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Horizontaltail
This lesson covers selecting the airfoil, wing and tail geometries.
AIRCRAFT
ZEPLN
HELCOPTER
UAV
SPACE SHUTTLE
PARACHUTE
WIND TURBINE
ROCKET
RACE
ENGINE
SHIP
SUBMARINE
NavyShipPropulsionTechnologies:
OptionsforReducingOilUse
AirfoilSelection
SLO
1.44W 2
2(W / S )
cruise speed
Vstall
c
SL L
stall speed
handling qualities (especially near the stall)
overall aerodynamic efficiency during all phases of flight.
max
AirfoilGeometry
t
Angleof
attack
Leading
edge
radius
Thekeygeometricparameters.
Total airfoil camber is defined as the maximum distance of the mean camber line from the
chord line, expressed as percent of the chord.
The airfoil thickness ratio (t/c) refers to the maximum thickness of the airfoil divided by
its chord.
AirfoilLiftandDrag
An airfoil generates lift by changing the velocity of the air passing over and under itself. The
airfoil angle of attack causes the air over the top of the wing to travel faster than the air
beneath the wing.
Pressure Coefficient
Cp
P P
1
2
V
angle of attack
V freesteam velocity
freestream density
freestream viscosity
a freestream sonic speed
l
1
V
c
d
1
Cm
where
V
c
f , Re, M
f , Re, M
m
1
2 2
V
2 c
Re
f , Re, M
V c
V
a
Airfoil characteristics are strongly affected by the Reynolds number at which they are
operating.TheReynoldsnumberinfluenceswhethertheflowwillbelaminarorturbulent
andwhetherflowseparationwilloccur.
AtypicalaircraftwingoperatesataReynoldsnumberofabouttenmilllion.
Clvs.Cdshowsbestlocationswheretofly
Dragbucket:lowdragregion
AirfoilFamilies
The early airfoils were developed mostly by trial and error.
In the 1930s, the NACA developed a widely
usedfamilyofmathematicallydefinedairfoils
called the four digit airfoils. While rarely
used for wing design today, the uncambered
fourdigitairfoilsarestillcommonlyusedfor
tailsurfacesofsubsonicaircraft.
AirfoilDesign
In the past, the designer would select an airfoil from such a catalog by considering:
airfoil drag during cruise
stall and pitching-moment characteristics,
the thickness available for structure,
fuel
the ease of manufacture.
With todays computational airfoil design capabilities, it is becoming common for the airfoil
shapes for a wing to be custom-designed.
Methods have been developed for designing an airfoil such that :
the pressure diferantial between the
top and bottom of the airfoil quickly
reaches a maximum value attainable
without flow separation.
toward the rear of the airfoil, various
pressure recovery schemes are
employed to prevent separation near the
trailing edge.
If the airplane is flying at just under the speed of sound, the faster air traveling over the
upper surface will reach supersonic speeds causing a shock to exist on the upper surface.
The speed at which supersonic flow first appears on the airfoil is called the critical Mach
number Mcrit.
LITTLE
CAMBER
HIGHLY
CAMBERED
DesignLiftCoefficient
The first consideration in initial airfoil selection is the design lift coefficient.
This is the lift coefficient at which the airfoil has the best (L/D).
cLmd
cDmd
tan max
cLmd
cDmd
L
D max
1 W
W L qScL qScl cl
q S
Wing lift
coefficient
q f (V , h) cl
Airfoil lift
coefficient
(First approximation)
Wing loading
can be calculated for the velocity and altitude of the design mission.
q h
cruise climb flight
maximum range
In actual practice, a design lift coefficient usually will be based upon past experience, and
for most types of aircraft typically will be around 0.5.
In fact, the initial selection of the airfoil is often simply based upon prior experience or
copied from some successfull design.
Stall
Stall characteristics play an important role in airfoil selection.
Some airfoils exhibit a gradual reduction in lift during a stall, whereas others show a violent
loss of lift, accompanied by a rapid change in pitching moment. This differerence reflects
the existance of three entirely different types of airfoil stall.
