An investigation of the low-subsonic-speed static longitudinal stability and control characteristics of a model of a manned reentry-vehicle configuration capable of high-drag reentry and glide landing has been a made in the Langley free-flight tunnel. The model had a modified 63 deg delta plan-form wing with a fuselage on the upper surface. This configuration had wingtip panels designed to fold up 90 deg for the high-drag reentry phase of the flight and to extend horizontally for the glide landing. Data for the basic configurations and modifications to determine the effects of plan form, wingtip panel incidence, dihedral, and vertical position of the wingtip panels are presented without analysis

Ware, George M.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

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TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM
X-227
LOW-SUBSONIC-SPEED STATIC LONGITUDINAL STABILITY AND
CONTROL CHARACTERISTICS OF A WINGED REENTRY-VEHIC LE
CONFIGURATION HAVING WINGTIP PANELS THAT
FOLD UP FOR HIGH-DR_G REENTRY
By George M. Ware
Langley Research Center
Langley Field, Va.
Declassified March 15_ 1962
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND
WASHINGTON
SPACE ADMINISTRATION
February 1960
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19980228348 2020-06-15T23:32:11+00:00Z

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM X-227
LOW-SUBSONIC-SPEED STATIC LONGITUDINAL STABILITY AhD
CONTROL CHARACTERISTICS OF A WINGED REENTRY-VEHICLE
CONFIGURATION HAVING WINGTIP PANELS THAT
FOLD UP FOR HIGH-DRAG REENTRY*
By George M. Ware
SUMMARY
An investigation of the low-subsonic-speed static longitudinal sta-
bility and control characteristics of a model of a manned reentry-vehicle
configuration capable of high-drag reentry and glide landing has been
made in the Langley free-flight tunnel. The model had a modified 63°
delta plan-form wing with a fuselage on the upper surface. This con-
figuation had wingtip panels designed to fold up 90 ° for the high-drag
reentry phase of the flight and to extend horizontally for the glide
landing.
Data for the basic configurations and modifications to determine
the effects of plan form, wingtip panel incidence, dihedral, and ver-
tical position of the wingtip panels are presented without anal_sis.
INTRODUCTION
An investigation is being conducted by the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration to provide information on the stability and
control characteristics of winged configurations designed for con-
trolled reentry from satellite orbit. This type of configuration
utilizes high-angle-of-attack reentry as a means of deceleration and
after completion of the reentry phase employs normal values of angle
of attack for a controlled glide flight to the desired point of landing.
*Title, Unclassified.
L-747
2(See ref. I.) Existing data on several delta plan-form configurations
considered for possible reentry configurations are presented in refer-
ences 2 to 4.
Wingedvehicles considered suitable as reentry configurations must
possess adequate stability throughout the expected Machnumberand the
angle-of-attack ranges. The purpose of the present investigation is to
provide some information at low-subsonic speeds on the static longitu-
dinal stability and control characteristics of a model having a 63°
swept delta wing with a fuselage on the upper surface. This configu-
ration had wingtip panels which were folded up 90° for the reentry con-
dition and then folded down (extended) in an effort to provide static
longitudinal stability and lift-drag ratios sufficient to perform a
glide landing.
This study included static force tests at angles of attack from
0° to 90° to provide static longitudinal stability information with the
wingtip panels either extended, folded 90°, or removed. Tests were
madeup to 45° angle of attack to determine the effects on the static
longitudinal stability and control characteristics of the glide con-
figuration of changing the vertical position s plan form, incidence,
or dihedral of the wingtip panels. The effect of combining someof the
geometric changeswas investigated on a swept and an unswept flat-plate
wingtip panel with wingtip rudders removed. Also studied was the
