An unpowered, unguided vehicle to be deployed from a 4.75 inch flare tube was designed. The design criteria were: six cubic inch, two pound payload, minimum glide speed of 50 knots, and stable with particular emphasis on heading stability. Two basic configurations were considered in the analysis: the first was a tailless vehicle, and the second was a conventionally tailed vehicle. It was found that the tailless vehicle could not meet the stability requirements and thus the tailed vehicle was chosen to meet the design criteria. The analysis procedure consisted of a computer model to analyze vehicle stability, wind tunnel tests to calculate aerodynamic derivatives, and flight tests to demonstrate performance. The finalized vehicle had a folding wing and flexible tail-boom to meet the packaging requirement. The resulting vehicle had a glide ratio of 25 and was very stable in heading, while meeting all other design requirements.
Design of a Deployable Wing Glider
1974
76 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch
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