NACA4412versusNACA4421
BothNACA4412andNACA4421have
sameshapeofmeancamberline
Thin airfoil theory predict that linear
liftslopeandL=0shouldbethesame
forboth
Leadingedgestallshowsrapiddropof
liftcurvenearmaximumlift
Trailing edge stall shows gradual
bendingoverofliftcurveatmaximum
lift,softstall
High cl,max for airfoils with leading
edgestall
Thicknesshasmajoreffectoncl,max
The wing twist angle is introduced to prevent stall from occurring at the wing tip before than
the wing root.
Usually wings are 'washout' twisted, resulting in a decreasing angle of attack starting from
the root and towards the tip.
Precisely,thetwistangleistheanglebetweenthezeroliftlineoftheprofileinthecurrent
sectionandthezeroliftlineoftherootprofile.
Asthetwistangleincreasesalongthespan,theloweristhelocalangleofattackandthe
loweristheliftgenerated.Bythiswepreventthewingtipfromgeneratingasmuchliftas
thewingroot,whichmaycausethestalltooccurattheworstplacewe'dlikeittooccur,
theailerons.
Bywashouttwist,weobtaintomakestalloccuratthewingroot,withoutlostofailerons
control.
Boeing737
Root
MidSpan
Tip
AirfoilThicknessRatio
Airfoil thickness ratio has a direct effect on
drag,
maximum lift,
stall characteristics,
structural weight.
t / c cd
M cr
Supercritical Airfoils
Supercritical airfoils designed to delay and reduce transonic drag rise, due to both strong
normal shock and shock-induced boundary layer separation
SUPERCRITICALAIRFOILS
The thickness ratio affects the maximum lift and stall characteristics primarily by its
effectonthenoseshape.
Alargernoseradiusprovidesahigherstallangleandagreatermaximumliftcoefficient
(withhightARandmoderatesweep)(viseverseforlowAR).
NACA632XX,NACA63212;exampleofoptimumselection
NACA63212
cl,max
1
Structural weight
t/c
OtherAirfoilConsiderations
Another important aspect of airfoil selection is the intended Reynolds number.
Each airfoil is designed for a certain Reynolds number.
Use of an airfoil at a greately different Reynolds number (1/2 order) can produce section
characteristics much different from those expected.
This is important for the laminar-flow airfoils and is most crucial when an airfoil is operated
at a lower-than-design Reynolds number.
The laminar airfoils require extremely smooth skins.
An aircraft designer should not spend too much time trying to pick exactly the right
airfoil in early conceptual design.
Later trade studies and analytical design tools will determine the desired airfoil
characteristics and geometry.
For early conceptual layout, the selected airfoil is important mostly determining
the thickness available for structure, landing gear, and fuel.
For swept-wing supersonic aircraft, the NACA 64A and 65A sections are good airfoils for
initial design.
WingGeometry
Importantconsiderations/constraints:
Performance(cruise,loiter,takeoff,landing)
Flyingqualities(handlingandstability)
Structuralconsiderations(sparplacement)
Internalvolume(forfuel/payload)
Stealthcharacteristics(formilitarysubsonic)
Airportlimitations(wingspan)
WingPlanform
The reference wing is the basic wing geometry used to begin the layout.
Jenkinson
Planformarea:
Itistheareaofwingplanformobtainedbyextendingtheexposedwinguptothefuselage
centreline.
Reference(orEquivalent)wing:
It is a trapezoidal wing whose root chord is at the fuselage centre line and has the area
sameastheplanformarea.
Thereferencewingareaisfictitious:
wingareaincludesthepartofthereferencewingthatsticksintothefuselage.
3DEffect
C L
AR
C l
2
2
(C l / ) (C l / ) AR
ComparisonofaNACA65210airfoilliftcurvewiththatofawing
usingthesameairfoil(McCormick).
W/S,A,
knownparameters
S W /(W / S )
b AS
c root 2 S /[ b (1 )]
ctip c root
tan LE tan c / 4 [(1 ) / A (1 )]
AspectRatio
b
A
c
Aspectratioaffects
theslopeoftheliftcurveofwing(cL),
induceddrag(cDi),
structuralweightofthewing
thewingspan.
Nearthetipofthewing,thehighpressureairwillslip
aroundtoreachthetopofthewing.Thiscirculation
ofairaroundthetipcreatesavortexandalsopushes
downonthetopofthewing,spoilingliftandcreating
drag.
b2
A
S
TrailingVorticesProducingDownwash
Effectofaspectratioonslopeoftheliftcurve
Theslopeofliftcurveofanellipticwinginalow
subsonicflowisgivenas:
cL
A
cl
A 2
Forothertypesofwing,theCLwouldingeneral
beslightlylowerthanthatforellipticwing.
