Feasibility of an onboard wake vortex avoidance system

It was determined that an onboard vortex wake detection system using existing, proven instrumentation is technically feasible. This system might be incorporated into existing onboard systems such as a wind shear detection system, and might provide the pilot with the location of a vortex wake, as well as an evasive maneuver so that the landing separations may be reduced. It is suggested that this system might be introduced into our nation's commuter aircraft fleet and major air carrier fleet and permit a reduction of current landing separation standards, thereby reducing takeoff and departure delays

Ice Accretion with Varying Surface Tension

During an icing encounter of an aircraft in flight, super-cooled water droplets impinging on an airfoil may splash before freezing. This paper reports tests performed to determine if this effect is significant and uses the results to develop an improved scaling method for use in icing test facilities. Simple laboratory tests showed that drops splash on impact at the Reynolds and Weber numbers typical of icing encounters. Further confirmation of droplet splash came from icing tests performed in the NaSA Lewis Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) with a surfactant added to the spray water to reduce the surface tension. The resulting ice shapes were significantly different from those formed when no surfactant was added to the water. These results suggested that the droplet Weber number must be kept constant to properly scale icing test conditions. Finally, the paper presents a Weber-number-based scaling method and reports results from scaling tests in the IRT in which model size was reduced up to a factor of 3. Scale and reference ice shapes are shown which confirm the effectiveness of this new scaling method