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open access

Drag of Cylinders of Simple Shapes

Description: "In order to determine the effect of shape, compressibility, and Reynolds number on the drag and critical speed for simple forms, the drag forces on models of various simple geometric cross sections were measured in the NACA 11-inch high-speed wind tunnel. The models were circular, semitubular, elliptical, square, and triangular (isosceles) cylinders. They were tested over a speed range from 5 percent of the speed of sound to a value in excess of the critical speed, corresponding, for each mode… more
Date: October 27, 1937
Creator: Lindsey, W. F.
open access

The experimental and calculated characteristics of 22 tapered wings

Description: From Summary: "The experimental and calculated aerodynamic characteristics of 22 tapered wings are compared, using tests made in the variable-density wind tunnel. The wings had aspect ratios from 6 to 12 and taper ratios from 1:6:1 and 5:1. The compared characteristics are the pitching moment, the aerodynamic-center position, the lift-curve slope, the maximum lift coefficient, and the curves of drag. The method of obtaining the calculated values is based on the use of wing theory and experiment… more
Date: November 17, 1937
Creator: Anderson, Raymond F.
open access

Experimental Investigation of Wind-Tunnel Interference on the Downwash Behind an Airfoil

Description: "The interference of the wind-tunnel boundaries on the downwash behind an airfoil has been experimentally investigated and the results have been compared with the available theoretical results for open-throat wind tunnels. As in previous studies, the simplified theoretical treatment that assumes the test section to be an infinite free jet has been shown to be satisfactory at the lifting line. The experimental results, however, show that this assumption may lead to erroneous conclusions regardin… more
Date: June 4, 1937
Creator: Silverstein, Abe & Katzoff, S.
open access

A Flight Comparison of Conventional Ailerons on a Rectangular Wing and of Conventional and Floating Wing-Tip Ailerons on a Tapered Wing

Description: Report presents the results of flight tests comparing the relative effectiveness of conventional ailerons of the same size on wings of rectangular and tapered plan forms made with a Fairchild 22 airplane. Information is included comparing conventional and floating wing-tip ailerons on a tapered wing. The results showed that the conventional ailerons were somewhat more effective on the tapered than on the rectangular wing. The difference, however, was so small as to be imperceptible to the pilot… more
Date: October 27, 1937
Creator: Soulé, H. A. & Gracey, W.
open access

Full-Scale Tests of a New Type NACA Nose-Slot Cowling

Description: "An extended experimental study has been made in regard to the various refinements in the design of engine cowlings as related to the propeller-nacelle unit as a whole, under conditions corresponding to take-off, climb, and normal flight. The tests were all conducted at full scale in the 20-foot wind tunnel. This report presents the results of a novel type of engine cowling, characterized by the fact that the exit opening discharging the cooling air is not, as usual, located behind the engine b… more
Date: 1937
Creator: Theodorsen, Theodore; Brevoort, M. J.; Stickle, George W. & Gough, M. N.
open access

General Airplane Performance

Description: "Equations have been developed for the analysis of the performance of the ideal airplane, leading to an approximate physical interpretation of the performance problem. The basic sea-level airplane parameters have been generalized to altitude parameters and a new parameter has been introduced and physically interpreted. The performance analysis for actual airplanes has been obtained in terms of the equivalent ideal airplane in order that the charts developed for use in practical calculations wil… more
Date: June 1, 1937
Creator: Rockfeller, W. C.
open access

Interrelation of Exhaust-Gas Constituents

Description: This report presents the results of an investigation conducted to determine the interrelation of the constituents of the exhaust gases of internal-combustion engines and the effect of engine performance on these relations. Six single-cylinder, liquid-cooled tests engines and one 9-cylinder radial air-cooled engine were tested. Various types of combustion chambers were used and the engines were operated at compression ratios from 5.1 to 7.0 using spark ignition and from 13.5 to 15.6 using compre… more
Date: September 7, 1937
Creator: Gerrish, Harold C. & Voss, Fred
open access

