NACA-RM-L54L06

Abstract

INTRODUCTION <br>The experimentally determined effects of wing and tail position on the aerodynamic characteristics of generalized aircraft configurations can be of considerable usefulness to the designer in the estimation of the stability and performance of similar specific configurations. In addition, such generalized results may be useful in the verification of various calculative methods for the prediction of the aerodynamic characteristics of airplanes. A considerable amount of such experimental data is available at low speeds (refs. 1 to 5, for example), wherein the influence of both plan form and positions of wings and tails has been determined from wind-tunnel tests of models simulating high-speed aircraft. Similar investigations have been extended to high subsonic Mach numbers (for example, refs. 5 to 9), and some results concerning the effects of tail location on the longitudinal characteristics of some rocket-propelled models have been obtained through the transonic speed range (refs. 10 and 11). Only a limited amount of such experimental data is available at present in the supersonic speed range. One example is the investigation reported in reference 12, in which the effects of wing vertical location on the longitudinal characteristics of wing-body combinations were determined in the Mach number ranges from 0.61 to 0.91 and from 1.20 to 1.90. <br>In order to provide additional results of general interest to the designer for the supersonic speed range, an investigation has been conducted in the Langley 4- by b-foot supersonic pressure tunnel at a Mach number of 2.01 to determine the effects of varying vertical locations of the wing and horizontal tail on the longitudinal and lateral aerodynamic characteristics of a complete model having both wing and tail swept back 45&#176;. The basic results, without analysis, are presented herein.