Report discussing testing on a model of the proposed MX-1554A design to determine its stability and control characteristics in high speed flight. Information about the effect of speed brakes, tanks, and fences on the longitudinal characteristics is also provided.

Report presenting the results of pressure-distribution measurements obtained in flight over the free-blown canopy of a fighter-type airplane. The measurements were compared to those of the same canopy in wind-tunnel testing to determine the degree of correlation and effects of Mach number and distortion on the pressure distribution.

Report presenting the specific impulse, characteristic velocity, thrust coefficient, and heat rejection of liquid fluorine and a fuel consisting of a hydrazine-ammonia mixture for a range of fuel percentages in a 100-pound-thrust rocket engine designed for a combustion-chamber pressure of 300 pounds per square inch absolute. The fuel consisted of 59 percent hydrazine, 37 percent ammonia, and 4 percent water. The attainment of maximum performance with liquid fluorine as a rocket oxidant will require a critical study of injector design.

Report presenting an investigation of the effect of fuselage-mounted rocket boosters on a strut-mounted engine in the 8- by 6-foot supersonic wind tunnel at Mach numbers of 1.8 and 2.0. The boosters were pairs of circular cylinders with conical forebodies mounted on the top and bottom of the fuselage, and the engine was mounted on a horizontal strut. Results regarding the characteristics of the flow field, effect of putting the boosters in several positions, and effect of angle of attack are provided.

Report presenting a study of the altitude-starting limits of a production turbojet engine with an axial-flow compressor and a multiple through-flow combustor. The ignition limits, flame-propagation limits, and acceleration limits of the engine were improved to increase the starting limits to relatively high altitude.

Memorandum presenting minimum spark-ignition energies for 12 pure fuels measured at reduced pressure, and the data obtained were extrapolated to 1 atmosphere. Some of the fuels investigated included normal and cycloparaffins, olefins, carbon disulfide, and oxygenated compounds such as alcohol, ether, propylene oxide, and tetrahydropyran.

Memorandum presenting testing conducted to determine the conductivity of magnesium oxide, stainless steel, and uranium oxide powders in various gases at a range of temperatures. Results regarding the experimental effective conductivities, comparison of analytical and experimental results, and effect of pressure on conductivity are provided.

Report presenting an investigation of the effect of inlet-air temperature on the combustion efficiency of a 16-inch ram-jet engine in a connected-pipe installation. The engine was operated over a range of fuel-air ratios with several different combustor configurations and two fuel types. Configurations tested included a sloping baffle and a can-type combustor in three configurations.

Report presenting an investigation in the supersonic wind tunnel on a 50 degree conical-spike inlet at three Mach numbers over a range of angles of attack. The additive-drag penalty associated with inlet mass-flow spillage was significantly reduced by using a translating-spike inlet rather than a fixed-geometry inlet.

From introduction: "As a part of this program, this report presents the results of a study of an interacting system in which the conditions for criticality are given in terms of the concentration of fissionable material and the geometry of the system."

The Atomic Energy Commission has assigned the Hanford Atomic Products Operation the responsibility of providing the technology and facilities for the interim reprocessing of slightly enriched uranium fuels discharged from power and propulsion reactors. The fuel from the various reactors vary greatly in physical dimensions and in the composition of the core and cladding. For the purposes of chemical reprocessing, the fuels may be divided into the three main categories of aluminum, Zircaloy or stainless steel clad elements. The fuels may be sub-divided by the nature of the core material; e.g. metallic uranium, uranium dioxide, uranium-molybdenum alloys uranium-aluminum alloys, etc.

For purposes of an earlier consideration of the effects of in-reactor test loops on PRTR operation and program, the design of the high pressure, H20 cooled fuel test loop was assumed to be similar to that for the high pressure, gas cooled loop. Detailed design criteria for the H20 loop have recently been completed so that this assumption is no longer necessary. Therefore, to insure that the effects of all proposed in-reactor loops are fully evaluated with respect to Plutonium Recycle Program objectives, the present study has been carried out. Much of the qualitive discussion in the original analysis is still considered valid. Thus, rather than repeating the entire analysis as it pertains to the H20 loop, only those departures resulting from differences between the assumed design and the scope design are presented.

From Introduction: "In this monograph, the background of the exponential reference atmosphere will be outlined and a set of radio ray tracings presented. These ray may be used for the solution of many problems involving refraction by means of the exponential reference atmosphere."