Measurements of Intensity and Scale of Wind-Tunnel Turbulence and Their Relation to the Critical Reynolds Number of Spheres

Description: The investigation of wind-tunnel turbulence, conducted at the National Bureau of Standards with the cooperation of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, has been extended to include a new variable, namely, the scale of the turbulence. This report presents the results of a study of this new variable together with the intensity of the turbulence, and the effect of both on the critical Reynolds number of spheres.
Date: 1937
Creator: Dryden, Hugh L.; Schubauer, G. B.; Mock, W. C., Jr. & Skramstad, H. K.
open access

A photographic study of combustion and knock in a spark-ignition engine

Description: Report presents the results of a photographic study of the combustion in a spark-ignition engine using both Schlieren and flame photographs taken at high rates of speed. Although shock waves are present after knock occurs, there was no evidence of any type of sonic or supersonic compression waves existing in the combustion gases prior to the occurrence of knock. Artificially induced shock waves in the engine did not in themselves cause knock.
Date: December 6, 1937
Creator: Rothrock, A. M. & Spencer, R. C.
open access

Pressure-distribution measurements at large angles of pitch on fins of different span-chord ratio on a 1/40-scale model of the U. S. Airship "Akron"

Description: Report presents the results of pressure-distribution measurements on a 1/40-scale model of the U. S. Airship "Akron" conducted in the NACA 20-foot wind tunnel. The measurements were made on the starboard fin of each of four sets of horizontal tail surfaces, all of approximately the same area but differing in span-chord ratio, for five angles of pitch varying from 11.6 degrees to 34 degrees, for four elevator angles, and at air speeds ranging from 56 to 77 miles per hour. Pressures were also mea… more
Date: April 4, 1937
Creator: McHugh, James G.
open access

Pressure distribution over a rectangular airfoil with a partial-span split flap

Description: This report presents the results of pressure-distribution tests of a Clark y wing model with a partial-span split flap made to determine the distribution of air loads over both the wing and the flap. The model was used in conjunction with a reflection plane in the NACA 7 by 10 foot wind tunnel. The 20-percent-chord split flap extended over the inboard 60 percent of the semispan. The tests were made at various flap deflections up to 45 degrees and covered a range of angles of attack from zero li… more
Date: April 28, 1937
Creator: Wenzinger, Carl J. & Harris, Thomas A.
open access

Pressure Distribution Over Airfoils With Fowler Flaps

Description: Report presents the results of tests made of a Clark y airfoil with a Clark y Fowler flap and of an NACA 23012 airfoil with NACA Fowler flaps. Some of the tests were made in the 7 by 10-foot wind tunnel and others in the 5-foot vertical wind tunnel. The pressures were measured on the upper and lower surfaces at one chord section both on the main airfoils and on the flaps for several angles of attack with the flaps located at the maximum-lift settings.
Date: November 24, 1937
Creator: Wenzinger, Carl J. & Anderson, Walter B.
open access

Resume and analysis of NACA lateral control research

Description: "An analysis of the principal results of recent NACA lateral control research is made by utilizing the experience and progress gained during the course of the investigation. Two things are considered of primary importance in judging the effectiveness of different control devices: the (calculated) banking and yawing motion of a typical small airplane caused by a deflection of the control, and the stick force required to produce this deflection. The report includes a table in which a number of di… more
Date: April 20, 1937
Creator: Weick, Fred E. & Jones, Robert T.
open access

Spinning characteristics of the XN2Y-1 airplane obtained from the spinning balance and compared with results from the spinning tunnel and from flight tests

Description: Report presents the results of tests of a 1/10-scale model of the XN2Y-1 airplane tested in the NACA 5-foot vertical wind tunnel in which the six components of forces and moments were measured. The model was tested in 17 attitudes in which the full-scale airplane had been observed to spin, in order to determine the effects of scale, tunnel, and interference. In addition, a series of tests was made to cover the range of angles of attack, angles of sideslip, rates of rotation, and control setting… more
Date: April 16, 1937
Creator: Bamber, M. J. & House, R. O.
open access

