A method of calibrating the static-pressure source of a pitot static airspeed installation on an airplane in level flight, dives, and other maneuvers at high altitude and at transonic and supersonic speeds is described. The method principally involves the use of radar-phototheodolite tracking equipment. The various sources of error in the method are discussed and sample calibrations are included.

From Summary: "Directly comparable drag measurements have been made of an airfoil with a conventional rectangular plan form and an airfoil with a sweptback plan form mounted on freely falling bodies. Both airfoils had NACA 65-009 sections and were identical in span, frontal area, and chord perpendicular to the leading edge. The sweptback plan form incorporated a sweepback angle of 45 degrees. The data obtained have been used to establish the relation between the airfoil drag coefficients and the free-stream Mach number over a range of Mach numbers from 0.90 to 1.27. The results of the measurements indicate that the drag of the sweptback plan form is less than 0.3 that of the rectangular plan form at a Mach number of 1.00 and is less than 0.4 that at a Mach number of 1.20."

"Analysis of rotating stall of compressor blade rows requires specification of a dynamic lift curve for the airfoil section at or near stall, presumably including the effect of lift hysteresis. Consideration of the Magnus lift of a rotating cylinder suggests performing an unsteady boundary-layer calculation to find the movement of the separation points of an airfoil fixed in a stream of variable incidence. The consideration of the shedding of vorticity into the wake should yield an estimate of lift increment proportional to time rate of change of angle of attack" (p. 881).

"Several variational problems involving optimum wing and body combinations having minimum wave drag for different kinds of geometrical restraints are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the effect on the wave drag of shortening the fuselage and, for slender axially symmetric bodies, the effect of fixing the fuselage diameter at several points or even of fixing whole portions of its shape" (p. 113).

"Comparisons have been made of the shock phenomena and drag-rise increments for representative wing and central-body combinations with those for bodies of revolution having the same axial developments of cross-sectional areas normal to the airstream. On the basis of these comparisons, it is concluded that near the speed of sound the zero-lift drag rise of a low-aspect-ratio thin-wing and body combination is primarily dependent on the axial development of the cross-sectional areas normal to the airstream. It follows that the drag rise for any such configuration is approximately the same as that for any other with the same development of cross-sectional areas" (p. 519).

The magnitude and variation of the static-pressure error for various distances ahead of sharp-nose bodies and open-nose air inlets and for a distance of 1 chord ahead of the wing tip of a swept wing are defined by a combination of experiment and theory. The mechanism of the error is discussed in some detail to show the contributing factors that make up the error. The information presented provides a useful means for choosing a proper location for measurement of static pressure for most purposes.

Results are presented of an experimental investigation made of the applied ground loads and the coefficient of friction between the tire and the ground during the wheel spin-up process in impacts of a small landing gear under controlled conditions on a concrete landing strip in the Langley impact basin. The basic investigation included three major phases: impacts with forward speed at horizontal velocities up to approximately 86 feet per second, impacts with forward speed and reverse wheel rotation to simulate horizontal velocities up to about 273 feet per second, and spin-up drop tests for comparison with the other tests. In addition to the basic investigation, supplementary tests were made to evaluate the drag-load alleviating effects of prerotating the wheel before impact so as to reduce the relative velocity between the tire and ground.

"The NACA has conducted an investigation to determine the performance that can be obtained from a multistage axial-flow compressor based on airfoil research. A theory was developed; an eight-stage axial-flow compressor was designed, constructed, and tested. The performance of the compressor was determined for speeds from 5000 to 14,000 r.p.m with varying air flow at each speed" (p. 81).

A method has been developed for interpreting v-g records taken during the course of commercial transport operation. This method involves the utilization of fairly simple statistical procedures to obtain "flight envelopes," which predict that, on the average, in a stated number of flight hours, one value of airspeed will exceed the envelope, and one positive and one negative acceleration increment will exceed the envelope with equal probability of being experienced at any airspeed. Comparison with the actual data obtained from various airplanes and from various airlines indicates that these envelopes predict the occurrences of large values of acceleration and airspeed with a high degree of accuracy.

Problems relating to the stability and control of tailless airplanes are discussed in consideration of contemporary experience and practice.

From Summary: "An apparatus for varying effective dihedral in flight by means of servo actuation of the ailerons in response to sideslip angle is described. The results of brief flight tests of the apparatus on a conventional fighter airplane are presented and discussed. The results of an investigation employing the apparatus to determine the tolerable (safe for normal fighter operation) range of effective dihedral on the test airplane are presented."

Report presents the results of an investigation conducted in the Langley 19-foot pressure tunnel to determine the maximum lift and stalling characteristics of two thin wings equipped with several types of flaps. Split, single slotted, and double slotted flaps were tested on one wing which had NACA 65-210 airfoil sections and split and double slotted flaps were tested on the other, which had NACA 64-210 airfoil sections. Both wings were zero sweep, an aspect ratio of 9, and a taper ratio of 0.4.

"Data obtained from an extensive investigation of the cooling characteristics of four multicylinder, liquid-cooled engines have been analyzed and a correlation of both the cylinder-head temperatures and the coolant heat rejections with the primary engine and coolant variables was obtained. The method of correlation was previously developed by the NACA from an analysis of the cooling processes involved in a liquid-cooled-engine cylinder and is based on the theory of nonboiling, forced-convection heat transfer. The data correlated included engine power outputs from 275 to 1860 brake horsepower; coolant flows from 50 to 320 gallons per minute; coolants varying in composition from 100 percent water to 97 percent ethylene glycol and 3 percent water; and ranges of engine speed, manifold pressure, carburetor-air temperature, fuel-air ratio, exhaust-gas pressure, ignition timing, and coolant temperature" (p. 207).

