This report presents a description of the 7 by 10 foot wind tunnel and associated apparatus of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. Included also are calibration test results and characteristic test data of both static force tests and autorotation tests made in the tunnel.

Report discussung work on accelerometry was done at McCook Field for the purpose of continuing the work done by other investigators and obtaining the accelerations which occur when a high-speed pursuit airplane is subjected to the more common maneuvers. The accelerations obtained in suddenly pulling out of a dive with well-balanced elevators are shown to be within 3 or 4 per cent of the theoretically possible accelerations. The maximum acceleration which a pilot can withstand depends upon the length of time the acceleration is continued. It is shown that he experiences no difficulty under the instantaneous accelerations as high as 7.8 G., but when under accelerations in excess of 4.5 G., continued for several seconds, he quickly loses his faculties.

This report deals with the accelerations obtained in flight on various airplanes at Langley Field for the purpose of obtaining the magnitude of the load factors in flight and to procure information on the behavior of an airplane in various maneuvers. The instrument used in these tests was a recording accelerometer of a new type designed by the technical staff of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. The instrument consists of a flat steel spring supported rigidly at one end so that the free end may be deflected by its own weight from its neutral position by any acceleration acting at right angles to the plane of the spring. This deflection is measured by a very light tilting mirror caused to rotate by the deflection of the spring, which reflected the beam of light onto a moving film. The motion of the spring is damped by a thin aluminum vane which rotates with the spring between the poles of an electric magnet. Records were taken on landings and takeoffs, in loops, spins, spirals, and rolls.

In connection with the development of an accelerometer for measuring the loads on airplanes in free flight a study of the theory of such instruments has been made, and the results of this study are summarized in this report. A portion of the analysis deals particularly with the sources of error and with the limitations placed on the location of the instrument in the airplane. The discussion of the dynamics of the accelerometer includes a study of its theoretical motions and of the way in which they are affected by the natural period of vibration and by the damping, together with a report of some experiments on the effect of forced vibrations on the record.

From Summary: "The sources of error that may enter into the measurement of airspeed by pitot-static methods are reviewed in detail together with methods of flight calibration of airspeed installations. Special attention is given to the problem of accurate measurements of airspeed under conditions of high speed and maneuverability required of military airplanes." (author).

From Introduction: "The apparent increase in the inertia properties of a body moving in a fluid medium has been called the additional-mass effect. This report presents a resume of test procedures and results of experimental determinations of the additional-mass effect of flat plates. In addition to data obtained from various foreign sources and from a NACA investigation in 1933, the results of tests recently conducted by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics are included."

This report presents an extension of the autogiro theory of Glauert and Lock in which the influence of a pitch varying with the blade radius is evaluated and methods of approximating the effect of blade tip losses and the influence of reversed velocities on the retreating blades are developed. A comparison of calculated and experimental results showed that most of the rotor characteristics could be calculated with reasonable accuracy, and that the type of induced flow assumed has a secondary effect upon the net rotor forces, although the flapping motion is influenced appreciably. An approximate evaluation of the effect of parasite drag on the rotor blades established the importance of including this factor in the analysis.

Report discussing a series of related forms of flying-boat hulls representing various degrees of compromise between aerodynamic and hydrodynamic requirements was tested in Langley Tank No. 1 and in the Langley 8-foot high-speed tunnel. The purpose of the investigation was to provide information regarding the penalties in water performance resulting from further aerodynamic refinement and, as a corollary, to provide information regarding the penalties in range or payload resulting from the retention of certain desirable hydrodynamic characteristics. The information should form a basis for over-all improvements in hull form.

From Summary: "Wind-tunnel tests of a full-scale two-blade NACA 10-(10)(08)-03 (high camber) propeller have been made for a range of blade angles from 20 degrees to 55 degrees at airspeeds up to 500 miles per hour. The results of these tests have been compared with results from previous tests of the NACA 10-(3) (08)-03 (low camber) and NACA 10-(5)(08)-03 (medium camber) propellers to evaluate the effects of blade-section camber on propeller aerodynamic characteristics."

From Summary: "The aerodynamic characteristics of a large number of miscellaneous airfoils tested in the variable-density tunnel have been reduced to a comparable form and are published in this report for convenient reference. Plots of the standard characteristics are given in tabular form. Included is a tabulation of important characteristics for the related airfoils reported in NACA report 460. This report, in conjunction with NACA report 610, makes available in comparable and convenient form the aerodynamic data for airfoils tested in the variable-density tunnel since January 1, 1931."

From Summary: "An investigation was made in the Langley 300 mph 7-by 10-foot tunnel to determine the aerodynamic characteristics of a refined deep-step planing-tail hull with various forebody and afterbody shapes. For comparison, tests were made on a streamline body simulating the fuselage of a modern transport airplane. The results of the tests, which include the interference effects of a 21-percent-thick support wing, indicated that for corresponding configurations the hull models incorporating a forebody with a length-beam ratio of 7 had lower minimum drag coefficients than the hull models incorporating a forebody with a length-beam ratio of 5. Longitudinal and lateral stability was generally about the same for all hull models tested and about the same as that of a conventional hull."

From Summary: "Aerodynamic force tests on a slotted Clark Y wing were conducted in a vertical wind tunnel to determine the best position for a given auxiliary airfoil with respect to the main wing. A systematic series of 100 changes in location of the auxiliary airfoil were made to cover all the probable useful ranges of slot gap, slot width, and slot depth. The results of the investigation may be applied to the design of automatic or controlled slots on wings with geometric characteristics similar to the wing tested. The best positions of the auxiliary airfoil were covered by the range of the tests, and the position for desired aerodynamic characteristics may easily be obtained from charts prepared especially for the purpose."

