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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1931

Tests of N.A.C.A. airfoils in the variable-density wind tunnel Series 43 and 63

This note is one of a series covering an investigation of a family of related airfoils. It gives in preliminary form the results obtained from tests in the N.A.C.A. Variable-Density Wind Tunnel of two groups of six airfoils each. One group, the 43 series, has a maximum mean camber of 4 per cent of the chord at a position 0.3 of the chord from the leading edge; the other group, the 63 series, has a maximum mean camber of 6 per cent of the chord at the same position. The members within each group differ only in maximum thickness, the maximum thickness/chord ratios being:0.06, 0.09, 0.12, 0.15, 0.18, and 0.21. The results are analyzed with a view to indicating the variation of the aerodynamic characteristics with profile thickness for airfoils having a certain mean camber line.

Jacobs, Eastman N↗
NASA NTRS1931

Tests of N.A.C.A. airfoils in the variable-density wind tunnel Series 45 and 65

This note is one of a series covering an investigation of a number of related airfoils. It presents the results obtained from tests in N.A.C.A. Variable-Density Wind Tunnel of two groups of six airfoils each. One group, the 45 series, has a maximum mean camber of 4 per cent of the chord at a position 0.5 of the chord behind the leading edge, and the other group, the 65 series, has a maximum mean camber of 6 per cent of the chord at the same position. The members within each group differ only in maximum thickness, the maximum thickness/chord ratios being: 0.06, 0.09, 0.12, 0.15, 0.18, and 0.21. The results are analyzed with a view to indicating the variation of the aerodynamic characteristics with profile thickness for airfoils having a certain mean camber line form.

Jacobs, Eastman N↗
NASA NTRS1932

Tests of N.A.C.A. airfoils in the variable-density wind tunnel Series 24

This note is the fifth of a series covering an investigation of a number of related airfoils. It presents the results obtained from tests of a group of six low-cambered airfoils in the variable-density wind tunnel. The mean camber lines are identical for the six airfoils and are of such a form that the maximum mean camber is 2 per cent of the chord and is at a position 0.4 of the chord behind the loading edge. The airfoils differ in thickness only, the maximum-thickness/chord ratios being 0.06, 0.09, 0.12, 0.15, 0.18, and 0.21. The results have been presented in the form of both infinite and finite aspect-ratio characteristics. The values of C(sub L) max/C(sub d) degrees min for this group of airfoils are among the highest thus far obtained, the minimum profile drags being approximately equal to those for the symmetrical series of corresponding thickness, while the maximum lift coefficients are considerably higher.

Jacobs, Eastman N↗
NASA NTRS1937

Fuselage-drag tests in the variable-density wind tunnel: streamline bodies of revolution, fineness ratio of 5

Results are presented of the drag tests of six bodies of revolution with systematically varying shapes and with a fineness ratio of 5. The forms were derived from source-sink distributions, and formulas are presented for the calculation of the pressure distribution of the forms. The tests were made in the N.A.C.A. variable-density tunnel over a range of values of Reynolds number from about 1,500,000 to 25,000,000. The results show that the bodies with the sharper noses and tails have the lowest drag coefficients, even when the drag coefficients are based on the two-thirds power of the volume. The data shows the most important single characteristic of the body form to be the tail angle, which must be fine to obtain low drag.

Abbott, Ira H↗
NASA NTRS1936

Tests in the variable-density wind tunnel of related airfoils having the maximum camber unusually far forward

A family of related airfoils having the position of maximum camber unusually far forward was investigated in the variable-density tunnel as an extension of the study recently completed of a large number of related airfoils. The new airfoils gave improved characteristics over those previously investigated, especially in regard to the pitching moment. Some of the new sections are markedly superior to well-known and commonly used sections and should replace them in applications requiring a slightly cambered section of moderate thickness having a small pitching-moment coefficient.

Jacobs, Eastman N↗
NASA NTRS1938

Flow Observations with Tufts and Lampblack of the Stalling of Four Typical Airfoil Sections in the NACA Variable-density Tunnel

A preliminary investigation of the stalling processes of four typical airfoil sections was made over the critical range of the Reynolds Number. Motion pictures were taken of the movements of small silk tufts on the airfoil surface as the angle of attack increased through a range of angles including the stall. The boundary-layer flow also at certain angles of attack was indicated by the patterns formed by a suspension of lampblack in oil brushed onto the airfoil surface. These observations were analyzed together with corresponding force-test measurements to derive a picture of the stalling processes of airfoils.