Theinduceddragcoefficientofasubsonicairplaneisgivenby:
c Di
c L2
(1 )
A
wheredependsonwinggeometryi.e.Aspectratio,taperratioandsweep.
A wing with a high aspect ratio will generate more lift and less induced drag than a
wingwithalowaspectratio.
Effectofaspectratioonstructuralweight:
0.4
Wwing CSW0.649 A0.5 (t / c) root
(1 ) 0.1 (cos( )) 1
Equationshowsthatthewingweightincreasesassquarerootoftheaspectratio.
Thereasonforthisisthatthespanincreasesastheaspectratioincreases(A=b2/S).
Anincreaseinthespanwouldincreasethebendingmomentatthewingroot.
Thiswouldrequirehighermomentofinertiaofthesparandhencehigherweight.
Effectofaspectratioonspan:
Forachosenwingarea,theaspectratiodeterminesthespanofthewing.Inturnthe
spandeterminesthehangerspaceneededfortheairplane.
Forpersonalairplanes,amoderateaspectratioof6to7isgenerallychosen.
Agriculturalandotherairplanes,whichflyinproximityofground,aresubjectedtoair
turbulenceandhavemoderateaspectratioof6to7.
Aspectratioalsohasadirectimpactonstallangle(andoverallliftcoefficientofthewing):
ForagivenRe,thewingwithhigherA(withlongwingspanandsmallchord)reacheshigher
lift coefficient, but stalls at a lower angle of attack than the wing with low A. This is one
reasonwhytailstendtobeofloweraspectratio.Conversely,acanardcanbemadetostall
beforethewingbymakingitaveryhighaspectratiosurface.Thispreventsthepilotfrom
stallingthewing.
However,foragivenwingarea,increasingtheaspectratiomayresultinatoosmallwing
chordwithatoolowReynoldsnumber,whichmaysignificantlyreducetheliftcoefficient.
In this design stage, the aspect ratio will be determined by a trade study in which the
aerodynamic advantages of a higher aspect ratio are balanced against the increased
weight.
Forinitialwinglayout,thevaluesandequationsprovidedinthetablecanbeused.
PropellerAircraft
Flyingboat
Equivalent
AspectRatio
8.0
JetAircraft
Jettransport
7.500
5.570
1.075
Twinturboprop
9.2
Militarycargo/bomber
Agriculturalaircraft
7.5
Jetfighter(other)
4.110
0.622
Generalaviationtwinengine
7.8
Jetfighter(dogfighter)
5.416
0.622
Generalaviationsingleengine
7.6
Jettrainer
4.737
0.979
Homebuilt
6.0
A aM
c
max
Mmax=Maximumflight
Machnumber
b2
ForSailplane: A
S
0.69
A 4.464( L / D) best
JetaircraftshowastrongtrendofaspectratiodecreasingwithincreasingMachnumber.
Thisisprobablyduetodragdueliftbecomingrelativelylessimportantathigherspeeds.
Designersofhighspeedaircraftthususeloweraspectratiowingstosaveweight.
WingSweep
Airfoilhassamethicknessbutlongereffectivechord,
Effectiveairfoilsectionisthinner,
MakingairfoilthinnerincreasescriticalMachnumber.
Thewingsweepaffects
slopeoftheliftcurve(cL),
induceddragcoefficient(cDi),
criticalMachnumber(Mcr),
wingweight
tipstalling.
Effectofsweeponslopeofliftcurve:
1 M ,
2
cL
cl
2 /
maxt=sweepofthelineofmaximumthickness,
Clistheslopeofliftcurveoftheairfoilusedon
wingatchosenflightMachnumber.
Intheabsenceofthisinformation,canbe
takenas1.
2A
2
tan
max t
A
2 4 2 1
2
2
CLdecreasesassweepincreases
A=8,M=0.8
CLdecreasebyabout25%when
sweepincreasesfrom00to350.
Effectofsweeponinduceddrag
Basedonexperimentaldataonsweptwing,induceddragofasweptwingisinversely
proportionaltocosineof(50).