"The laminar boundary layer and the position of the transition point were investigated on a heated flat plate. It was found that the Reynolds number of transition decreased as the temperature of the plate is increased. It is shown from simple qualitative analytical considerations that the effect of variable viscosity in the boundary layer due to the temperature difference produces a velocity profile with an inflection point if the wall temperature is higher than the free-stream temperature" (p. 587).

"The theory of the hydraulic analogy -- that is, the analogy between water flow with a free surface and two-dimensional compressible gas flow -- and the limitations and conditions of the analogy are discussed. A test was run using the hydraulic analogy as applied to the flow about circular cylinders of various diameters at subsonic velocities extending into the supercritical range. The apparatus and techniques used in this application are described and criticized" (p. 311).

This report presents the results of an investigation conducted on the effect of exhaust-stack nozzle area, shape, and length on engine power, jet thrust, and gain in net thrust (engine propeller plus jet). Single-cylinder engine data were obtained using three straight stacks 25, 44, and 108 inches in length; an S-shaped stack, a 90 degree bend, a 180 degree bend, and a short straight stack having a closed branch faired into it. Each stack was fitted with nozzles varying in exit area from 0.91 square inch to the unrestricted area of the stack of 4.20 square inches. The engine was generally operated over a range of engine speeds from 1300 to 2100 r.p.m, inlet-manifold pressures from 22 to 30 inches of mercury absolute, and a fuel-air ratio of 0.08. The loss in engine power, the jet thrust, and the gain in net thrust are correlated in terms of several simple parameters. An example is given for determining the optimum nozzle area and the overall net thrust.

From Summary: "An analysis of available theory on seaplane impact and a proposed modification thereto are presented. In previous methods the overall momentum of the float and virtual mass has been assumed to remain constant during the impact but the present analysis shows that this assumption is rigorously correct only when the resultant velocity of the float is normal to the keel."

From Summary: "A V-type engine provided with a glass cylinder was used to study visually the lubrication characteristics of an aircraft-type piston. Photographs and data were obtained with the engine motored at engine speeds up to 1000 r.p.m. and constant cylinder-head pressures of 0 and 50 pounds per square inch. A study was made of the orientation of the piston under various operating conditions, which indicated that the piston was inclined with the crown nearest the major-thrust cylinder face throughout the greater part of the cycle. The piston moved laterally in the cylinder under the influence of piston side thrust."

"The laws of conservation of mass, momentum, and energy are applied to the compressible flow through a two-dimensional cascade of airfoils. A fundamental relation between the ultimate upstream and downstream flow angles, the inlet Mach number, and the pressure ratio across the cascade is derived. Comparison with the corresponding relation for incompressible flow shows large differences. The fundamental relation reveals two ranges of flow angles and inlet Mach numbers, for which no ideal pressure ratio exists" (p. 123).

"In a round turbulent jet at room temperature, measurement of the shear correlation coefficient as a function of frequency (through band-pass filters) has given a rather direct verification of Kolmogoroff's local-isotropy hypothesis. One-dimensional power spectra of velocity and temperature fluctuations, measured in unheated and heated jets, respectively, have been contrasted. Under the same conditions, the two corresponding transverse correlation functions have been measured and compared" (p. 1).

"Flame speeds based on the outer edge of the shadow cast by the laminar Bunsen cone were determined as functions of composition for methane-air mixtures at initial mixture temperatures ranging from -132 degrees to 342 degrees c and for propane-air and ethylene-air mixtures at initial mixture temperatures ranging from -73 degrees to 344 degrees c. The data showed that maximum flame speed increased with temperature at an increasing rate. The percentage change in flame speed with change in initial temperature for the three fuels followed the decreasing order, methane, propane, and ethylene" (p. 105).

The methods used to prepare and purify 19 hydrocarbon derivatives of cyclopropane are discussed. Of these hydrocarbons, 13 were synthesized for the first time. In addition to the hydrocarbons, six cyclopropylcarbinols, five alkyl cyclopropyl ketones, three cyclopropyl chlorides, and one cyclopropanedicarboxylate were prepared as synthesis intermediates. The melting points, boiling points, refractive indices, densities, and, in some instances, heats of combustion of both the hydrocarbon and nonhydrocarbon derivatives of cyclopropane were determined. These data and the infrared spectrum of each of the 34 cyclopropane compounds are presented in this report. The infrared absorption bands characteristic of the cyclopropyl ring are discussed, and some observations are made on the contribution of the cyclopropyl ring to the molecular refractions of cyclopropane compounds.

The spectrum concept is employed to study the selective effect of a stream contraction on the longitudinal and lateral turbulent velocity fluctuations of the stream. By a consideration of the effect of the stream contraction on a single plane sinusoidal disturbance wave, mathematically not dissimilar to a triply periodic disturbance treated by G. I. Taylor, the effect on the spectrum tensor of the turbulence and hence on the correlation tensor is determined.

"Equations and charts are presented for computing the thrust, the power output, the fuel consumption, and other performance parameters of a turbine-propeller engine for any given set of operating conditions and component efficiencies. Included are the effects of the pressure losses in the inlet duct and the combustion chamber, the variation of the physical properties of the gas as it passes through the system, and the change in mass flow of the gas by the addition of fuel" (p. 117).