Stability of Castering Wheels for Aircraft Landing Gears

Description: "A theoretical study was made of the shimmy of castering wheels. The theory is based on the discovery of a phenomenon called kinematic shimmy. Experimental checks, use being made of a model having low-pressure tires, are reported and the applicability of the results to full scale is discussed. Theoretical methods of estimating the spindle viscous damping and the spindle solid friction necessary to avoid shimmy are given. A new method of avoiding shimmy -- lateral freedom -- is introduced" (p. 1… more
Date: August 11, 1937
Creator: Kantrowitz, Arthur
open access

Stress Analysis of Beams With Shear Deformation of the Flanges

Description: This report discusses the fundamental action of shear deformation of the flanges on the basis of simplifying assumptions. The theory is developed to the point of giving analytical solutions for simple cases of beams and of skin-stringer panels under axial load. Strain-gage tests on a tension panel and on a beam corresponding to these simple cases are described and the results are compared with analytical results.
Date: 1937
Creator: Kuhn, Paul
open access

Torsion Tests of Tubes

Description: "This report presents the results of tests of 63 chromium-molybdenum steel tubes and 102 17st aluminum-alloy tubes of various sizes and lengths made to study the dependence of the torsional strength on both the dimensions of the tube and the physical properties of the tube material. Three types of failure are found to be important for sizes of tubes frequently used in aircraft construction: (1) failure by plastic shear, in which the tube material reached its yield strength before the critical t… more
Date: February 1937
Creator: Stang, Ambrose H.; Ramberg, Walter & Back, Goldie
open access

The Transition Phase in the Take-Off of an Airplane

Description: Report presents the results of an investigation to determine the character and importance of the transition phase between the ground run and steady climb in the take-off of an airplane and the effects of various factors on this phase and on the air-borne part of the take-off as a whole. The information was obtained from a series of step-by-step integrations, which defined the motion of the airplane during the transition and which were based on data derived from actual take-off tests of a Vervil… more
Date: October 26, 1937
Creator: Wetmore, J. W.
open access

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

Description: 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 sec… more
Date: July 14, 1937
Creator: Pinkerton, Robert M.
open access

Wind-Tunnel and Flight Tests of Slot-Lip Ailerons

Description: "The slot-lip ailerons developed by the NACA consist of a flap-type spoiler with an adjoining continuously open slot. The ailerons were developed in an investigation of the delayed response, or lag, of spoiler-type lateral controls. This report presents the results of tests of these slot-lip ailerons made on wing models in the 7 by 10-foot wind tunnel, on a Fairchild 22 airplane in the full-scale wind tunnel and in flight, and on the Weick W1-A airplane in flight" (p. 537).
Date: June 11, 1937
Creator: Shortal, Joseph A.
open access

Wind-Tunnel Investigation of Tapered Wings With Ordinary Ailerons and Partial-Span Split Flaps

Description: Report presents the results of an investigation made in the NACA 7 by 10-foot wind tunnel to determine the aerodynamic properties of tapered wings having partial-span flaps for high lift and ordinary ailerons for lateral control. Each of two Clark-y wings, tapered 5:1 and 5:3, was equipped with partial-span split flaps of two lengths and with ordinary ailerons extending from the outboard ends of the flap to the wing tips. Measurements of wing forces and moments and of aileron hinge moments were… more
Date: January 14, 1937
Creator: Wenzinger, Carl J.
open access

Wind-tunnel investigation of wings with ordinary ailerons and full-span external-airfoil flaps

Description: Report presents an investigation carried out in the NACA 7- by 10-foot wind tunnel of an NACA 23012 airfoil equipped, first, with a full-span NACA 23012 external-airfoil flap having a chord 0.20 of the main airfoil chord and with a full-span aileron with a chord 0.12 of the main airfoil chord on the trailing edge of the main airfoil and equipped second, with a 0.30-chord full-span NACA 23012 external-airfoil flap and a 0.13-chord full-span aileron. The results are arranged in three groups, the … more
Date: March 12, 1937
Creator: Platt, Robert C. & Shortal, Joseph A.
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