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Nelson, Robert L

Publications and source records attributed to Nelson, Robert L.

13 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1953

Pressure drag of bodies at Mach numbers up to 2.0

The drag of bodies has now assumed greater importance because, as shown in NACA RM L53I15a, 1953 and NACA RM A53H18a, 1953, the transonic drag rise of an airplane can be the same as its equivalent body. Obviously, the airplane designer would like his airplane to have a low-drag equivalent body. This paper shows some of the factors which minimize the drag of bodies at transonic and supersonic speeds and shows some of the penalties caused by deviating from low-drag body shapes. Drag reductions can be obtained in two ways, first, through increasing the body fineness ratio, and second, through better shaping of the body profile at a given fineness ratio. The effects of fineness ratio are discussed first and then, more completely, detail-shape effects.

Nelson, Robert L↗
NASA NTRS1950

The effect of torsional flexibility on the rolling characteristics at supersonic speeds of tapered unswept wings

An analysis is presented of the effect of torsional flexibility on the rolling characteristics at supersonic speeds of tapered unswept wings with partial-span constant-percent-chord ailerons extending inboard from the wing tip. The geometric variables considered are aspect ratio, taper ratio, aileron span, and aileron chord. The shape of the wing-torsional-stiffness curve is assumed and the twisting moment is considered to result solely from the pressure distribution caused by aileron deflection, so that the necessity of using a successive-approximation method is avoided. Because of the complexity of the equations resulting from the analysis, numerical calculations from the equations are presented in a series of figures. A computational form is provided to be used in conjunction with these figures so that calculations can be made without reference to the analysis.

Tucker, Warren A↗
NASA NTRS1949

Theoretical characteristics in supersonic flow of two types of control surfaces on triangular wings

Methods based on the linearized theory for supersonic flow were used to find the characteristics of two types of control surfaces on thin triangular wings. The first type, the constant-chord partial-span flap, was considered to extend either outboard from the center of the wing or inboard from the wing tip. The second type, the full-triangular-tip flap, was treated only for the case in which the Mach number component normal to the leading edge is supersonic. For each type, expressions were found for the lift, rolling-moment, pitching-moment, and hinge-moment characteristics.

Tucker, Warren A↗