Posted: 8/1/2011 3:23:38 PM EDT
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I'm wondering if anyone here might be able to point me in the right direction for reading material either in book form or on the web. Specifically, I'm interested in learning about the relationship between AOA, airspeed, and weight for a given aircraft and the resulting total drag. Clearly, for a given aircraft at a certain weight and airspeed, there will be a certain angle of attack. As either airspeed or weight/g-loading vary, AOA varies thus altering total drag. I'm interested in learning more about how this is determined. Ultimately, I'd like to be able to develop a set of drag polars for my RV and then compare them against actual data from my phase 1 flight test data.
"Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators" touches on this topic but doesn't go into any detail about how a drag polar is produced, so I'm looking for any further reading suggestions. Thanks! |
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Maybe this. I'll look tonight, I have it at home.
http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Pilots-Flight-Manual-Explanations/dp/0813813034 |
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Well, the FAA article explains the different types and sources of drag: parasitic (drag due to geometry and skin friction) and induces (grad due to the rearward tilt of the lift vector). The angle of attack will largely influence the induced drag and the geometric part of the parasitic drag, depending on the shape of aircraft. Skin friction is based on Re which is based on velocity and characteristic length.
I don't have any papers to point you two but rather books I've used: Aircraft design: a conceptual approach by Raymer (AIAA) and Aerodynamics, Aeronautics, and Flight Mechanics by McCormick |
| I would like to thank ChiefPilot for asking the question, because the answers provided by various people were very interesting. I went through the Navy flight school 40 years ago and many things have changes, some even for the better. I went into the FAA website and downloaded all sorts of stuff. Very interesting. Thank you. |
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Quoted:
You are going to probably need some software to help you out with the computations and also a fair amount of data to actually get an accurate estimate. Here is pretty much the bible for fixed wing performance: http://www.usntpsalumni.org/USNTPS_FTM_108.pdf This is perfect and exactly the kind of information I was looking for - THANK YOU! And thanks to everyone else for the suggestions as well; I have plenty of reading material. Some background: Although the RV-6A is a well known design and has been fairly well tested both by builders as well as by groups like the CAFE foundation, I am interested in learning how the data was collected and how it is to be interpreted on my own. After reading "Boyd", the biography of Col. John Boyd and his E-M theory, I have become interested in the math associated with aerodynamics and have found it to be a refreshing change from EE and CSci works. I don't know how far I'll get or how good my data will actually be with the relatively unsophisticated equipment available to me, but I'm certain I'll learn something from this aspect of the project just as I've learned something from everything that has come before it. Thanks again! |