than one cycle of the wobble motion. The controller can also reduce the motion resulting from a step change in product of inertia both by causing the new principal axis to be steadily alined with the spin vector and by reducing the cone angle generated by the reference body axis. These methods will reduce the motion whether the satellite is a disk, sphere, or rod configuration.

Description: The stability and control characteristics of a simple, lightly loaded model approximately one-third the size of a full-scale vehicle have been investigated by a series of free-flight tests. The model is representative of a type of vertically rising aircraft which would utilize four ducted fans as its sole source of lift and propulsion. The ducts were arranged in a rectangular pattern and were fixed to the airframe so that their axes of revolution were vertical for hovering flight. Control moments were provided by remotely controlled compressed-air jets at the sides and ends of the model. In hovering, the model in its original configuration exhibited divergent oscillations about both the roll and pitch axes. Because these oscillations were of a rather short period., the model was very difficult to control by the use of remote controls only. The model could be completely stabilized by the addition of a sufficient amount of artificial damping. The pitching oscillation was made easier to control by increasing the distance between the forward and rearward pairs of ducts. In forward flight, with the model in its original configuration, the top speed was limited by the development of an uncontrollable pitch-up. Large forward tilt angles were required for trim at the highest speeds attained. With the model rotated so that the shorter axis became the longitudinal axis, the pitch trim problem was found to be less than with the longer axis as the longitudinal axis. The installation of a system of vanes in the slipstream of the forward ducts reduced the tilt angle but increased the power required.

Description: As part of a general investigation to determine the effects of simulator motions on pilot opinion and task performance over a wide range of vehicle longitudinal dynamics, a cooperative NASA-AMAL program was conducted on the centrifuge at Johnsville, Pennsylvania. The test parameters and measurements for this program duplicated those of earlier studies made at Ames Research Center with a variable-stability airplane and with a pitch-roll chair flight simulator. Particular emphasis was placed on the minimum basic damping and stability the pilots would accept and on the minimum dynamics they considered controllable in the event of stability-augmentation system failure. Results of the centrifuge-simulator program indicated that small positive damping was required by the pilots over most of the frequency range covered for configurations rated acceptable for emergency conditions only (e.g., failure of a pitch damper). It was shown that the pilot's tolerance for unstable dynamics was dependent primarily on the value of damping. For configurations rated acceptable for emergency operation only, the allowable instability and damping corresponded to a divergence time to double amplitude of about 1 second. Comparisons were made of centrifuge, pitch-chair and fixed-cockpit simulator tests with flight tests. Pilot ratings indicated that the effects of incomplete or spurious motion cues provided by these three modes of simulation were important only for high-frequency, lightly damped dynamics or unstable, moderately damped dynamics. The pitch- chair simulation, which provided accurate angular-acceleration cues to the pilot, compared most favorably with flight. For the centrifuge simulation, which furnished accurate normal accelerations but spurious pitching and longitudinal accelerations, there was a deterioration of pilots' opinion relative to flight results. Results of simulator studies with an analog pilot replacing the human pilot illustrated the adaptive capability of human pilots in coping with the wide range of vehicle dynamics and the control problems covered in this study. It was shown that pilot-response characteristics, deduced by the analog-pilot method, could be related to pilot opinion. Possible application of these results for predicting flight-control problems was illustrated by means of an example control-problem analysis. The results of a brief evaluation of a pencil-type side-arm controller in the centrifuge showed a considerable improvement in the pilots' ability to cope with high-frequency, low-damping dynamics, compared to results obtained with the center stick. This improvement with the pencil controller was attributed primarily to a marked reduction in the adverse effects of large and exaggerated pitching and longitudinal accelerations on pilot control precision.

Description: An adjustable feel system connected to the longitudinal control system of a transonic fighter airplane has been developed and has been evaluated in flight. Variable control feel including response feel is provided from the following five sources: control position, control rate, normal acceleration, pitching velocity, and pitching acceleration. This system provides a very flexible tool for more detailed study of longitudinal control feel characteristics than has previously been possible. The evaluation program for the variable-feel system yielded flight time histories which illustrate effects on the stability of airplane and control-system response modes of large amounts of response feel. These results illustrate the need for balancing the amounts of feel from normal acceleration and pitching acceleration to maintain the stability of the short-period and control-system modes. At the frequency of the short-period mode, large amounts of normal-acceleration feel cause the control system to oscillate and excite the airplane short-period mode of oscillation. At the same frequency the pitching acceleration component of feel, which leads the normal-acceleration component by 180 deg, is almost equivalent to viscous damping on the stick. However, at slightly frequencies the lag of the response-feel components increases by 90 deg or more so that a large pitching-acceleration component excites an oscillation of the control system at 4 cycles per second. These results by confirming and supplementing the conclusions of previous observers indicate that the adjustable feel system is operating properly.

