Correction of Profile-Drag Results From Variable-Density Tunnel and the Effect on the Choice of Wing-Section Thickness (open access)

Correction of Profile-Drag Results From Variable-Density Tunnel and the Effect on the Choice of Wing-Section Thickness

"Profile-drag coefficients published from tests in the N.A.C.A. variable-density tunnel (Technical Reports Nos. 460, 537, 586, and 610, references 1 to 4) have tended to appear high as compared with results from the N.A.C.A. full-scale tunnel (Technical Report No. 530, reference 5) and from foreign sources (references 6 to 8). Such discrepancies were considered in Technical Report No. 586, and corrections for turbulence and tip effects were derived that tended to reduce the profile-drag coefficients, particularly for the thicker airfoils. The corrected profile-drag coefficients, designated by the lower-case symbol cdo as contrasted with the older CDO, have been employed in the airfoil reports published since Technical Report No. 460, but even these corrected results continued to appear high, particularly for the thicker sections" (p. 1).
Date: March 18, 1938
Creator: Jacobs, Eastman N.
System: The UNT Digital Library