Flight Tests at Supersonic Speeds to Determine the Effect of Taper on the Zero-Lift Drag of Sweptback Low-Aspect-Ratio Wings Page: 2 of 21
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NACA RM LOF30a
NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMTTEE FOR AERONAUTICS
RESEARCH MEMORANDUM
FLIGHT TESTS AT SUPERSONIC SPEEDS TO DETERMINE THE
EFFECT OF TAPER ON THE ZERO-LIFT DRAG OF
SWEPTBACK LOW-ASPECT-RATIO WINGS
By Murray Pittel
SUMMARY
Rocket-powered models have been flown to provide an experimental
comparison with linearized theoretical calculations for zero-lift drag
of sweptback tapered wings having thin, symmetrical, double-wedge air-
foil sections. The range of the experimental data is from Mach num-
ber 1.0 to 1.8, and theoretical comparisons are made for the test range
above M = 1.2.
The linearized theory compared very favorably with the experimental
results over most of the test range. For a given thickness and aspect
ratio, taper generally increased the wing drag at low supersonic speeds
but reduced the drag at higher speeds. For a given thickness and taper
ratio, the wings of aspect ratio h had less drag below M = 1.3, but
greater drag above M = 1.3, than the wings of aspect ratio 2.
INTRODUCTION
Airfoil theory for supersonic wave drag of thin, symmetrical,
double-wedge sections (references 1 and 2) has indicated the effect of
taper and aspect ratio on wing drag. The purpose of the present inves-
tigation was to provide experimental correlation for the theory of
references 1 and 2.
The wing configurations had constant sweep of 500 of the 0.5 chord
line and taper ratios of 0, 1/3, and 2/3 for aspect ratios of 2 and l.
The airfoils were constant 6-percent-thick double-wedge sections in
order that a valid comparison could be made with the theory.a W-K fh~Lr7
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Pittel, Murray. Flight Tests at Supersonic Speeds to Determine the Effect of Taper on the Zero-Lift Drag of Sweptback Low-Aspect-Ratio Wings, report, September 5, 1950; (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc58564/m1/2/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.