Description: An investigation of the low-subsonic flight characteristics of a thick 70 deg delta reentry configuration having a diamond cross section has been made in the Langley full-scale tunnel over an angle-of-attack range from 20 to 45 deg. Flight tests were also made at angles of attack near maximum lift (alpha = 40 deg) with a radio-controlled model dropped from a helicopter. Static and dynamic force tests were made over an angle-of-attack range from 0 to 90 deg. The longitudinal stability and control characteristics were considered satisfactory when the model had positive static longitudinal stability. It was possible to fly the model with a small amount of static instability, but the longitudinal characteristics were considered unsatisfactory in this condition. At angles of attack above the stall the model developed a large, constant-amplitude pitching oscillation. The lateral stability characteristics were considered to be only fair at angles of attack from about 20 to 35 deg because of a lightly damped Dutch roll oscillation. At higher angles of attack the oscillation was well damped and the lateral stability was generally satisfactory. The Dutch roll damping at the lower angles of attack was increased to satisfactory values by means of a simple rate-type roll damper. The lateral control characteristics were generally satisfactory throughout the angle- of-attack range, but there was some deterioration in aileron effectiveness in the high angle-of-attack range due mainly to a large increase in damping in roll.

Description: A wind-tunnel investigation at high subsonic speeds has been conducted to determine the effect of fuselage forebody strakes on the static stability and the vertical-tail-load characteristics of an airplane-type configuration having a delta wing. The tests were made at Mach numbers from 0.60 to 0.92 corresponding to Reynolds numbers from 3.0 x 10(exp 6) to 4.2 x 10(exp 6), based on the wing mean aerodynamic chord, and at angles of attack from approximately -2 to 24 deg. The strakes provided improvements in the directional stability characteristics of the wing-fuselage configuration which were reflected in the characteristics of the complete configuration in the angle-of-attack range where extreme losses in directional stability quite often occur. It was also found that the strakes, through their beneficial effect on the wing-fuselage directional stability, reduced the vertical-tail load per unit restoring moment at high angles of attack. The results also indicated that, despite the inherent tendency for strakes to produce a pitch-up, acceptable pitching-moment characteristics can be obtained provided the strakes are properly chosen and used in conjunction with a wing-body-tail configuration characterized by increasing stability with increasing lift.

Description: A transonic flutter investigation was made of elastically and dynamically scaled models of the tee-tail of a patrol bomber. It was found that removal of the 15 deg. dihedral of the stabilizer used on the airplane raised the flutter boundary to higher dynamic pressures. The effect of Mach number on the flutter boundary was different for dihedral angles of 0 and 15 deg. The dynamic pressure at the flutter boundary increased approximately linearly with the torsional stiffness of the fin. High-speed motion pictures indicated that the flutter mode consisted primarily of fin bending and fin torsion.

Description: The Methoxy system for regenerating oxygen from carbon dioxide was studied. Experiments indicate that the reaction between carbon dioxide and hydrogen can be carried out with ease in an efficient manner and with excellent heat conservation. A small reactor capable of handling the C02 expired by three men has been built and operated. The decomposition of methane by therma1,arc and catalytic processes was studied. Both the arc and catalytic processes gave encouraging results with over 90 percent of the methane being decomposed to carbon and hydrogen in some of the catalytic processes. Control of the carbon deposition in both the catalytic and arc processes is of great importance to prevent catalyst deactivation and short circuiting of electrical equipment. Sensitive analytical techniques have been developed for all of the components present in the reactor effluent streams.

Description: No abstract available

Description: A method is presented for obtaining the nonlinear aerodynamic stability characteristics of bodies of revolution from free-flight test.s The necessary conditions for the application of this method are: (1) that the roll rate and damping encountered in a single cycle of oscillation be small, and (2) that the resulting motion be reasonably planar. Four approximations to the nonlinear restoring moment are considered and solutions are obtained in closed form: 1. A single-term polynomial in an arbitrary power of the angle of attack. 2. A two-term polynomial having linear and cubic terms. 3. A three-term polynomial having linear, quadratic, and cubic terms. 4. A three-term polynomial having linear, quadratic, and cubic terms. An iteration procedure is formulated to allow the use of each of these approximations for obtaining the aerodynamic coefficients of bodies of revolution from free-flight test data. It is found that although the equations that are solved pertain strictly to planar motion, the solutions are applicable to motions that deviate to a fairly large degree from planar motion.