effect of leading-edge flaps on the swept wingtip panels. The data
are presented without analysis.
SYMBOLS
The longitudinal data are referred to the stability system of axes.
(See fig. 1.) The origin of the axes was located to correspond to a
longitudinal center-of-gravity position of about 63 percent wing root
chord, which corresponds to 0.40_ for the model with the swept wing-
tip panels extended, 0.505 with panels folded up 90° or removed, and
0.43_ with the unswept panels extended. (See table I.) The coeffi-
cients of each configuration are based on the area and meanaerodynamic
chord of that particular configuration except where otherwise noted.
CD
CL
Cm
drag coefficient, FD/qS
lift coefficient, FL/qS
pitchlng-moment coefficient_ My/qS_
wing meanaerodynamic chord, ft
3FD
FL
h
it
q
S
V
X
Z
C&
P
P
drag force, ib
lift force, ib
vertical position of wingtip panel above wing mean chord
plane, in.
incidence of wingtip panel, negative when trailing edge is
up, deg
pitching moment, ft-lb
PV2 ib/sq ftdynamic pressure 3 --2--'
wing area, sq ft
airspeed, ft/s ec
longitudinal body axis
vertical body axis
angle of attack, deg
angle of sideslip, deg
dihedral angle of wingtip panel, deg
air density_ slugs/cu ft
/
APPARA%_TS AND MDDEL
\
The moded was tested in the Langley free-flight tunnel, which is
a low-speed tunnel with a 12-foot octagonal test section. A sting
type of support system and an internally mounted three-component strain-
gage balance were used.
The investigation was made with a i/8-scale model of a design
similar to the one used in reference i. This model, which was con-
structed at the Langley Research Center, had a modified 63 ° delta
plan-form wing with a fuselage on the upper surface and wingtip panels
designed to fold up 90 ° for the high-drag reentry phase of the flight
and to extend horizontally for the glide landing. Three-view drawings
are presented in figures 2(a) and 2(b) for the model in the original
4and modified configurations, respectively, and somepertinent dimen-
sions are given in table I. The folding wing panels could be set at
dihedral angles from 0° to 90° and the incidence of the panels could
be varied from 0° to -30°. End plates having a height of approximately
one-half the semispan of the fixed wing were added at the tips of the
fixed wing to allow the vertical height of the swept and unswept flat-
plate folding wing panels to be varied. (See fig. 2(b).) The model
also was equipped with flaps that could be extended from the leading
edge of the swept wingtlp panels.
TESTS
Force tests were madeto determine the static longitudinal sta-
bility and control characteristics of the model over an angle-of-attack
range from 0° to 90° with wingtlp-panel dihedral angles of 6.5° and 90°
measured from the horizontal and with panels removed. Tests were con-
ducted over an angle-of-attack range of OOto 45o with panel incidence
of 0° to -30o, panel dihedral of 6._° to 40°, and panel heights of
O, 3.06, and 5.37 inches above the normal position (wing meanchord
plane). For these tests and the remaining tests 3 the model was tested
with the wingtip rudders removed. Various combinations of panel height
and incidence were also studied for the swept panels with and without
leading-edge flaps and for unswept flat-plate panels. The tests _ere
conducted at a dynamic pressure of 4.14 pounds per square foot which
corresponds to an airspeed of }9 feet per second, and a Reynolds number
of 3773000per foot.
RESULTS
The results of the investigation are presented herein without anal-
ysis. The static longitudinal stability characteristics are presented
in figure 3 for the basic model with wingtip panels extended3 folded
90°3 and removed. The effect of wingtip-panel incidence and dihedral
on the longitudinal stability characteristics of the model are given in
figures 4 and 5, respectively. The effect of vertical position of wing-
tip panels on the longitudinal stability characteristics of the model
is presented in figure 63 and the effect of combining vertical position
with wingtip-panel incidence and leading-edge flaps is presented in
figure 7. Figure 8 indicates the effect of vertical position and
5incidence of unswept flat-plate wlngtip panels on the longitudinal sta-
