Pressure Distribution Over the Wings of an MB-3 Airplane in Flight Page: 4 of 19
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REPORT NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS.
lation required for such work is extensive, it is fully justified by the volume and precision of
the results obtained.
As the information obtained from this test is rather extensive, it has been condensed for
convenience into Table III.
The designer should know what the loads on the wings of an airplane will be, under the most
severe conditions of flight, for the determination of the stresses in the fabric, in the ribs, and in
the spars. The necessity for this information was newly emphasized quite recently by troubles
encountered with a number of high speed airplanes in which the fabric was stripped from the
under surface of the wings, where it would naturally be expected that a pressure, rather than a
suction, existed.
The following accidents in particular show the need for complete information on the dis-
tribution of lift-over the wings of high speed airplanes:
1. While flying just before the Deutsch Cup Race in 1921, de Romanet, in a Lumiere de
Monge monoplane, lost the fabric of one wing by ripping. The airplane spun and dived to the
ground, killing the pilot The fabric was the same as on the Spad, which was never known to
rip unless shot to pieces.
2. In the same race Sadi Lecointe's accident on the Nieuport monoplane is reported to
have been caused by the fabric's bursting.
3. The retirement of James in the Bamel was a consequence of loosened fabric on the
bottom surface of the portion of the top wing in the slipstream.
4. The death of Lieutenant Neidermyer at McCook Field in 1922 was probably the in-
direct result of stripping of wing covering, during a roll, of the Fokker pursuit airplane he was
flying.
5. Many instances were reported during the war, where airplanes in combat lost their
wing fabric.
It has been uncertain whether or not the wings of an airplane in accelerated flight, when
lifting three or four times their normal load, had the same center of pressure position as for an
equal angle of attack at-equilibrium speeds and whether the distribution of load along the span
in accelerated flight was the same as when the wings carried a normal load. Also there has
been practically no information available on the lift encountered by the ailerons and wing
tips in accelerated flight, and the designer has been working rather blindly in so far as these
loads are concerned.
In the present test the distribution of pressure over the wings was examined in steady
flight at various airspeeds and engine speeds, and particular care was taken to determine the
lift in the slipstream on both the right and left side. Further, the distribution of pressure was
measured when the airplane was being maneuvered violently, when dynamic loadings of con-
siderable magnitude were produced. Finally, the lift on the wing tips and ailerons was studied
when the lateral control was used sharply.
The principal references to the distribution of pressure over wings are given below:
(1) Pressure Distribution over Fixed Aerofoils-Model Test. N. A. C. A. Report No. 150, 1922.
(2) Distribution of Load over Wing Tips and Ailerons. N. A. C. A. Report No. 161, 1922.
(3) Investigation of the Distribution of Pressure over the Entire Surface of an Aerofoil, R. & M. No. 73,
1913.
(4) Pressure Distribution on Model F. E. 9 Wings, R. & M. No. 347, 1917.
(5) Pressure Distribution on the Wings of a Biplane of R. F. A. 15 Section and with Raked Tips. R. &
M. No. 353, 1917.
(6) Distribution of Pressure on the Upper and Lower Wings of a Biplane. R. & M. No. 355, 1917.
(7) Pressure Distribution on Wings with Fixed Balanced Ailerons. R. & M. No. 709, 1920.
AIRPLANE.
As it was desired to use in this investigation an airplane having a high maximum speed,
a new MB-3 pursuit airplane was borrowed by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronau-
tics from the Army Air Service. In many ways this airplane was especially suitable for these180
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Norton, F. H. Pressure Distribution Over the Wings of an MB-3 Airplane in Flight, report, 1925; (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc65844/m1/4/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.