Description: An analytical study was made of an adaptive flight-control system which measures vehicle response to small-amplitude control-surface deflections produced by a sinusoidal test signal. Changes in the response to this signal are related to environmental changes,, and the system is continuously altered to maintain this response equal to a preselected value. The system is suitable for use in high-performance aircraft and missiles and requires only the addition of a signal generator and a logic circuit consisting of a filter-rectifier network and a comparator-integrator network to a basic command-control system. Thus, it presents a relatively simple approach to the problem. The effects on system performance of variation in flight condition, system-gain level, test-signal frequency, and sensor location are included in the analysis. Longitudinal control of a high-performance research aircraft over flight conditions ranging from landing approach to a Mach number of 5.8 at an altitude of 150,000 feet, and longitudinal control of a four-stage solid-fuel missile including the first bending mode over the atmospheric portion of a launch trajectory constituted the basis for the analytical study. Results of an analog-computer study using time-varying coefficients are presented to compare the control obtained with the adaptive system with-that obtained with a fixed-gain system during the atmospheric portion of a missile launch trajectory. The system has demonstrated an ability to maintain satisfactory vehicle control-system stability over wide ranges of environmental change.

Description: An investigation of the longitudinal and lateral stability and control and Performance characteristics of a six-propeller deflected- slipstream vertical-take-off-and-landing (VTOL) model in the transition speed range was conducted in the 17-foot test section of the Langley 300-MPH 7- by 10-foot tunnel. A complete analysis of the data was not conducted. A modest amount of blowing boundary-layer control was necessary to achieve transition without wing stall.

Description: A low-speed investigation has been made to determine the static and oscillatory longitudinal and lateral stability derivatives of a proposed reentry vehicle having an extensible heat shield for reentry at high angles of attack. The heat shield is extended forward to give the desired aerodynamic-center position for high-angle-of-attack reentry and, after completion of the reentry phase, is retracted to give stability and trim for gliding flight at low angles of attack. Near an angle of attack of 900 the reentry configuration was statically stable both longitudinally and directionally, had positive dihedral effect, and had positive damping in roll but zero damping in yaw. The landing configuration had positive damping in pitch, roll, and yaw over the test angle-of-attack range but was directionally unstable and had negative dihedral effect between an angle of attack of about 10 and 20 deg.

Description: An investigation was made at high subsonic speeds of a complete model having a highly tapered wing and several tail configurations. The aspect-ratio-3.50 wing had a taper ratio of 0.067 and an unswept 0.80 chord line. The complete model was tested with a wing-chord-plane tail, a T-tail, and a biplane tail (combined T-tail and wing-chord-plane tail). The model was tested in the Langley high-speed 7- by 10-foot tunnel at Mach numbers from 0.60 to 0.92 over a range of angle of attack of about +/- 20 deg. and a range of sideslip of -15 deg. to 13 deg. Some data were obtained with the horizontal stabilizer deflected. A few tests were also made with the wing tips clipped to an aspect ratio of 3.00. The data show that shock-interference effects between the tail surfaces (T-tail) can have considerable influence on the directional stability and effective dihedral. For example, the T-tail configuration with horizontal-tail leading-edge overhang showed a considerable loss in directional stability as the angle of attack was reduced to zero or negative values; whereas, the T-tail with zero leading-edge overhang showed the loss to be considerably less. The directional stability of the model with the low tail was essentially constant over a range of angle of attack of +/- 50 deg. All configurations tested showed a large reduction in stability at positive and negative angles of attack larger than about 15 deg., probably because of adverse sidewash associated with wing stall. The data show that a wing-chord-plane horizontal tail (low tail) tends to give a positive pitching-moment increment with increase in sideslip angle; whereas, a high tail (T-tail) tends to give negative increments in pitching moment.