1
cDi
, 75
0
cos( 5 )
AtM~0.6,severely
reducedL/D
Benefitofthisdesignisat
M>1,tosweepwings
insideMachcone.
WingsweepbeneficialinthatitincreasesdragdivergencesMachnumber
Increasingwingsweepreducestheliftcoefficient
EffectofsweeponcriticalMachnumber(Mcr)ordragdivergenceMachnumber(MDD):
The critical Mach number in connection with the airfoil was defined as the free stream
MachnumberatwhichthemaximumMachnumberontheairfoilisunity.
Thisquantitycanbeobtainedtheoreticallybycalculatingthepressuredistributiononthe
airfoil,butcannotbedeterminedexperimentally.
However when the critical Mach number is exceeded, the drag coefficient starts to
increase.
MakinguseofthisbehaviorwedefinethetermDragdivergenceMachnumber(MDD)as
the Mach number at which the drag coefficient shows an increase of 0.002 over the
subsonicdragvalue.
1 ( M DD )
1
1 ( M DD ) 0
90
DragdivergenceMachnumber
ofaSupercriticalairfoil
Remark:
As regards the effect of sweep on critical Mach number is concerned a sweep back or
sweepforwardhasthesameeffect.Howeverfromstructuralpointofviewasweptforward
winghaslowerflutterspeedandisseldomuse.
Effectofsweeponwingweight
0.4
Wwing CSW0.649 A0.5 (t / c) root
(1 ) 0.1 (cos( )) 1
Theweightofthewingisproportionalto(1/cos).
Thustheweightofthewingincreasesassweepincreases.
Remarks:
i)Thefinalchoiceofsweepwillbe
doneaftertradeoffstudies.
Followingcanbegivenas
guidelines.
Guidelinesforselectionofwingsweep
a)Higherthicknessattherootand
b) Spanwise center of pressure is brought slightly inboard which reduces the bending
momentattherootascomparedtothetrapezoidalwing.Thesetwoeffectstendtoreduce
the weight of wing structure. The thicker inboard section also provides room for
accommodatingthebackupstructureforthelandinggear.
Remarks:
sweepimproveslateralstability
dihedraleffect(rollduetosideslip)isproportionaltosin(2LE)
variablesweepcanbeusedascompromise
obviouspenaltyinweightandcomplexity
WhySweeptheWing?
Transonic(significant,3035)
Subsonic(usuallysmall)
DelaydragriseMach
Adjustwingaerocenterrelativetocg
Onflyingwing,getmomentarmlengthforcontrol
Wingsweepincreases
Supersonic(large,4570)
wingweightforfixedspan
Wingconceptchanges,
mustdistributeloadlongitudinallyaswellaslaterally
reducecrosssectionalareaandareavariation
WhyVariableSweep?
Sweptback:lowsupersonicdrag,good
onthedeckridequality
Unsweptposition:lowlandingspeed,
efficientloiter
Optimumsweepbackavailableovertransonic
speedrange
But:addsweight/complexity,currently
unfashionable
F14Tomcat
WhySweeptheWingForward?
Fortransonicmaneuver,strongshockisclosetotrailingedge,highlysweptTE
(shock)reducesdrag.
forwardsweptwingallowshighlysweptTE
equivalentstructuralARlessthanaftsweptwing
Synergisticwithcanard
Goodhighangleofattack(rootstall,aileronskeepworking)
But:
mustbebalancedatleast30%unstable
notstealthy
poorsupersonicvolumetricwavedrag
X29
TaperRatio()
Thetaperraioinfluences
Induceddrag
Structuralweight
Easeoffabrication
Effectoftaperratiooninduceddrag:
cL2
cD
(1 )
A
Itisknownthatanellipticwinghasthelowestinduceddrag(=0.0).
Howeverthisplanformshapeisdifficulttofabricate.
A rectangular wing is easy to fabricate but has about 7% higher CDias compared to the
ellipticwing(=0.07).Itisalsoheavierstructurally.
Anunsweptwing,withbetween0.3to0.5,hasaslightlypositivevalueof.
Furtherinataperedwing,thespanloadingisconcentratedintheinboard
portionsofthewingandtheairfoilattherootisthickerthannearthetip.
Thesefactorshelpinreducingthewingweight.
