From the Introduction: "In the present reports the paths of liquid spray droplets issued in the flow field behind an airplane are calculated."

In the process of analyzing the longitudinal frequency-response characteristics of aircraft, information on some of the methods of analysis has been obtained by the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. In the investigation of these methods, the practical applications and limitations were stressed. In general, the methods considered may be classed as: (1) analysis of sinusoidal response, (2) analysis of transient response as to harmonic content through determination of the Fourier integral by manual or machine methods, and (3) analysis of the transient through the use of least-squares solutions of the coefficients of an assumed equation for either the transient time response or frequency response (sometimes referred to as curve-fitting methods). (author).

Average skin-friction drag coefficients were obtained from boundary-layer total-pressure measurements on a parabolic body of revolution (NACA rm-10, basic fineness ratio 15) in water at Reynolds numbers from 4.4 x 10(6) to 70 x 10(6). The tests were made in the Langley tank no. 1 with the body sting-mounted at a depth of two maximum body diameters. The arithmetic mean of three drag measurements taken around the body was in good agreement with flat-plate results, but, apparently because of the slight surface wave caused by the body, the distribution of the boundary layer around the body was not uniform over part of the Reynolds number range.

In the initial phase of a NACA program on fatigue research, axial-load tests on 24S-T3 and 75S-T6 aluminum-alloy sheet have been made at the Battelle Memorial Institute and at the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. The test specimens were polished and unnotched. The manufacturer of the material, the Aluminum Company of America, has made axial-load tests on 24S-T4 and 75S-T6 rod material. The test techniques used at the three laboratories are described in detail; the test results are presented and are compared with each other and with results obtained on unpolished sheet by the National Bureau of Standards. (author).

A review is presented of available information on the behavior of brittle and ductile materials under conditions of thermal stress and thermal shock. For brittle materials, a simple formula relating physical properties to thermal-shock resistance is derived and used to determine the relative significance of two indices currently in use for rating materials. For ductile materials, thermal-shock resistance depends upon the complex interrelation among several metallurgical variables which seriously affect strength and ductility. These variables are briefly discussed and illustrated from literature sources. The importance of simulating operating conditions in tests for rating materials is especially to be emphasized because of the importance of testing conditions in metallurgy. A number of practical methods that have been used to minimize the deleterious effects of thermal stress and thermal shock are outlined.

"A stability analysis is made of a long flat rectangular plate subjected to a uniform longitudinal compressive stress and supported along its longitudinal edges and along one or more longitudinal lines by elastic line supports. The elastic supports possess deflectional and rotational stiffness. Such configuration is an idealization of the compression cover skin and internal structure of a wing and tail surfaces" (p. 1).

"Hot wire turbulence-measuring equipment has been developed to meet the more stringent requirements involved in the measurement of fluctuations in flow parameters at supersonic velocities. The higher mean speed necessitates the resolution of higher frequency components than at low speed, and the relatively low turbulence level present at supersonic speed makes necessary an improved noise level for the equipment. The equipment covers the frequency range from 2 to about 70,000 cycles per second" (p. 1).

"Schamberg was the first to solve the differential equations of slip flow, including the Burnett terms, for concentric circular cylinders assuming constant coefficients of viscosity and thermal conductivity. The problem is solved for variable coefficients of viscosity and thermal conductivity in this paper by applying a transformation which leads to an iteration method. Starting with the solution for constant coefficients, this method enables one to approximate the solution for variable coefficients very closely after one or two steps" (p. 435).

"Formulas are derived for the fifteen elastic constants associated with bending, stretching, twisting, and shearing of plates with closely spaced integral ribbing in a variety of configurations and proportions. In the derivation the plates are considered, conceptually, as more uniform orthotropic plates somewhat on the order of plywood. The constants, which include the effectiveness of the ribs for resisting deformations other than bending and stretching in their longitudinal directions, are defined in terms of four coefficients, and theoretical and experimental methods for the evaluation of these coefficients are discussed" (p. 1).

"The object of this report is to provide an estimate, based on theoretical calculations, of the forces induced on a wing that is flying at a constant forward speed and suddenly enters a vertical gust. The calculations illustrate the effects of Mach number (from 0 to 2) and aspect ratio (2 to infinity), and solutions are given by means of which the response to gusts having arbitrary distributions of velocity can be calculated. The effects of pitching and wing bending are neglected and only wings of rectangular plan form are considered. Specific results are presented for sharp-edged and triangular gusts and various wing-air density ratios" (p. 1).

Three matrice methods are developed and presented for determining the longitudinal-stability derivatives from transient flight data. In these methods the expressions for some of the stability derivatives are in the form generally used in stability calculations. The first method requires the combination of four measurements in time-history form, two of which must be incremental elevator deflection and incremental tail load and the other two measurements can be chosen from a possible three, namely incremental load factor, pitching velocity, and angle of attack. The method demonstrates the use of the tail load to separate the pitching-moment derivatives and to determine the downwash derivative. (author).

"The concept of indicial aerodynamic functions is applied to the analysis of the short-period pitching mode of aircraft. By the use of simple physical relationships associated with the indicial-function relationships concept, quantitative studies are made of the separate effects on the damping in pitch of changes in Mach number, aspect ratio, plan-form shape, and frequency. The concept is further shown to be of value in depicting physically the induced effects on a tail surface which follows in the wake of a starting forward surface" (p. 1).

From Summary: "A revised gust-load formula with a new gust factor is derived to replace the gust-load formula and alleviation factor widely used in gust studies. The revised formula utilizes the same principles and retains the same simple form of the original formula but provides a more appropriate and acceptable basis for gust-load calculations. The gust factor is calculated on the basis of a one-minus-cosine gust shape and is presented as a function of a mass-ratio parameter in contrast to the ramp gust shape and wing loading, respectively, used for the alleviation factor. A summary of gust-velocity data from v-g records taken on civil transport airplanes from 1933 to 1950, reevaluated by the revised formula, is also presented."