Description: A study is made of the landing of an airplane on a fuselage with "planned" curvature of its lower surface. Initial contact is considered to stop the vertical motion of a point remote from the center of gravity, thus causing rocking on the curved lower surface which converts sinking-speed energy into angular energy in pitch for dissipation by damping forces. Analysis is made of loads and motions for a given fuselage shape, and the contours required to give desired load histories are determined. Most of the calculations involve initial contact at the tail, but there are two cases of unflared landings with initial contact at the nose. The calculations are checked experimentally for the tail - low case.

Description: An analytical investigation was conducted concerning the design of an attitude-stabilization system for stabilizing a vehicle experiencing negligible external moments. The system studied was an automatic discontinuous control system employing a linear switching function including effects of pure time delays, rise and decay time, and neutral zone. Equations were developed which generalize the transient and limit-cycle performance of the control system. understanding of how the physical constants of the system affect its performance, the equations enable the optimization of the system with regard to most considerations that can be expressed mathematically. Design charts are presented which enable rapid calculation of the best thrust level and switching-function coefficient for minimizing power required to stabilize the vehicle within some amplitude, minimizing attitude error, and minimizing angular-velocity error after a period of operation.

Description: The results of studies of four reentry guidance and control techniques for the energy management of vehicles returning to the earth at escape speeds are compared in this paper. The reentry trajectories are constrained to those of direct descent, that is, where the vehicle does not leave that portion of the atmosphere where useful aerodynamic forces are available after its initial entry. The guidance techniques compared are: (1) a piloted simulator study reference trajectory techniques; 2) An automatic controller using reference trajectory techniques; 3) A predictor system employing linear prediction (perturbation) techniques; and 4) A repetitive prediction system employing rapid-time computer techniques.

Description: An investigation of the use of low auxiliary horizontal-tail surfaces to alleviate the pitch-up tendency at high lift of an airplane configuration having a T - tail has been conducted in the Langley high-speed 7- by 10-foot tunnel. The basic model had a wing with an aspect ratio of 3, a taper ratio of 0.143, and an unswept 80-percent chord line. The Mach number for most of the tests extended from 0.60 to 0.94 and the angle-of-attack range was from -2 deg. to approximately 24 deg. at the lowest test Mach number. A preliminary study of a systematic series of auxiliary tails indicated that the pitch-up tendency at high lift encountered on the basic model could be greatly alleviated by use of a relatively small, very low-aspect-ratio auxiliary horizontal tail. This tail was located radially with respect to the fuselage center line with 30 deg. negative dihedral and therefore provided a significant favorable increment to directional stability of the model throughout most of the test angle-of-attack range.

Description: An evaluation has been made of the random deviations from the cruise altitudes (called flight technical error) of a large turbojet transport on scheduled, passenger-carrying operations over the Eastern United States, the Atlantic Ocean, and Western Europe. Data were collected from l9O flights through an altitude range of 20,000 to 41,000 feet and for a time period from January to August 1959. The results of the investigation, based on an evaluation of the altitude recordings of an NASA VGH recorder, showed that for a high percentage of the total cruise time (99.0 percent) the airplane operated within 100 feet of its stabilized cruise altitude. On occasion, however, the excursions of the airplane from the cruise altitude reached large values (in excess of 1,000 feet in the worst case).

Description: The investigation of the lateral-directional stability and control characteristics of a four-propeller deflected-slipstream VTOL model in the transition speed range was conducted in the 17-foot test section of the Langley 300-MPH 7- by 10-foot tunnel. A large fairing on top of the rear fuselage was needed to eliminate directional instability in the power-off flaps-retracted condition. Even with this fairing some instability at small sideslip angles remained for power-on conditions with low flap deflections. The configuration exhibited a high level of dihedral effect which, coupled with the directional instability, will probably produce an undesirable Dutch roll oscillation.

Description: A fixed-base simulator investigation has been made of stability and control problems during piloted reentry from lunar missions. Reentries were made within constraints of acceleration and skipping, in which the pilot was given simulated navigation tasks of altitude and heading angle commands. Vehicles considered included a blunt-face, high-drag capsule, and a low-drag lifting cone, each of which had a trim lift-drag ratio of 0.5. With the provision of three-axis automatic damping, both vehicles were easily controlled through reentry after a brief pilot-training period. With all dampers out, safe reentries could be made and both vehicles were rated satisfactory for emergency operation. In damper-failure conditions resulting in inadequate Dutch roll damping, the lifting-cone vehicle exhibited control problems due to excessive dihedral effect and oscillatory acceleration effects.

