ALBERT

Description: The relation between the elevator hinge moment parameters and the control forces for changes in forward speed and in maneuvers is shown for several values of static stability and elevator mass balance. The stability of the short period oscillations is shown as a series of boundaries giving the limits of the stable regions in terms of the elevator hinge moment parameters. The effects of static stability, elevator moment of inertia, elevator mass unbalance, and airplane density are also considered. Dynamic instability is likely to occur if there is mass unbalance of the elevator control system combined with a small restoring tendency (high aerodynamic balance). This instability can be prevented by a rearrangement of the unbalancing weights which, however, involves an increase of the amount of weight necessary. It can also be prevented by the addition of viscous friction to the elevator control system provided the airplane center of gravity is not behind a certain critical position. For high values of the density parameter, which correspond to high altitudes of flight, the addition of moderate amounts of viscous friction may be destabilizing even when the airplane is statically stable. In this case, increasing the viscous friction makes the oscillation stable again. The condition in which viscous friction causes dynamic instability of a statically stable airplane is limited to a definite range of hinge moment parameters. It is shown that, when viscous friction causes increasing oscillations, solid friction will produce steady oscillations having an amplitude proportional to the amount of friction.

Description: The effects of jet-motor operation on the stability and control characteristics of two fighter-type airplanes as determined by wind-tunnel tests of 1/5-scale models are presented. It is shown that the action of the jets is to cause a small loss in stick-fixed stability which is predictable from known theories.

Description: No abstract available

Description: The present investigation was conducted in the Langley high-speed 7-by 10-foot tunnel to determine the static longitudinal and lateral stability characteristics at high subsonic speeds of two canard airplane configurations previously tested at supersonic speeds. The Mach number range of this investigation extended from 0.60 to 0.94 and a maximum angle-of-attack range of -2dewg to 24deg was obtained at the lowest test Mach number. Two wing plan forms of equal area were studied in the present tests; one was a 60deg delta wing and the other was a trapezoid wing having an aspect ratio of 3, taper ratio of 0.143, and an unswept 80-percent-chord line. The canard control had a trapezoidal plan form and its area was approximately 11.5 percent of the wing area. The model also had a low-aspect-ratio highly swept vertical tail and twin ventral fins. The longitudinal control characteristics of the models were consistent with past experience at low speed on canard configurations in that stalling of the canard surface occurred at moderate and high control deflections for moderate values of angle of attack. This stalling could impose appreciable limitations on the maximum trim-lift coefficient attainable. The control effectiveness and maximum value of trim-lift was significantly increased by addition of a body flap having a conical shape and located slightly behind the canard surface on the bottom of the body. Addition of the canard surface at 0deg deflection had relatively little effect on overall directional stability of the delta-wing configuration; however, deflection of the canard surface from 0deg to 10deg had a large favorable effect on directional stability at high angles of attack for both the trapezoid- and delta-wing configurations.

Description: This report outlines the flight conditions that are usually critical in determining the design of components of an airplane which affect its stability and control characteristics. The wind-tunnel tests necessary to determine the pertinent data for these conditions are indicated, and the methods of computation used to translate these data into characteristics which define the flying qualities of the airplane are illustrated.

Description: Problems relating to the stability and control of tailless airplanes are discussed in consideration of contemporary experience and practice.

Description: Field measurements were made on a fighter airplane to determine the approximate magnitude of the horizontal tail loads in accelerated flight. In these flight measurements, pressures at a few points were used as an index of the tail loads by correlating these pressures with complete pressure-distribution data obtained in the NACA full-scale tunnel. In addition, strain gages and motion pictures of tail deflections were used to explore the general nature and order of magnitude of fluctuating tail loads in accelerated stalls.

Description: The relation between the elevator hinge-moment parameters and the control-forces for changes in forward speed and in maneuvers is shown for several values of static stability and elevator mass balance.

Description: An investigation has been conducted in the Langley 4- by 4-foot supersonic pressure tunnel to determine the aerodynamic characteristics in pitch and sideslip of a generalized canard airplane model. Two wings of equal area but differing in plan form were investigated. The model was equipped with a trapezoidal canard surface with an area 12 percent of the wing area, a low-aspect-ratio vertical tail, and twin ventral fins. The interference effects of the canard wake on the wing result in little or no gain in the total lift at a Mach number of 1.41 but at a Mach number of 2.01 a substantial portion of the canard lift is retained with a resultant increase in total lift. Because these interference effects of the canard wake appear to be concentrated near the leading edge of the wing, the proper location of the wing leading edge with respect to the center of moments may result in a substantial increase in the moment increment provided by a canard surface even though the total lift provided by the canard is small. For these configurations the trapezoidal wing retained the most lift and had the largest favorable moment increment produced by the canards. The canard configurations have the same characteristic decrease in directional-stability with angle of attack as most conventional high-fineness-ratio supersonic configurations. Although the presence of the canard surface caused a small increase in the directional stability at a Mach number of 1.41 for the delta-wing configuration, the presence of the canards resulted in small decreases in the directional-stability level at a Mach number of 2.01 for both wing configurations. A canard deflection of 15 deg provides an increase in the positive effective dihedral approximately as large as that provided by the presence of the vertical tail. This effect of canard deflection might complicate the lateral-control problem in the case of a rolling pull-up maneuver.