Abbott, Ira H↗
NASA NTRS1938

Interference of Wing and Fuselage from Tests of the 18 Combinations in the N.A.C.A. Variable-density Tunnel - Combination with Split Flaps

As part of the wing-fuselage interference investigation in progress in the N.A.C.A. variable density wind tunnel, the effects of various split-flap arrangements applied to wing-fuselage combinations were determined. Split flaps were found to exert their influence independently of the interference, and their effects on the aerodynamic characteristics of rectangular-airfoil combinations appeared to be more or less proportional to their exposed span lengths. The interference, moreover, showed the same character with the split flaps as without them.

Sherman, Albert↗
NASA NTRS1941

Comparison of Vee-Type and Conventional Tail Surfaces in Combination with Fuselage and Wing in the Variable-Density Tunnel

The pitching and the yawing moments of a vee-type and a conventional type of tail surface were measured. The tests were made in the presence of a fuselage and a wing-fuselage combination in such a way as to determine the moments contributed by the tail surfaces. The results showed that the vee-type tail tested, with a dihedral angle of 35.3 deg, was about 71 percent as effective in pitch as the conventional tail and had a yawing-moment to pitching-moment ratio of 0.3. The conventional tail, the panels of which were all congruent to those of the vee-type tail, had a yawing-moment to pitching-moment ratio of 0.48. These ratios are in fair agreement with values calculated by methods shown in this and previous reports. The values of the measured moments were reduced from 15 to 25 percent of the calculated value by fuselage interference.

Greenberg, Harry↗
NASA NTRS1931

The Interference Effects on an Airfoil of a Flat Plate at Mid-span Position

This report gives the results of an investigation of the mutual interference of an airfoil and a flat plate inserted at mid-span position. The tests were conducted in the Variable-Density Wind Tunnel of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics at a high value of the Reynolds Number. The interference effects of this combination were found to be small. Supplementary tests indicated that the use of fillets decreases both the lift and drag slightly. A bibliography of publication dealing with interference between wings and bodies, and with the effects of cut-outs and fillets is included.

Ward, Kenneth E↗
NASA NTRS1932

Characteristics of an Airfoil as Affected by Fabric Sag

This report presents the results of tests made at a high value of the Reynolds Number in the N.A.C.A. variable-density wind tunnel to determine the aerodynamic characteristics of an airfoil as affected by fabric sag. Tests were made of two Gottingen 387 airfoils, one having the usual smooth surface and the other having a surface modified to simulate two types of fabric sag. The results of these tests indicate that the usual sagging of the wind covering between ribs has a very small effect on the aerodynamic characteristics of an airfoil.

AIRFOILS - GOTETTINGEN 387 - CHAR , C P & ORDINATE↗
NASA NTRS1932

The aerodynamic characteristics of airfoils at negative angles of attack

A number of airfoils, including 14 commonly used airfoils and 10 NACA airfoils, were tested through the negative angle-of-attack range in the NACA variable-density wind tunnel at a Reynolds Number of approximately 3,000,000. The tests were made to supply data to serve as a basis for the structural design of airplanes in the inverted flight condition. In order to make the results immediately available for this purpose they are presented herein in preliminary form, together with results of previous tests of the airfoils at positive angles of attack. An analysis of the results made to find the variation of the ratio of the maximum negative lift coefficient to the maximum positive lift coefficient led to the following conclusions: 1) For airfoils of a given thickness, the ratio -C(sub L max) / +C(sub L max) tends to decrease as the mean camber is increased. 2) For airfoils of a given mean camber, the ratio -C(sub L max) / +C(sub L max) tends to increase as the thickness increases.