Description: A flight and fixed-base simulator study was made of the effects of aileron-induced yaw on pilot opinion of aircraft lateral-directional controllability characteristics. A wide range of adverse and favorable aileron-induced yaw was investigated in flight at several levels of Dutch-roll damping. The flight results indicated that the optimum values of aileron- induced yaw differed only slightly from zero for Dutch-roll damping from satisfactory to marginally controllable levels. It was also shown that each range of values of aileron-induced yawing moment considered satisfactory, acceptable, or controllable increased with an increase in the Dutch- roll damping. The increase was most marked for marginally controllable configurations exhibiting favorable aileron-induced yaw. Comparison of fixed-base flight simulator results with flight results showed agreement, indicating that absence of kinesthetic motion cues did not markedly affect the pilots' evaluation of the type of control problem considered in this study. The results of the flight study were recast in terms of several parameters which were considered to have an important effect on pilot opinion of lateral-directional handling qualities, including the effects of control coupling. Results of brief tests with a three-axis side-arm controller indicated that for control coupling problems associated with highly favorable yaw and cross-control techniques, use of the three-axis controller resulted in a deterioration of control relative to results obtained with the conventional center stick and rudder pedals.

Description: The static aerodynamic characteristics of a canard airplane configuration having twin vertical stabilizing surfaces are presented. The model consisted of a wing and canard both of triangular plan form and aspect ratio 2 mounted on a Sears-Haack body of fineness ratio 12.5 and two swept and tapered wing-mounted vertical tails of aspect ratio 1.35. Data are presented for Mach numbers from 0.70 to 2.22 and for angles of attack from -6 to +18 deg. at 0 and 5 deg. sideslip. Tests were made with the canard off and with the canard on. Nominal canard deflection angles ranged from 0 to 10 deg. The Reynolds number was 3.68 x 10(exp 6) based on the wing mean aerodynamic chord. Selected portions of the data obtained in this investigation are compared with previously published results for the same model having a single vertical tail instead of twin vertical tails. Without the canard, the directional stability at supersonic Mach numbers and high angles of attack was improved slightly by replacing the single tail with twin tails. However, at a Mach number of 0.70, the directional stability of the twin-tail model deteriorated rapidly with increasing angle of attack above 10 deg. and fell considerably below the level for the single-tail model. At subsonic speeds the directional stability of the twin-tail model with the canard was comparable to that for the single-tail model and at supersonic speed it was considerably greater at high angles of attack. Unlike the single-tail model, the twin-tail model at 50 sideslip exhibited an unstable break in the variation of pitching-moment coefficient with lift coefficient near 10 deg. angle of attack for 0.70 Mach number.

Description: The first 16 air launches of the X-15 airplane demonstrated the feasibility of air launch from an asymmetric position under the wing of the B-52 carrier airplane. With all dampers operating, launch transients were minimized and no stability problems were encountered. But, when the roll damper failed to function, the X-15 experienced relatively large roll rates in the presence of the carrier airplane, creating the possibility of the X-15 upper vertical tail hitting the cutout in the B-52 wing. Specific flight data demonstrated that left-aileron settings of from 6 deg to 8 deg at launch minimized the right-roll transient. The altitude loss of 3,000 to 9,000 feet before climbout could be effected was a function of launch altitude and recovery angle of attack. The average time for the X-15 to separate 10 feet from the B-52 carrier airplane was about 0.8 second. Flight-measured separation rates and launch transients agree well with predicted values where the initial conditions and control motions are similar.

Description: An analysis is made of a lateral-control problem in which the pilot, through normal application of control, induces divergent oscillations in bank angle. The problem, first encountered on the X-15 simulator and later confirmed in flight, is explained through the use of root-locus plots of the pilot-airplane combination in which the pilot is represented by a human transfer function. A parameter is developed which is useful for predicting the lateral-control problem and for showing the effect of the principal aerodynamic and inertial parameters. Also, means of determining regions in the flight envelope where the pilot-airplane would be susceptible to lateral instability are developed.

