Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T21:54:22.407Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Aerodynamic Design of Swept Winged Aircraft at Transonic and Supersonic Speeds*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

R. C. Lock*
Affiliation:
Aerodynamics Division, National Physical Laboratory

Extract

The idea of sweeping the wings of an aeroplane in order to delay or reduce the transonic drag rise is of course an old one, dating from at least 20 years ago. At subsonic speeds the art of swept wing design is now highly developed, largely due to research at the RAE under Küchemann on the three-dimensional aspects of the subject, and at the NPL, notably by Pearcey and Holder, on two-dimensional section design. It was soon realised that, at least in principle, the same ideas could be carried over some way into the supersonic speed range—how far still remains to be seen.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1963

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

A Specialist Lecture given before the Society on 15th January 1963.

References

1.Bagley, J. A.Some Aerodynamic Principles for the Design of Swept Wings. Progress in Aero. Sciences, Vol. 3. Pergamon Press, 1962.Google Scholar
2.Pearcey, H. H.The Aerodynamic Design of Section Shapes for Swept Wings. Advances in Aero. Sciences, Vol. 3, p. 277. Pergamon Press, 1961.Google Scholar
3.Rogers, E. W. E. and Hall, I. M.An Introduction to the Flow About Plane Swept Wings at Transonic Speeds. J. Roy. Aero. Soc, Vol. 64, p. 449. August 1960.Google Scholar
4.Lock, R. C.Some Experiments on the Design of Swept-Wing-Fuselage Combinations at Transonic Speeds. Pro. Symposium Transsonicum (IUTAM). Aachen, 1962.Google Scholar
5.Lock, R. C.The Design of Wing Planforms for Transonic Speeds. Aero. Quart., Vol. 12, p. 65. February 1961.Google Scholar
6.Lock, R. C. An Equivalence Law Relating Two- and Three- Dimensional Pressure Distributions. NPL Aero Rep. 1028 (ARC 23952).Google Scholar
7.Küchemann, D. and Hartley, D. E. The Design of Swept Wings and Wing-Body Combinations to have Low Drag at Transonic Speeds. RAE Rep. Aero. 2537, April 1955.Google Scholar
8.Shaw, M. M. Pressure Measurements at Transonic Speeds on Four Bodies and Four 55° Swept Wing-Body Combinations. RAE Tech. Note Aero 2617, 1959.Google Scholar
9.Jones, J. G. A Method for Designing Body Shapes to Produce Prescribed Pressure Distributions on Wing-Body Combinations at Supersonic Speeds. RAE Tech. Note Aero. 2607, April 1959.Google Scholar
10.Haines, A. B., Rollins, K. and Osborn, I. The Calculation of the Velocity Distribution Due to Thickness for Swept Wings with Subsonic Edges at Supersonic Speeds. ARA Wind Tunnel Note 43, 1962.Google Scholar
11.Whitcomb, R. T. A Study of the Zero-Lift Drag-Rise Characteristics of Wing-Body Combinations Near the Speed of Sound. NACA Rep. 1273, 1956.Google Scholar
12.Whitcomb, R. T. and Sevier, J. R. A Supersonic Area Rule and an Application to the Design of a Wing-Body Combination with High Lift-Drag Ratios. NASA Tech. Rep. R-72.Google Scholar
13.Haines, A. B. Wing Section Design for Sweptback Wings at Transonic Speeds. J. Roy. Aero. Soc, April 1957.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Richardson, J. R. and Parry, J. T. The Design of Anti-Symmetric Body Waisting and Camber for Swept and M Wings at Supersonic Speeds. Handley Page unpublished note, 1958.Google Scholar
15.Lock, R. C. and Rogers, E. W. E.Aerodynamic Design of Swept Wings and Bodies for Transonic Speeds. Advances in Aero. Sciences, Vol. 3, p. 253. Pergamon Press, 1961.Google Scholar
16.Newby, K. W. Some Thoughts on Wing Design for a M = 1·2 Transport. Unpublished RAE Note, 1957.Google Scholar
17.Lock, R. C. and Bridgewater, J. The Aerodynamic Design of Slender Swept Wings and Fuselages at Transonic and Supersonic Speeds. NPL Report (to be published).Google Scholar
18.Haines, A. B. A Collection of Results from Tests in the ARA Transonic Tunnel on Several Models Having 55°/ 60° Sweep. Unpublished ARA Note, 1960.Google Scholar
19.Haines, A. B. and Jones, J. C. M. Transonic Tunnel Tests on a 6 per cent Thick Warped 55° Sweptback Wing Model. ARA Wind Tunnel Note 25, 1960.Google Scholar
20.Roper, G. M. Formulae for Calculating the Camber Surfaces of Thin Sweptback Wings of Arbitrary Planform With Subsonic Leading Edges and Specified Load Distributions. RAE Report Aero. 2623, 1959.Google Scholar
21.Watt, J. M. The Calculation of Ordinates of Twisted and Cambered High-Speed Wings. RAE Report M.S.55, 1958.Google Scholar
22.Küchemann, D.Aircraft Shapes and Their Aerodynamics. Advances in Aero. Sciences, Vol. 3, p. 221. Pergamon Press.Google Scholar