A report to the Weather Bureau, Washington DC, from the chairman of the Subcommittee on the Atmosphere in Relation to Aeronautics describing the activities accomplished and the proposal of work to be undertaken by the subcommittee.

"The strength of representative types of flush-riveted joints has been determined by testing 865 single-shearing, double-shearing, and tensile specimens representing 7 types of rivet and 18 types of joint. The results, presented in graphic form, show the stress at failure, type of failure, and d/t ratio. In general, dimpled joints were appreciably stronger than countersunk or protruding-head joints, but their strength was greatly influenced by constructional details" (p. 467).

From Summary: "An accurate determination of the end-gas condition was attempted by applying a refined method of analysis to experimental results. The results are compared with those obtained in Technical Report no. 655. The experimental technique employed afforded excellent control over the engine variables and unusual cyclic reproducibility. This, in conjunction with the new analysis, made possible the determination of the state of the end-gas at any instant to a fair degree of precision. Results showed that for any given maximum pressure the maximum permissible end-gas temperature increased as the fuel-air ratio was increased. The tendency to detonate was slightly reduced by an increase in residual gas content resulting from an increase in exhaust backpressure with inlet pressure constant."

"An investigation of the interference associated with tail surfaces added to wing-fuselage combinations was included in the interference program in progress in the NACA variable-density tunnel. The results indicate that, in aerodynamically clean combinations, the increment of the high-speed drag can be estimated from section characteristics within useful limits of accuracy. The interference appears mainly as effects on the downwash angle and as losses in the tail effectiveness and varies with the geometry of the combination" (p. 689).

"The relationship between stress and strain, and between stress and permanent set, for 18:8 alloy as affected by prior plastic deformation is discussed. Hysteresis and creep and their effects on the stress-strain and stress-set curves are also considered, as well as the influence of duration of the rest interval after cold work and the influence of plastic deformation on proof stresses, on the modulus of elasticity at zero stress, and on the curvature of the stress-strain line. A constant (c sub 1) is suggested to represent the variation of the modulus of elasticity with stress" (p. 539).

Experimental data of various investigators of liquid-metal heat-transfer characteristics were reevaluated using as consistent assumptions and methods as possible and then compared with each other and with theoretical results. The reevaluated data for both local fully developed and average Nusselt numbers in the turbulent flow region were found still to have considerable spread, with the bulk of the data being lower than predicted by existing analysis. An equation based on empirical grounds which represents most of the fully developed heat-transfer data is nu = 0.625 pe(0.4) where nu represents the Nusselt number and pe the Peclet number. The theoretical prediction of the heat transfer in the entrance region was found to give lower values, in most cases, than those found in the experimental work.

Report presents the results of tests made of a Clark y airfoil with a Clark y Fowler flap and of an NACA 23012 airfoil with NACA Fowler flaps. Some of the tests were made in the 7 by 10-foot wind tunnel and others in the 5-foot vertical wind tunnel. The pressures were measured on the upper and lower surfaces at one chord section both on the main airfoils and on the flaps for several angles of attack with the flaps located at the maximum-lift settings.

"The method of Poggi is employed for the determination of the effects of compressibility upon the flow past an obstacle. A general expression for the velocity increment due to compressibility is obtained. The general result holds whatever the shape of the obstacle; but, in order to obtain the complete solution, it is necessary to know a certain Fourier expansion of the square of the velocity of flow past the obstacle. An application is made to the case flow of a symmetrical Joukowski profile with a sharp trailing edge, fixed in a stream of an arbitrary angle of attack and with the circulation determined by the Kutta condition" (p. 197).

Report presents the results of a survey of problems encountered in applying general test data to the design of flying-boat hulls. It is shown how basic design features may be readily determined from special plots of test data. A study of the effect of the size of a flying boat on the probable limits to be covered by the general test data is included and recommendations for special tests and new methods of presenting test data for direct use in design are given.

From Summary: "The experimental and calculated aerodynamic characteristics of 22 tapered wings are compared, using tests made in the variable-density wind tunnel. The wings had aspect ratios from 6 to 12 and taper ratios from 1:6:1 and 5:1. The compared characteristics are the pitching moment, the aerodynamic-center position, the lift-curve slope, the maximum lift coefficient, and the curves of drag. The method of obtaining the calculated values is based on the use of wing theory and experimentally determined airfoil section data. In general, the experimental and calculated characteristics are in sufficiently good agreement that the method may be applied to many problems of airplane design."

Tables are given for determining the load distribution of tapered wings with partial-span flaps placed either at the center or at the wing tips. Seventy-two wing-flap combinations, including two aspect ratios, four taper ratios, and nine flap lengths, are included. The distributions for the flapped wing are divided into two parts, one a zero lift distribution due primarily to the flaps and the other an additional lift distribution due to an angle of attack of the wing as a whole. Comparison between theoretical and experimental results for wings indicate that the theory may be used to predict the load distribution with sufficient accuracy for structural purposes.

"Several electrically heated finned steel cylinders enclosed in jackets were cooled by air from a blower. The effect of the air conditions and fin dimensions on the average surface heat-transfer coefficient q and the power required to force the air around the cylinders were determined. Tests were conducted at air velocities between the fins from 10 to 130 miles per hour and at specific weights of the air varying from 0.046 to 0.074 pound per cubic foot. The fin dimensions of the cylinders covered a range in pitches from 0.057 to 0.25 inch average fin thicknesses from 0.035 to 0.04 inch, and fin widths from 0.67 to 1.22 inches" (p. 269).