bility characteristics of the model.
L
Langley Research Center,
National Aeronautics and Space AdminfS_ration,
Langley Field, Va., October 19, 1959.
REFERENCES
1. Staff of Langley Flight Research Division (Compiled by Donald C.
Cheatham): A Concept of a Manned Satellite Reentry Which is
Completed With a Glide Landing. NASA TM X-226, 1959.
2. Spencer, Bernard, Jr.: High-Subsonic-Speed Investigation of the
Static Longitudinal Aerodynamic Characteristics of Several Delta-
Wing Configurations for Angles of Attack From 0 ° to 90 °. NASA
TM X-168, 19_9.
5. Fournier, Paul G.: Wind-Tunnel Investigation at High 8ubsonic Speed
of the Static Longitudinal Stability Characteristics of a Winged
Reentry Vehicle Having a Large Negatively Deflected Flap-_ype Con-
trol Surface. NASA TMX-179, 1959.
4. Foster, Gerald V.: Exploratory Investigation at Mach Number of 2.01
of the Longitudinal Stability and Control Characteristics of a
Winged Reentry Configuration. NASA TMX-178, 1959.
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(a) Basic model.
Figure 2.- Three-view drawing of model used in investigation.
dimensions are in inches.
All
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End plates for vertical
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(b) Modifications to basic model.
Figure 2.- Concluded.
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Wing panels
Extended (F = 6.5 ° )
Folded (F = 90.0 °)
Removed (Coeffiments
based on wing
panels extended
dDmens=ons)
12
CL
CD
-'20 20 40 60 80 I00.2 .I 0 -.I
a , deg Cm
Figure 3.- Static longitudinal stability characteristics of basic model.
= 0° .
11
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it, deg
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(:z,deg
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....
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)
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0 -.1
Cm
Figure 4.- Effect of wingtip-panel incidence on longitudinal stability
characteristics of basic model. Tip rudders removed; _ = 0°; r = 6.5 ° .
12
2
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-.I
0
111-I
o
[]
0
A
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6.5
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0 8 16 24 32 40 48
It__T
.I 0 -.I
a, deg Cm
Figure 5.- Effect of wingtip-panel dihedral on the longitudinal stability
characteristics of basic model. Tip rudders removed; _ = 0°.
13
2
Cm
O
1.2
U
Panels
© Off
[] On
0 On
a On
h, In.
-- (Coeff,clents based on w,ng panels
0 extended d,mens_ons)
:5.06
5.57
o--..o..."
¢
h
f
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I J _ __ _::--_- _ CL __
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.2 _ j:)_-- .... ztf ....... J _ ....
o _ , I
0 8 1'6 24 32 40 48
a,deg
\
.2 .I 0 -.I
Cm
Figure 6.- Effect of vertical position of wingtip panel on longitudinal
stability characteristics of basic model. End plates at tip of fixed
wing; tip rudders removed; G = 0°; P = 0°.
14
.I
Cm 0
-.I
CL ,4
CD
it , deg L.E. flaps
o 0 Off
[] 0 On
0 -I 0 Off
-I 0 On
_L
h
D
-.2
0 8 I 6 24 52 40 48 .I 0
a, deg Cm
-.I
Figure 7.- Effect of wingtip-panel incidence and leading-edge flaps
with h = 3.06 inches on longitudinal stability characteristics
of basic model. End plates at tip of fixed wing; tip rudders
removed; _ = 0°; P = 0°.
[
15
C m
n
il
i t , deg h, tn.
o 0 0
[] 0 306
0 -I 0 306
CL
CD
I.O i
• 8 ----
• 2 r_ //
//
//
_---_ CL
....., _ ..... xg__
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+_ '-I..... ____.v i J
i ......... ! I
1_ ___1
i3 i_ _a s2 ao as
.I 0 -.I
a, deg Cm
Figure 8.- Effect of vertical position and incidence of unswept flat-
plate wingtip panels on longitudinal stability characteristics of
model. End plates at tip of fixed wingj tip rudders removedj
= 0o; P = 0o.
NASA- Langley Field, Vii. L-747



Low-Subsonic-Speed Static Longitudinal Stability and Control Characteristics of a Winged Reentry-Vehicle Configuration Having Wingtip Panels that Fold up for High-Drag Reentry

Low-Subsonic-Speed Static Longitudinal Stability and Control Characteristics of a Winged Reentry-Vehicle Configuration Having Wingtip Panels that Fold up for High-Drag Reentry

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