Anderson, Raymond F↗
NASA NTRS1932

Characteristics of two sharp-nosed airfoils having reduced spinning tendencies

According to Mr. L.D. Bell, of the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation, certain undesirable spinning characteristics of a commercial airplane were eliminated by the addition of a filler to the forward part of the wing to give it a sharp leading edge. To ascertain what aerodynamic effects result from such a change of section, two airfoils having sharp leading edges were tested in the variable-density wind tunnel. Both sections were derived by modifying the Gott. 398. The tests, which were made at a large value of the Reynolds Number, were carried to very large angles of attack to provide data for application to flight at angles of attack well beyond the stall. The characteristics of the sharp-nosed airfoils are compared with those of the normal Gott. 398 airfoil. Both of the sharp-nosed airfoils, which differ in the angle between the upper and lower surfaces at the leading edge, have about the same characteristics. As compared with the normal airfoil, the maximum lift is reduced by approximately 26 per cent, but the objectionable rapidly decreasing lift with angle of attack beyond the stall is eliminated; the profile drag of the section is slightly reduced in the range of the lift coefficient between 0.2 and 0.85, but at higher and lower lift coefficients the drag is increased.

Jacobs, Eastman N↗
NASA NTRS1926

Some aspects of the comparison of model and full-scale tests

This paper was delivered before the Royal Aeronautical Society as the 1925 Wilbur Wright Memorial lecture. It treats the subject of scale effect from the standpoint of the engineer rather than the physicist, in that it shows what compromises are necessary to secure satisfactory engineering model test data and how these test data compare with full scale or with theoretical values. The paper consists essentially of three parts: (1) a brief exposition of the theory of dynamic similarity, (2) application of the theory to airplane model tests, illustrated by test data on airfoils from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics variable-density wind tunnel, and (3) application of the theory to propeller testing, illustrated by comparisons of model and full-scale results.

Taylor, D W↗
NASA NTRS1926

The Air Forces on a Model of the Sperry Messenger Airplane Without Propeller

This is a report on a scale effect research which was made in the variable-density wind tunnel of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics at the request of the Army Air Service. A 1/10 scale model of the sperry messenger airplane with USA-5 wings was tested without a propeller at various Reynolds numbers up to the full scale value. Two series of tests were: the first on the original model which was of the usual simplified construction, and the second on a modified model embodying a great amount of detail. The experimental results show that the scale effect is almost entirely confined to the drag. It was also found that the model should be geometrically similar to the full-scale airplane if the test data are to be directly applicable to full scale.

Munk, Max M↗
NASA NTRS1928

The Effect of the Walls in Closed Type Wind Tunnels

A series of tests has been conducted during the period 1925-1927 by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in the variable-density wind tunnel on several airfoil models of different sizes and sections to determine the effect of tunnel-wall interference and to determine a correction which can be applied to reduce the error caused thereby. The use of several empirical corrections was attempted with little success. The Prandtl theoretical corrections give the best results, and their use is recommended for correcting closed wind tunnel results to the conditions of free air. An appendix is attached wherein the experimentally determined effect of the walls on the tunnel velocity very close to their surface is given. This is of special interest because a "scale effect" was found in the boundary layer with a change in the density of the tunnel air.

Higgins, George J↗
NASA NTRS1934

Airfoil section characteristics as affected by protuberances

The drag and interference caused by protuberance from the surface of an airfoil have been determined in the NACA variable-density wind tunnel at a Reynolds number approximately 3,100,000. The effects of variations of the fore-and-aft position, height, and shape of the protuberance were measured by determining how the airfoil section characteristics were affected by the addition of the various protuberances extending along the entire span of the airfoil. The results provide fundamental data on which to base the prediction of the effects of actual short-span protuberances. The data may also be applied to the design of air brakes and spoilers.

Jacobs, Eastman N↗
NASA NTRS1938

The variation with Reynolds number of pressure distribution over an airfoil section

Pressures were simultaneously measured at 54 orifices distributed over the midspan section of a 5 by 30-inch rectangular model of the NACA 4412 airfoil in the variable-density tunnel. These measurements were made at 17 angles of attack from -20 degrees to 30 degrees for eight values of the effective Reynolds number form approximately 100,000 to 8,200,000. Accurate data were thus obtained for studying the variation of pressure distribution with Reynolds number. These results on the NACA 4412 section indicated that the pressure distribution is practically unaffected by changes in Reynolds number except where separation is involved.

Pinkerton, Robert M↗