Description: A transonic and a supersonic flutter investigation of 1/2-size models of the all-movable canard surface of an expendable powered target has been conducted in the Langley transonic blowdown tunnel and in the Langley 9- by 18-inch supersonic aeroelasticity tunnel, respectively. The transonic investigation covered a Mach number range from 0.7 to 1.3, and the supersonic investigation was made at Mach numbers 1.3, 2.O, and 2.55. The effects on the flutter characteristics of the models of different levels of stiffness and of free play in the pitch control linkage were examined. The semispan models, which were tested at an angle of attack of 0 deg, had pitch springs with the scaled design and 1/2 the scaled design pitch stiffness and total free play in pitch ranging from 0 to 1 deg. An additional model configuration which had a pitch spring 1/4 the scaled design pitch stiffness and no free play in pitch was included in the supersonic tests. All model configurations investigated were flutter free up to dynamic pressures 32 percent greater than those required for flight throughout the Mach number range. Several model configurations were tested to considerably higher dynamic pressures without obtaining flutter at both transonic and supersonic speeds.

Description: An adaptive control system employing normal-acceleration command has been designed with the aid of an analog computer and has been flight tested. The design of the system was based on the concept of using a mathematical model in combination with a high gain and a limiter. The study was undertaken to investigate the application of a system of this type to the task of maintaining nearly constant dynamic longitudinal response of a piloted airplane over the flight envelope without relying on air data measurements for gain adjustment. The range of flight conditions investigated was between Mach numbers of 0.36 and 1.15 and altitudes of 10,000 and 40,000 feet. The final adaptive system configuration was derived from analog computer tests, in which the physical airplane control system and much of the control circuitry were included in the loop. The method employed to generate the feedback signals resulted in a model whose characteristics varied somewhat with changes in flight condition. Flight results showed that the system limited the variation in longitudinal natural frequency of the adaptive airplane to about half that of the basic airplane and that, for the subsonic cases, the damping ratio was maintained between 0.56 and 0.69. The system also automatically compensated for the transonic trim change. Objectionable features of the system were an exaggerated sensitivity of pitch attitude to gust disturbances, abnormally large pitch attitude response for a given pilot input at low speeds, and an initial delay in normal-acceleration response to pilot control at all flight conditions. The adaptive system chatter of +/-0.05 to +/-0.10 of elevon at about 9 cycles per second (resulting in a maximum airplane normal-acceleration response of from +/-0.025 g to +/- 0.035 g) was considered by the pilots to be mildly objectionable but tolerable.

Description: A three-axis vehicle control study has been made by use of a fixed simulator and analog computing equipment, to evaluate the effects of various ways of utilizing rate information. A side-arm controller providing proportional acceleration control was used with a simulated vehicle having no inherent stability or damping. Vehicle rate signals were used to provide control feedback or system damping and were used in the instrument display either separate from or summed with displacement signals. Near optimum performance of both transitions in roll and control of system disturbance was obtained by using a combination of system damping and summed displacement signals and rate signals.

Description: Gyroscopic cross coupling between pitch and yaw was simulated with a variable-stability helicopter while hovering in a yawing maneuver to ascertain the effect of cross coupling on handling qualities. Pilot ratings of the controllability of cross coupling were obtained for various combinations of longitudinal control power, angular velocity about the yaw axis, and simulated engine angular momentum. A theoretical investigation, supplemented by simulator data, was undertaken to determine the effect of longitudinal damping on the coupling controllability. Also, a comparison was made between flight and simulator data. The results indicated that for an aircraft with otherwise satisfactory longitudinal handling qualities, the level of cross coupling is satisfactory when less than 30 percent of the available longitudinal control will trim out the largest gyroscopic coupling moment which might be encountered. Increased longitudinal damping resulted in a significant increase in the controllability of pitch-yaw gyroscopic cross coupling.

Description: The static longitudinal and lateral stability characteristics of a right triangular pyramidal lifting reentry configuration have been investigated at Mach numbers from 0.60 to 1.19 for angles of attack up to 27.3 deg. The lower surfaces of the model had a dihedral angle of 45 deg, and the upper surface was flat. The leading-edge sweep of the model was 79.5 deg.

Description: An investigation was made at high subsonic speeds of a complete model having a highly tapered wing and several tail configurations. The basic aspect-ratio-4.00 wing had zero taper and an unswept 0.80 chord line. Several aspect-ratio modifications to the basic wing were made by clipping off portions of the wing tips. The complete model was tested with a chord-plane tail, a T-tail, and a biplane tail (combined T-tail and chord-plane tail). The model was tested in the Langley high-speed 7- by 10-foot tunnel at Mach numbers from 0.60 to 0.92. The data show that, when reduced to the same static margin, all the tail configurations tested on the model provided fairly good stability characteristics, the biplane tail giving the.best overall characteristics as regards pitching-moment linearity. Changes in static margin at zero lift coefficient with Mach number were small for the model with these tails over the Mach number range investigated.

