A natural laminar flow airfoil has been developed as a part of the aircraft energy efficiency program. A NASA flight program incorporating this airfoil into partial wing gloves on the F-111 TACT airplane was scheduled to start in May, 1980. In support of this research effort, an extensive boundary layer stability analysis of the partial glove has been conducted. The results of that analysis show the expected effects of wing leading-edge sweep angle, Reynolds number, and compressibility on boundary layer stability and transition. These results indicate that it should be possible to attain on the order of 60% laminar flow on the upper surface and 50% laminar flow on the lower surface for sweep angles of at least 20 deg, chord Reynolds numbers of 25 x 10 to the 6th and Mach numbers from 0.81 to 0.85.
Boundary layer stability analysis of a natural laminar flow glove on the F-111 TACT airplane
Symposium on Viscous flow drag reduction ; 1979 ; Dallas, TX
1980-01-01
Miscellaneous
No indication
English
F-111 TACT natural laminar flow glove flight results
NTRS | 1981
|Natural Laminar Flow and Airplane Stability and Control
NTIS | 1986
|Natural laminar flow and airplane stability and control
NTRS | 1986
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