From Summary: "This report presents the results of wind tunnel tests of a wing in combination with each of three sizes of Fowler flap. The purpose of the investigation was to determine the aerodynamic characteristics as affected by flap chord and position, the air loads on the flaps, and the effect of flaps on the downwash."

The object of this report is to bring together the investigations of the various aerodynamic laboratories in this country and Europe upon the subject of aerofoils suitable for use as lifting or control surfaces on aircraft. The data have been so arranged as to be of most use to designing engineers and for the purposes of general reference. The absolute system of coefficients has been used, since it is thought by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics that this system is the one most suited for international use, and yet is one for which a desired transformation can be easily made. For this purpose a set of transformation constants is included in this report.

"This collection of data on aerofoils has been made from the published reports of a number of the leading aerodynamic laboratories of this country and Europe. The information which was originally expressed according to the different customs of the several laboratories is here presented in a uniform series of charts and tables suitable for the use of designing engineers and for purposes of general reference. The absolute system of coefficients has been used, since it is thought by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics that this system is the one most suited for international use, and yet is one for which a desired transformation can be easily made" (p. 423).

"This collection of data on airfoils has been made from the published reports of a number of the leading aerodynamic laboratories of this country and Europe. The information which was originally expressed according to the different customs of the several laboratories is here presented in a uniform series of charts and tables suitable for the use of designing engineers and for purposes of general reference. The absolute system of coefficients has been used, since it is thought by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics that this is the one most suited for international use and yet is one for which a desired transformation can be easily made" (p. 397).

This collection of data on airfoils has been made from the published reports of a number of the leading Aerodynamic Laboratories of this country and Europe. The information which was originally expressed according to the different customs of the several laboratories is here presented in a uniform series of charts and tables suitable for the use of designing engineers and for purposes of general reference. The authority for the results here presented is given as the name of the laboratory at which the experiments were conducted, with the size of the model, wind velocity, and year of test.

"This collection of data on airfoils has been made from published reports of a number of the leading aerodynamic laboratories of this country and Europe. The information which was originally expressed according to the different customs of the several laboratories is here presented in a uniform series of charts and tables suitable for the use of designing engineers and for purposes of general reference. The authority for the results here presented is given as the name of the laboratory at which the experiments were conducted, with the size of the model, wind velocity, and year of tests" (p. 139).

"This collection of data on airfoils has been made from the published reports of a number of the leading aerodynamic laboratories of this country and Europe. The information which was originally expressed according to the different customs of the several laboratories is here presented in a uniform series of charts and tables suitable for use of designing engineers and for purposes of general reference. The authority for the results here presented is given as the name of the laboratory at which the experiments were conducted, with the size of the model, wind velocity, and year of test" (p. 213).

From Summary: "This report deals with an experimental investigation of the aerodynamical characteristics of airfoils at high speeds. Lift, drag, and center of pressure measurements were made on six airfoils of the type used by the air service in propeller design, at speeds ranging from 550 to 1,000 feet per second. The results show a definite limit to the speed at which airfoils may efficiently be used to produce lift, the lift coefficient decreasing and the drag coefficient increasing as the speed approaches the speed of sound. The change in lift coefficient is large for thick airfoil sections (camber ratio 0.14 to 0.20) and for high angles of attack. The change is not marked for thin sections (camber ratio 0.10) at low angles of attack, for the speed range employed. At high speeds the center of pressure moves back toward the trailing edge of the airfoil as the speed increases. The results indicate that the use of tip speeds approaching the speed of sound for propellers of customary design involves a serious loss in efficiency."

From Summary: "The aerodynamic characteristics of eight circular-arc airfoils at speeds of 0.5, 0.8, 0.95, and 1.08 times the speed of sound have been determined in an open-jet air stream 2 inches in diameter, using models of 1-inch chord. The lower surface of each airfoil was plane; the upper surface was cylindrical. As compared with the measurements described in NACA-TR-319, the circular-arc airfoils at speeds of 0.95 and 1.08 times the speed of sound are more efficient than airfoils of the R. A. F. or Clark Y families. At a speed of 0.5 times the speed of sound, the thick circular-arc sections are extremely inefficient, but thin sections compare favorably with those of the R. A. F. family. A moderate round of the sharp edges changes the characteristics very little and is in many instances beneficial. The results indicate that the section of the blades of propellers intended for use at high tip-speeds should be of the circular-arc form for the outer part of the blade and should be changed gradually to the R. A. F. or Clark Y form as the hub is approached."

Report presents the results of wind tunnel tests on a group of eight very thick airfoils having sections of the same thickness as those used near the roots of tapered airfoils. The tests were made to study certain discontinuities in the characteristic curves that have been obtained from previous tests of these airfoils, and to compare the characteristics of the different sections at values of the Reynolds number comparable with those attained in flight. The discontinuities were found to disappear as the Reynolds number was increased. The results obtained from the large-scale airfoil, a symmetrical airfoil having a thickness ratio of 21 per cent, has the best general characteristics.

From Introduction: "Its main purpose is to present propeller data for four full-scale propellers of Navy design, three of which have somewhat unusual plan forms and the other one has a normal (usual present-day type) plan form. These data may give some clue as to what may be expected from fundamental changes in blade plan form."

"Aerodynamic tests were made of seven full-scale 10-foot-diameter propellers of recent design comprising three groups. The first group was composed of three propellers having Clark Y airfoil sections and the second group was composed of three propellers having R.A.F. 6 airfoil sections, the propellers of each group having 2, 3, and 4 blades. The third group was composed of two propellers, the 2-blade propeller taken from the second group and another propeller having the same airfoil section and number of blades but with the width and thickness 50 percent greater" (p. 1).