Tipstallingisalsonotaproblemwhenthetaperratioisbetween0.3and0.5.
Fromtheseconsiderations,
ataperratiobetween0.3and0.5iscommonforlowspeedairplanes.
Forsweptwings,ataperratioof0.2iscommonlyused.
Thiswouldnecessitatemeasuresforavoidingtipstalling.
Guidelinesfortaperratioofsweptwings
untaperedwingislessefficient
sweepcausesextraliftnearwingtip
effectisreducedbyadditionaltaper
Raymer,D.P.,AircraftDesign,2006
Effectoftaperonliftdistribution
Twist
Itisgiventopreventtipstalling.
Tipstalling:
Geometrictwist
Itisaphenomenoninwhichthestallingonthewingbeginsintheregionnearthewingtips.
Thisisbecausethedistributionoflocalliftcoefficient(Cl)isnotuniformalongthespanand
as the angle of attack of the wing increases, the stalling will begin at a location where the
localliftcoefficientexceedsthevalueofmaximumliftcoefficient(Clmax)there.
To appreciate this phenomenon let us consider an unswept tapered wing. The lift
distribution on such a wing has a maximum at the root and goes to zero at the tip. This
distributionisalsoknownasdistribution.
1
1
2
L V cl S V2 cl cy
2
2
Aerodynamictwist
Clisthelocalliftcoefficientoveranelement(y)ofspan.
ThusdistributionisproportionaltotheproductcCl.
Thelocalliftcoefficient(Cl)isproportional
to/candisnotuniformalongthespan.
SchrenksMethod
Fromthesedistributions,thevariationofCl
alongthespancanbecalculated.
Itcanbeshownthatforawingwithtaper
ratio,thelocalmaximumofClwilloccurat
aspanwiselocationwhere
y / b / 2 (1 )
TypicalDistributionofCl
It is known that the maximum lift coefficient (Clmax) of an airfoil depends on the airfoil
shape,surfaceroughnessandReynoldsnumber.
Forsimplicity,wecanassumethatClmaxisapproximatelyconstantalongthespan.
Subsequently,stallingwillprogressalongthewingspanandfinallythewingwillstall(i.e.CL
of wing will reach a maximum and then decrease). The beginning of stall near the tip is
undesirable as ailerons are located in tip region. Stalling there would reduce aileron
effectiveness.For a wing of a taper ratio 0.3, the stall is likely to begin around y/(b/2) of
0.7.
Remarks:
Inthecaseofsweptwings,thereisacrossflowalongthespanandthetendencyforthetip
stallisenhanced.
Tipstallingcanbepreventedifthesectionsinthetipregionhaveanglesofattacklowerthan
thoseattheroot.Inthiscase,thewingacquiresatwist.Thedifferencebetweentheangleof
attackoftheairfoilattherootandthatnearthetipiscalledtwistanddenotedby.Twistis
negativewhenairfoilnearthetipisatanangleofattacklowerthanthatattheroot.Thisis
alsocalledwashout.SometimesairfoilswithhigherClmaxareusednearthetip.Thusairfoils
attherootandnearthetipmayhaveadifferentvaluesofangleofzerolift(0l).Thisleadsto
twodifferentkindsoftwistsgeometrictwistandaerodynamictwist.
Geometrictwististheanglebetweenthechordsoftheairfoilsattherootandnearthetip.
Aerodynamictwististheanglebetweenthezeroliftlinesattherootandthatnearthetip.
Tocompletelyeliminatetheoccurrenceoftipstalling,mayrequirecomplexvariationofthe
angleoftwist.Howeverforeaseoffabrication,lineartwistisgivenin
whichtheangleoftwistvarieslinearlyalongthespan.
i)ActualvalueoftwistcanbeobtainedbycalculatingCldistributiononuntwistedwingand
then varying the twist such that tipstalling is avoided. A value of 30 can be used as an
initialestimate.
ii)Earlysweptwingairplaneshadthefollowing
featurestoavoidtipstalling.
(a) Vortexgenerators,
(b) Fencesontopsurface.
WingIncidence
The mean aerodynamic chord is the
reference line on the wing. Fuselage
reference line (FRL) is the reference
linefortheentireairplane.
Thewingincidenceisgivenforthefollowingreason.