An investigation of the lateral-directional flying qualities of a tandem-rotor helicopter in forward flight was undertaken to determine desirable goals for helicopter lateral-directional flying qualities and possible methods of achieving these goals in the tandem-rotor helicopter. Comparison between directional stability as measured in flight and rotor-off model tests in a wind tunnel shows qualitative agreement and, hence, indicates such wind-tunnel test, despite the absence of the rotors, to be one effective method of studying means of improving the directional stability of the tandem helicopter. Flight-test measurements of turns and oscillations, in conjunction with analytical studies, suggest possible practical methods of achieving the goals of satisfactory turn and oscillatory characteristics in the tandem helicopter.

"A systematic study is made of the approximate inviscid theory of thin bodies moving at such high supersonic speeds that nonlinearity is an essential feature of the equations of flow. The first-order small-disturbance equations are derived for three-dimensional motions involving shock waves, and estimates are obtained for the order of error involved in the approximation. The hypersonic similarity rule of Tsien and Hayes, and Hayes' unsteady analogy appear in the course of the development" (p. 1).

"Considerable interest has recently been shown in means of obtaining satisfactory stability of the dutch roll oscillation for modern high-performance airplanes without resort to complicated artificial stabilizing devices. One approach to this problem is to lay out the airplane in the earliest stages of design so that it will have the greatest practicable inherent stability of the lateral oscillation. The present report presents some preliminary results of a theoretical analysis to determine the design features that appear most promising in providing adequate inherent stability" (p. 1).

A method is presented for the estimation of the subsonic-flight-speed characteristics of sharp-lip inlets applicable to supersonic aircraft. The analysis, based on a simple momentum balance consideration, permits the computation of inlet-pressure-recovery mass-flow relations and additive-drag coefficients for forward velocities from zero to the speed of sound. The penalties for operation of a sharp-lip inlet at velocity ratios other than 1.0 may be severe; at lower velocity ratios an additive drag is incurred that is not cancelled by lip suction, while at higher velocity ratios, unavoidable losses in inlet total pressure will result.

Report presenting an analysis of the sound-pressure field of a rotating propeller in forward flight in free space by replacing the normal-pressure distribution over the propeller associated with thrust and torque by a distribution of acoustic pressure doublets acting at the propeller disk. The result is presented for a moving and a fixed observer.

"Analysis is made of the flow field produced by oblique impingement of weak plane disturbances of arbitrary profile on a plane normal shock. Three types of disturbance are considered: (a) sound wave propagating in the gas at rest into which the shock moves; (b) sound wave overtaking the shock from behind,(The sound wave reflects as a sound wave, and a stationary vorticity wave is produced); (c) an incompressible vorticity wave stationary in the gas ahead of the shock. The incident wave refracts as a stationary vorticity wave, and either a sound wave or attenuating pressure wave is also produced" (p. 1).

Flow-visualization techniques are employed to ascertain the streamline patterns of the nonpotential secondary flows in the boundary layers of cascades, and thereby to provide a basis for more extended analyses in turbomachines. The three-dimensional deflection of the end-wall boundary layer results in the formation of a vortex within each cascade passage. The size and tightness of the vortex generated depend upon the main-flow turning in the cascade passage. Once formed, a vortex resists turning in subsequent blade rows, with consequent unfavorable angles of attack and possible flow disturbances on the pressure surfaces of subsequent blade rows when the vortices impinge on these surfaces. Two major tip-clearance effects are observed, the formation of a tip-clearance vortex and the scraping effect of a blade with relative motion past the wall boundary layer. The flow patterns indicate methods for improving the blade tip-loading characteristics of compressors and of low- and high-speed turbulence.

"A theoretical method is presented for calculating the flow field about wing-body combinations employing bodies deviating only slightly in shape from a circular cylinder. The method is applied to the calculation of the pressure field acting between a circular cylindrical body and a rectangular wing. The case of zero body angle of attack and variable wing incidence is considered as well as the case of zero wing incidence and variable body angle of attack" (p. 1299).

The basic ideas of the slender-body approximation have been applied to the nonlinear transonic-flow equation for the velocity potential in order to obtain some of the essential features of slender-body theory at transonic speeds. The results of the investigation are presented from a unified point of view which demonstrates the similarity of slender-body solutions in the various Mach number ranges. The transonic area rule and some conditions concerning its validity follow from the analysis. (author).

Report presents the results of an investigation conducted to determine the hydrodynamic forces and moments acting on modified rectangular flat plates with aspect ratios of 1.00, 0.25, and 0.125 mounted on a single strut and operating at several depths of submersion. A simple method has been developed by modification of Falkner's vortex-lattice theory which enables the prediction of the lift characteristics in unseparated flow at large depths. This method shows good agreement with experimental data from the present tests and with aerodynamic data at all angles investigated for aspect ratios of 1.00 and 0.25 and at angles up to 16 degrees for aspect ratio 0.125. Above 16 degrees for aspect ratio 0.125, the predicted lift proved too high.

"Flow-angle and pressure surveys behind five, thin, pointed-tip wings of varying plan form have been made at Mach numbers 1.62 and 2.41. Schlieren studies at a Mach number 1.93 for the same five plan-form wings were made to illustrate the behavior of the vortex sheet. The surveys were conducted at 1.5, 3, and 4 root chords behind three triangular wings of 50 degree, 63 degree, and 72 degree leading-edge sweep angle, and behind the 50 degree triangular wing reversed" (p. 1067).