Abstract
Experiments on Airship Models.—During the past year further experiments have been made on the re sistance of airship models, and on the forces and moments acting on inclined models of different forms. The resistance measurements included some tests of special shapes, made at the request of the super intendent of the Royal Aircraft Factory; and an in vestigation to determine the effect of bluntness of tail on the relative air flow and on the resistance. From visual observations and photographs of the flow past models in the small water channel, made with the aid of coloured streams, it was noted that the flow in the tail region even of an elongated model was very slow. It was inferred that truncation or modification of the tail within this “dead” region should have little effect on the head resistance. A model was accordingly made in which successive sections of the tail were removable, and it was found, as expected, that the effect of the removal of portions of the tail within the “dead” region was negligibly small. In the model tested, the full length of tail was about twice the maximum diameter, and it was found that a length of 0.8 of the diameter, from the tip, could be removed without appreciable effect on the head resistance. It follows, therefore, that within this region the tail may be rounded off or otherwise modified without loss of speed; a gain in lifting power is thereby secured, while the less pointed form pre sents advantages from the constructional point of view.
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Experimental Research in Aëronautics 1 . Nature 89, 543–546 (1912). https://doi.org/10.1038/089543b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/089543b0