From Introduction: "The present report presents the results of such an analysis as regards the longitudinal-stability and control characteristics of the various airplanes tested."

"The material given in this report summarizes some of the results of recent research that will aid the designers of an airplane in selecting or modifying a configuration to provide satisfactory stability and control characteristics. The requirements of the NACA for satisfactory flying qualities, which specify the important stability and control characteristics of an airplane from the pilot's standpoint, are used as the main topics of the report. A discussion is given of the reasons for the requirements, of the factors involved in obtaining satisfactory flying qualities, and of the methods used in predicting the stability and control characteristics of an airplane" (p. 1).

A method is derived for calculating the damping coefficients in pitch and roll for a series of triangular wings and a restricted series of sweptback wings at supersonic speeds. The elementary "supersonic source" solution of the linearized equation of motion is used to find the potential function of a line of doublets, and the flows are obtained by surface distributions of these doublet lines. The damping derivatives for triangular wings are found to be a function of the ratio of the tangent of the apex angle to the tangent of the Mach angle. As this ratio becomes equal to and greater than 1.0 for triangular wings, the damping derivatives, in pitch and in roll, become constant. The damping derivative in roll becomes equal to one-half the value calculated for an infinite rectangular wing, and the damping derivative in pitch for pitching about the apex becomes equal to 3.375 times that of an infinite rectangular wing.

"A dislocation theory of fatigue failure for annealed solid solutions is presented. On the basis of this theory, an equation giving the dependence of the number of cycles for failure on the stress, the temperature, the material parameters, and the frequency is derived for uniformly stressed specimens. The equation is in quantitative agreement with the data" (p. 183).

"The importance of the stick force per unit normal acceleration as a criterion of longitudinal stability and the critical dependence of this gradient on elevator hinge-moment parameters have been shown in previous reports. The present report continues the investigation with special reference to transient effects for maneuvers of short duration" (p. 449).

By a generalization of the Joukowski method, a procedure is developed for effecting localized modifications of airfoil shapes and for determining graphically the resultant changes in the pressure distribution. The application of the procedure to the determination of the pressure distribution over airfoils of original design is demonstrated. Formulas for the lift, the moment, and the aerodynamic center are also given.

The partial differential equation for the perturbation velocity potential is examined for free-stream Mach numbers close to and equal to one. It is found that, under the assumptions of linearized theory, solutions can be found consistent with the theory for lifting-surface problems both in stationary three-dimensional flow and in unsteady two-dimensional flow. Several examples are solved including a three dimensional swept-back wing and two dimensional harmonically-oscillating wing, both for a free stream Mach number equal to one. Momentum relations for the evaluation of wave and vortex drag are also discussed. (author).

From Summary: "Elementary basic solutions of the equations of motion of a compressible fluid in the hodograph variables are developed and used to provide a basis for comparison, in the form of velocity correction formulas, of corresponding compressible and incompressible flows. The known approximate results of Chaplygin, Von Karman and Tsien, Temple and Yarwood, and Prandtl and Glauert are unified by means of the analysis of the present paper. Two new types of approximations, obtained from the basic solutions, are introduced; they possess certain desirable features of the other approximations and appear preferable as a basis for extrapolation into the range of high stream Mach numbers and large disturbances to the main stream."

"An Army liaison-type airplane, representative of personal airplanes in the 150 to 200 horsepower class, has been modified to reduce propeller and engine noise according to known principles of airplane-noise reduction. Noise-level measurements demonstrate that, with reference to an observer on the ground, a noisy airplane of this class can be made quiet -- perhaps more quiet than necessary. In order to avoid extreme and unnecessary modifications, acceptable noise levels must be determined" (p. 115).

"Simple and exact expressions are given for the efficiency of single and dual rotating propellers with ideal circulation distribution as given by the Goldstein functions for single-rotating propellers and by the new functions for dual-rotating propellers from part I of the present series. The efficiency is shown to depend primarily on a defined load factor and, to a very small extent, on an axial loss factor. Tables and charts are included for practical use of the results. The present paper is the fourth in a series on the theory of propellers" (p. 99).