Description: The present report deals with the determination of the impact stresses in the bulkhead floors of a seaplane bottom. The dynamic problem is solved on the assumption of a certain elastic system, the floor being assumed as a weightless elastic beam with concentrated masses at the ends (due to the mass of the float) and with a spring which replaces the elastic action of the keel in the center. The distributed load on the floor is that due to the hydrodynamic force acting over a certain portion of the bottom. The pressure distribution over the width of the float is assumed to follow the Wagner law. The formulas given for the maximum bending moment are derived on the assumption that the keel is relatively elastic, in which case it can be shown that at each instant of time the maximum bending moment is at the point of juncture of the floor with the keel. The bending moment at this point is a function of the half width of the wetted surface c and reaches its maximum value when c is approximately equal to b/2 where b is the half width of the float. In general, however, for computing the bending moment the values of the bending moment at the keel for certain values of c are determined and a curve is drawn. The illustrative sample computation gave for the stresses a result approximately equal to that obtained by the conventional factory computation.

Description: A theoretical method is presented for predicting the dynamic lateral stability characteristics of an airplane towed in tandem by a much larger airplane. Values of period and time to damp to one-half amplitude and rolling motions calculated by an analog computer have been correlated with results of two experimental investigations conducted in the Langley free-flight tunnel which were part of a U.S. Air Force program (Project FICON) to develop a satisfactory arrangement by which a bomber could tow a parasite fighter. In general, the theoretical results agree with the experimental results.

Description: The static longitudinal and lateral stability charaetefistics of an 0 .065-scale model of the XRSSM-N-9a (REGULUS II) Missile at Mach number range of 1.6 to 2.0 at a Reynolds number per foot of 2.0(exp 8)

Description: An investigation of the low-speed static stability and control characteristics of 1/4-scale models of two configurations suitable for lifting reentry from satellite orbit has been made in the Langley free- flight tunnel. One of the models was a thick, all-wing configuration having a delta plan form and the other was a flat delta wing with a half-cone fuselage. The investigation showed that, in general, the all-wing configuration had better longitudinal and lateral stability characteristics than the flat delta configuration.

Description: A flight investigation was made to obtain experimental information on the handling qualities of a normal-acceleration type of automatic longitudinal control system. The control system was installed in a subsonic fighter-type airplane. In hands-off (stick-free) flight the normal-acceleration control system attempted to regulate the normal acceleration to a constant value which is dependent on the automatic-control-system trim setting. In maneuvering flight a given pilot's stick deflection produced a proportional change in normal acceleration, the change in acceleration being independent of flight condition. A small side-located controller stick was used by the pilot to introduce signals into the automatic control system. In the flight program emphasis was placed on the acceleration-limiting capabilities of the control system. The handling qualities were investigated in maneuvers such as slow and rapid pull-ups and turns and also in flight operations such as cruising, stalls, landings, aerobatics, and air-to-air tracking. Good acceleration limiting was obtained with the normal-acceleration control system by limiting the magnitude of the input signal that the pilot could introduce into the control system. The same values of control-system gain settings could be used from an acceleration-limiting stand-point at both 10,000 and 30,000 feet for the complete speed range of the airplane. The response characteristics of the airplane-control system combination were also satisfactory at both high and low altitude with these same values of control-system gain setting. In the pilot's opinion, the normal-acceleration control system provided good stability and control characteristics in flight operations such as cruising, stalls, landings, aerobatics, and air-to-air tracking.

Description: This document contains reproductions of technical papers on some of the most recent research results on aircraft loads, flutter, and structures from the NACA laboratories. These papers were presented by members of the staff of the NACA laboratories at the Conference held at the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory March 5, 6, and 7, 1957. The primary purpose of this Conference was to convey to contractors of the military services and others concerned with the design of aircraft these recent research results and to provide those attending an opportunity to discuss the results. The papers in this document are in the same form in which they were presented at the Conference in order to facilitate their prompt distribution. The original presentation and this record are considered as complementary to, rather than as substitutes for, the Committee?s more complete and formal reports. Accordingly, if information from this document is utilized it is requested that this document not be listed as a reference. Individual reports dealing with most of the information presented at the Conference will subsequently be published by NACA and will therefore be suitable as reference material.

Description: Methods are presented for estimating the directional stability derivative increments contributed by the stabilizing surfaces of subsonic and supersonic aircraft. These methods are strictly applicable at zero angle of attack and small angles of sideslip. The procedure of totaling the incremental coefficients to obtain an estimation of the total empennage side-force and yawing-moment coefficient derivatives is also shown, together with numerical examples. A correlation is presented between estimated and experimental incremental coefficients which indicates that the methods of this report generally estimate the increment of side force gained by the addition of a panel to within +/-10 percent of the experimental value while the yawing-moment increment is generally estimated to within +/-20 percent. This is true for both subsonic and supersonic Mach numbers. An example application of the methods to one of the problems in directional stability, that of minimizing the effect of Mach number on the side-force coefficient derivative of the empennage, is discussed.