From abstract: "Several different techniques were used to introduce tracer quantities of plutonium into the lungs of rats. When aerosols were produced by atomizing aqueous solutions of the nitrates it was found that approximately 20 per cent of the dose was absorbed and deposited in the skelton [sic] with tetra-, hexa-, and trivalent plutonium. Thus with these compounds, the lungs represent a more dangerous portal of entry than either oral (0.05 per cent) or intramuscular (13 per cent) administration. Tetravalent Pu was eliminated most slowly from the lung, the average half-time during the first month being 15 days. But when citrate was added to complex the Pu, over 70 per cent was eliminated within 1 day. This was accompanied by a deposition of over 30 per cent in the skelton [sic] and over 20 per cent in the liver. Presumably citrate breaks up the insoluble colloid in which Pu exists in the lungs. Complexing with cupferron which, unlike citrate, produces a "fat soluble" compound, greatly diminished the extent of absorption from the lungs. Plutonium oxide smokes which were produced at high temperatures were eliminated more slowly from the lungs (average half time of 30 days during the first month) and …

A report on the functions of the National Bureau of Standards.

From Summary: "Since canard configurations have been found to possess unusual static stability characteristics, an investigation has been conducted in the Langley free-flight tunnel to determine the dynamic stability and control characteristics of a model of this type. The characteristics of the model were unsatisfactory in the higher lift-coefficient range because of lightly damped lateral oscillations and because of erratic behavior in pitch and yaw which was apparently caused by random trim changes associated with the irregular fluctuations in the vortex flow from the horizontal tail."

Numerous experiments were conducted to determine factors which affect the internal performance of convergent-plug exhaust nozzles. The results of these experiments, which include effects of such things as plug shape, nozzle inlet Mach number, and outer-shell characteristics, provide a basis for optimum desifn from the standpoint of weight and size. The results also show performance penalties which can result when the nozzle is too small.

The override was designed to automatically recover the engine from stall and surge by reducing fuel flow and then increasing fuel flow in a manner to avoid repeated stalls and surges and successfully complete the acceleration. One of two parameters was used to operate the override, tailpipe temperature, or the derivative of compressor-discharge pressure. The override operating with tailpipe temperature recovered the engine from stall and surge. Operating on compressor-discharge-pressure derivative, the override recovered the engine from surge, but failed when stall was encountered.

"Tests on equivalent bodies of revolution of six configurations of the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation proposed supersonic bomber (Convair MX-1964) have indicated that it is possible to reduce the drag of the configuration by designing it to have a favorable area distribution. The method of NACA RM L53I22c to predict the peak pressure drag of a configuration on the basis of its area distribution gave generally good agreement with the subject models" (p. 1).

The first four stages were found to cause a major part of the poor low-speed efficiency of this compressor. The low design-speed over-all pressure ratio at surge was caused by the first and the twelfth to fifteenth stages. The multiple over-all performance curves in the intermediate-speed range were at least partly the result of double-branched characteristic curves for the third and seventh stages.

"Data obtained in tests of a 10-foot diameter, three-blade propeller, having NACA 10-(3)(08)-03 blades, conducted in the Langley 16-foot high-speed tunnel are presented. The propeller performance quantities related by the tests are thrust, torque, efficiency, and advance ratio for various rotational speeds or stream Mach numbers with blade angle as a parameter. Advance Mach numbers varied from 0.12 to 0.64" (p. 1).

An experimental investigation of the effect of angle of attack and inlet corrected air flow on diffuser-discharge total-pressure profiles of inlets located in various circumferential positions on a fuselage was conducted at supersonic speeds. Results indicated that the diffuser total-pressure profiles for a bottom inlet were least affected by angle of attack on distortion level was obtained with a side inlet. Variation in distortion for top inlets with angle of attack was confined to the supercritical range of inlet operation.

Typical models and the testing technique used in the NACA free-spinning wind tunnel are described in detail. The results of tests on two models afford a comparison between the spinning characteristics of scale models in the tunnel and of the airplanes that they represent.

From Summary: "Measurements of base pressure are presented for 29 blunt-trailing-edge wings having an aspect ratio of 3.0 and various airfoil profiles. The different profiles comprised thickness ratios between 0.05 and 0.10, boattail angles between -2.9 degrees and 20 degrees, and ratios of trailing-edge thickness to airfoil thickness between 0.2 and 1.0. The tests were conducted at Mach numbers of 1.25, 1.5, 2.0, and 3.1. For each Mach number, the Reynolds number and angle of attack were varied. The lowest Reynolds number investigated was 0.2 x 10(6) and the highest was 3.5 x 10(6). Measurements on each wing were obtained separately with turbulent flow and laminar flow in the boundary layer. Span-wise surveys of the base pressure were conducted on several wings."