"The effects of air flow on fuel spray and flame formation in a high-speed compression-ignition engine have been investigated by means of the NACA combustion apparatus. The process was studied by examining high-speed motion pictures taken at the rate of 2,200 frames a second. The combustion chamber was of the flat-disk type used in previous experiments with this apparatus. The air flow was produced by a rectangular displacer mounted on top of the engine piston. Three fuel-injection nozzles were tested: a 0.020-inch single-orifice nozzle, a 6-orifice nozzle, and a slit nozzle" (p. 281).

This report presents the results of tests of a 4-foot model of Navy propeller No. 4412 in conjunction with an NACA cowled nacelle mounted ahead of a thick wing in the 20-foot propeller-research tunnel. A range of propeller pitches from 17 degrees to 42 degrees at 0.75r was covered, and for this propeller the efficiency reached a maximum at a pitch setting of 27 degrees; at high pitches the efficiencies were slightly lower. The corrected propulsive efficiency is shown to be independent of the angle of attack for the high-speed and the climbing ranges of flight.

Report presents the results of a study made to determine the air-flow characteristics around finned cylinders. Air-flow distribution is given for a smooth cylinder, for a finned cylinder having several fin spacings and fin widths, and for a cylinder with several types of baffle with various entrance and exit shapes. The results of these tests show: that flow characteristics around a cylinder are not so critical to changes in fin width as they are to fin spacing; that the entrance of the baffle has a marked influence on its efficiency; that properly designed baffles increase the air flow over the rear of the cylinder; and that these tests check those of heat-transfer tests in the choice of the best baffle.

"This report presents a method of solving the problem of axial and transverse potential flows around arbitrary elongated bodies of revolution. The solutions of Laplace's equation for the velocity potentials of the axial and transverse flows, the system of coordinates being an elliptic one in a meridian plane, are given. The theory is applied to a body of revolution obtained from a symmetrical Joukowsky profile, a shape resembling an airship hull" (p. 189).

This report presents the results of flight tests made on five different lateral control devices that appeared adaptable to wings fitted with full span flaps: controllable auxiliary airfoils (airfoils mounted above and forward of the leading edge of the wings), external ailerons (airfoils mounted above the wing and slightly forward of its maximum ordinate), upper-surface ailerons (similar to split trailing-edge flaps except that they constitute the upper surface of the wing), ailerons that retract into the wing when in neutral, and narrow-chord conventional ailerons in combination with a special type of split flap that retracts into the under surface of the wing forward of the ailerons.

"A series of wind tunnel tests of a rectangular Clark Y wing was made with the NACA spinning balance as part of a general program of research on airplane spinning. All six components of the aerodynamic force and moment were measured throughout the range of angles of attack, angles of sideslip, and values omega b/2v likely to be attained by a spinning airplane; the results were reduced to coefficient form. It is concluded that a conventional monoplane with a rectangular Clark y wing can be made to attain spinning equilibrium throughout a wide range of angles of attack but that provision of a yawing moment coefficient of -0.02 (against the spin) by the tail, fuselage, and interferences will insure against attainment of equilibrium in a steady spin" (p. 231).

The tests reported in this report conclude the investigation of landing-gear drag that has been carried out in the NACA 20-foot wind tunnel. They supplement earlier tests (reported in Technical Report No. 485) made with full-scale dummy wheels, wheel fairings, and landing gears intended for airplanes of 3,000 pounds gross weight and include tests of tail wheels and tail skids.

"The method of characteristics has been applied for the determination of the supersonic-flow properties around bodies of revolution at a small angle of attack. The system developed considers the effect of the variation of entropy due to the curved shock and determines a flow that exactly satisfies the boundary conditions in the limits of the simplifications assumed. Two practical methods for numerical calculations are given" (p. 1039).

"The Navier-Stokes equations of motion and the equation of continuity are transformed so as to apply to an orthogonal curvilinear coordinate system rotating with a uniform angular velocity about an arbitrary axis in space. A usual simplification of these equations as consistent with the accepted boundary-layer theory and an integration of these equations through the boundary layer result in boundary-layer momentum-integral equations for three-dimensional flows that are applicable to either rotating or nonrotating fluid boundaries. These equations are simplified and an approximate solution in closed integral form is obtained for a generalized boundary-layer momentum-loss thickness and flow deflection at the wall in the turbulent case" (p. 1).

"The aerodynamic and mass factors governing lateral stability are discussed and formulas are given for their estimation. Relatively simple relationships between the governing factors and the resulting stability characteristics are presented. A series of charts is included with which approximate stability characteristics may be rapidly estimated" (p. 1).

"A method is derived for calculating the lift and the drag due to lift of point-forward triangular wings and a restricted series of sweptback wings at supersonic speeds. The elementary or "supersonic sources" solution of the linearized equation of motion is used to find the potential function of a line of doublets. The flow about the triangular flat plate is then obtained by a surface distribution of these doublet lines. The lift-curve slope of triangular wings is found to be a function of the ratio of the tangent of the apex angle to the tangent of the Mach angle" (p. 97).

This report deals with the design of plywood webs for wooden box beams to obtain maximum strength per unit weight. A method of arriving at the most efficient and economical web thickness, and hence the most suitable unit shear stress, is presented and working stresses in shear for various types of webs and species of plywood are given. The questions of diaphragm spacing and required glue area between the webs and flange are also discussed.