Description: A general study of longitudinal control feel was made with a transonic fighter-type airplane equipped with a control-feel system which 4 was adjustable in flight. The control-feel system provided a feel component with individual gain control in proportion to each of five quantities: stick deflection, stick rate, airplane normal acceleration, pitching acceleration, and pitching velocity. A number of feel configurations were investigated in flight and analytically. These feel configurations had feel components in various amounts from various combinations of these five sources. The results contained herein are all for an airplane center-of-gravity position at approximately 25 percent of the mean aerodynamic chord, a Mach number of 0.85, and an altitude of 28,000 feet. Results are presented as time histories, as plots of the variation of peak force per g with input duration, and as frequency-response plots. A number of frequency-response plots are included to illustrate the effects of choice of feel sources and gains. The results illustrate the desirability of balancing a normal-acceleration feel component with a pitching-acceleration feel component. Pitching-velocity feel is shown to be useful for shaping control-system frequency response. The results suggest the desirability of designing a control-feel system to a large extent by means of frequency-response analysis in order to keep the shapes of the frequency-response curves within desirable limits.

Description: With an electric analog computer, an investigation has been made of the effects of control frictions and preloads on the transient longitudinal response of a fighter airplane during abrupt small attitude corrections. The simulation included the airplane dynamics, powered control system, feel system, and a simple linearized pseudopilot. Control frictions at the stick pivot and at the servo valve as well as preloads of the stick and valve were considered individually and in combinations. It is believed that the results which are presented in the form of time histories and vector diagrams present a more detailed illustration of the effects of stray forces and compensating forces in the longitudinal control system than has previously been available. Consistent with the results of previous studies, the present results show that any of these four friction and preload forces caused some deterioration of the response. However, even a small amount of valve friction caused an oscillatory pitching response during which the phasing of the valve friction was such that it caused energy to be fed into the pitching oscillation of the air-plane. Of the other friction and preload forces which were considered, it was found that stick preload was close to 180 deg. out of phase with valve friction and thus could compensate in large measure for valve friction as long as the cycling of the stick encompassed the trim point. Either stick friction or valve preload provided a smaller stabilizing effect primarily through a reduction in the amplitude of the resultant force vector acting on the control system. Some data were obtained on the effects of friction when the damping or inertia of the control system or the pilot lag was varied.

Description: An investigation has been made to determine the stability and control characteristics in hovering and in forward flight of a free-flight model representing a type of vertical-take-off-and-landing aircraft which utilizes two fixed ducted fans as its sole source of lift and propulsion. The model, having fans 28 inches in diameter, was considered to be approximately one-third the size of a full-scale aircraft. Control moments for most of the hovering tests and all the forward-flight tests were provided by remotely controlled compressed-air jets at the sides and ends of the model. For one brief phase of the hovering investigation a system of vanes in the duct slipstreams was substituted for the jets as a means of roll control. During the forward-flight tests, the model was flown with both the tandem and side-by-side duct arrangements. In hovering the model exhibited strongly divergent oscillations about the pitch and roll axes. The pitching oscillation of the tandem configuration was of a fairly long period and was not particularly difficult to control; the rolling oscillation, however, was of a relatively short period and was extremely difficult to control. Both oscillations could be completely eliminated by the addition of a sufficient amount of artificial damping. The control moments produced by the vane-type roll control system were weak and were accompanied by a side force of appreciable magnitude and undesirable direction. In forward flight the model required an undesirably large nose-down tilt angle for equilibrium at any appreciable speed. A vane was placed transversely in the slipstream of the forward duct of the tandem configuration in an attempt to reduce this tilt angle. The vane was effective in reducing the tilt angle but apparently caused an increase in the power requirements and in the angle-of-attack instability. Without the vane, a forward speed of 30 knots (full scale) required a nose-down tilt angle of about 300. A powerful pitch control moment was required not only to maintain the trim attitude but also to 2 overcome the effects of instability with angle of attack. Less pitch control moment was required for the tandem configuration than for the side-by-side configuration at any given forward speed. The instability in roll increased with forward speed. No forward speeds in excess of about 20 knots (full scale) were achieved until the artificial damping in roll and the yaw control moment were increased appreciably above values which had proved satisfactory for hovering flight.