Fortheeconomyinfuelconsumption,thedragshouldbeminimumduringthecruise.The
fuselagehasaminimumdragwhenitsangleofattackiszero.
However,duringcruise,thewingshouldproducesufficientlifttosupporttheweightofthe
airplane. Keeping these factors in view, the wing is mounted on the fuselage in such a
mannerthatitproducesrequiredamountofliftincruisewhilethefuselageisatzeroangle
ofattack.
Duringthepreliminarydesignphase,iwcanbeobtainedasfollows.
a) ObtainCLdesigncorrespondingtocruiseoranyotherdesignconditioni.e.
W
cL design
whereandVcorrespondtothe
1
V 2 S designflightconditions
2
b) ObtainCLforthewing.
c) Obtain zero lift angle (0L ) for wing. This depends on 0l of the airfoil used on the
wingandthewingtwist.
d) Calculateiwfromthefollowingequation:
cL design cL (iw 0L )
Remark:
Thefinalchoiceofiwmaybearrivedatfromwindtunneltestsontheairplanemodel.
Forpreliminarydesignpurposes
Airplanetype
Wingincedenceangle
Suggestedwing
incidenceangle
Generalaviation/homebuilt
20
Transport
10
Military
00
Dihedral()
Dihedralangleistheanglethatthewingsform
withrespecttothehorizonwhenviewedfrom
thefront.
Itsvalueisdecidedafterthelateraldynamicstabilitycalculationshavebeencarriedoutfor
theairplane.
Forpreliminarydesignpurposes.
Suggesteddihedralangle
[0]
WingLocation
Airplanetype
Low
Mid
High
Unswept(civil)
5to7
2to4
0to2
Subsonicswept
3to7
2to2
5to2
Supersonicswept
0to5
5to0
5to0
Dihedralhelpstomaintainaircraftrollstability:
A positive dihedral, wingtips angled up, tends to bring an aircraft back to level when it is
banked.Thecounterrollingmomentiscausedbyasideslipthatresultsfromthebankingof
theaircraft.
Thecraftwilltendtoslidetowardtheloweredwing,whichwillincreasethatwingsangle
ofattack,therebyincreasingitslift.Sincethereisanunbalancedlift,theaircraftwilltendto
berighted.
Dihedralmustbecarefullycalculated,becauseanexcessofdihedralcomeswithapenalty.
Excessive dihedral can lead to an oscillatory disturbance in motion known as a Dutch roll.
Dutchrollisarepeatedsidetosideoscillationthatisaresultofbothyawingandrolling.Such
aphenomenoncanbedisastrousforacraft,butcanbecounteredbyincreasingverticaltail
area.
This,inturn,willresultinanincreaseinboththeweightanddragoftheaircraft.
Therefore,tailsizeanddihedralmustbeconsideredtogethertoachievetheoptimaldesign
forstability,weight,anddragconcerns.
WingVerticalLocation
Therearethreechoicesforthelocationofthewingonthefuselagenamely
highwing,
midwing,
lowwing.
LowWingconfiguration
Advantages:
i.Landinggearcanbelocatedinthewingtherebyavoidingpodsonthefuselageandhence
lower drag. However to provide adequate ground clearance, the fuselage has to be at a
higherlevelascomparedtothehighwingconfiguration.
ii.Wingstructurecanbethroughthefuselage.
Disadvantages:
i.Lowgroundclearance.
ii. A lowwing configuration has unstable contribution to the directional stability. Hence a
largerverticaltailareaisneeded.
MidWingconfiguration
Advantages:
i.Lowerdrag.
ii.Advantagesofgroundclearanceasinthehighwingconfiguration.
iii.Noblockageofvisibility.Henceusedonsomemilitaryairplanes.
Disadvantages:
i.Wingrootstructurepassingthroughthefuselageisnotpossible,whichleadstohigher
weight.HoweverinHFBHansaairplane,asweptforwardmidwingislocatedbehindthe
passengercabinandhascarrythroughstructure.
