Longitudinal Stability Measurements of a Winged Biconic Configuration in Supersonic Flow

In the present manuscript a biconic re-entry model was investigated in a blow down wind tunnel at Mach 1.5, 2, 3, and 4. The main focus was on studying the longitudinal stability and aerodynamic efficiency in this flying regime. In particular, the influence of wings near the rear part of the model, their wing dihedral, and of additional body flaps was investigated. While the purely biconic configuration was unstable, it could be stabilized with wings at a 20 deg downward pitch and with the additional body flaps. In general a larger dihedral angle improved static longitudinal stability