Lowwing
Midwing
Highwing
Parasolwing
HighWingconfiguration:
Advantages:
i) Allows placing fuselage closer to ground, thus allowing loading and unloading without
specialgroundhandlingequipment.(goodforcargohandling)
ii)Jetengines&propellerhavesufficientgroundclearancewithoutexcessivelandinggear
lengthleadingtolowerlandinggearweight.
iii)Forlowspeedairplanes,weightsavingcanbeeffectedbystrutbracedwing.
iv) For short take off and landing (STOL) airplanes with high wing configuration have
followingspecificadvantages.(a)Largewingflapscanbeused(b)Enginesareawayfrom
the ground and hence ingestion of debris rising from unprepared runways is avoided (c)
Preventsfloatingofwingduetogroundeffectwhichmayoccurforlowwingconfiguration.
Disadvantages:
i)Fuselagegenerallyhousesthelandinggearinspecialpodsleadingtohigherweightand
drag.
ii)Pilotsvisibilitymaybeblockedinaturn.
WingTips
Wingtipshapeaffects
theaircraftwettedarea,butonlytoasmallextent.
thetipvortices.
Most of the new lowdrag wing tips use some form of sharp
edge.
Winglets
wetted area increase vs reduced drag
structural weight added at tip
BiplaneWings
Each wing contributes one-half of the required lift
induced drag reduced by factor of 2!
but parasite drag (c D0) will go up
wing interference reduces benefit
wing #1 wing #2
assumewings
shareliftequally
induceddrag
reducedby1/2!
Biplanesarestillworthconsideringif:
spanislimitedbutwingareaisneededforlowspeedflight
highrollratesareneeded(aerobatics)
Meanaerodynamicchordfortheairplaneisdefinedbytheweighted
averageoftheaerodynamicchordsforeachwing
weightssetbyareaofeachwing
TailGeometryandArrangement
TailFunctions
Tails are little wings. Much of the previous discussion concerning wings can also be
appliedtotailsurface.
The major difference between a wing and a tail is that, while the wing is designed to
routinelycarryasubstantialamountoflift,atailisdesignedtooperatenormallyatonlya
fraction of its lift potential. Any time in flight that a tail comes close to its maximum lift
potential,andhenceitsstallangle,somethingisverywrong.
Tailsprovidefortrim,stability,andcontrol.Trimreferstothegenerationofaliftforcethat,
by acting through some other moment arm about the center of gravity, balances some
othermoementproducedbytheaircraft.
Forthehorizontaltail,trimprimarilyreferstothebalancingofthemomentcreatedbythe
wing. An aft horizontal tail typically has a negative incidence angle of about 20 30 to
balancethewingpitchingmoment.
Forverticaltail,mostaircraftareleftrightsymmetric,and
so unbalanced aerodynamic yawing moments requiring
trimarenotcreatedduringnormalflight.
Themajorfunctionofthetailiscontroloftheaircraft.
Propeller aircraft experience a yawing moment called peffect, which has several thrust
relatedcauses.Whenthediskofthepropellerisatanangle,suchasduringclimb,theblade
goingdownwardhasahigherangleofattackandisalsoataslightlyhigherforwardvelocity.
This condition produces higher thrust on the downwardmoving side and hence a yawing
moment away from that side. Also, the propeller tends to drag the air into a rotational
corkscrewmotion.Theverticaltailispushedonsidewaysbytherotatingpropwashcausing
a yawing moment, which adds to the peffect. To counter peffect many singleengine
propellerairplaneshavetheverticaltailoffsetseveraldegress.
Theverticaltailsofmultiengineaircraftmustbecapableofprovidingsufficienttriminthe
eventofanenginefailure.Thisproducesyawingbothfromlackofthrustononesideand
the extra drag of the stopped or windmilling engine. Some multiengine aircraft have
counterrotatingpropellerstominimizetheengineoutyawing.
Thetailsarealsoakeyelementofstability,actingmuchlikethefinsonanarrowtorestore
the aircraft from an upset in pitch or yaw. The vertical stabilizer acts like the tail of a
weathercock.
Theactionofthehorizontalstabilizerismuchmorecomplex,andinvolvesadelicatebalance
ofthepitchingmomentduetothelocationofthewingcenterofliftrelativetothecenterof
gravity,theinherentpitchingmomentofthewing,thepitchingmomentgeneratedbythe
horizontalstabilizer,andthewaythesemomentschangewithangleofattack.
TailArrangement
Afttailpositioning
cruciform
tripletail
The Htail serves to hide the hot engine nozzle from heatseeking missiles
whenviewedfromanangleofftherearoftheaircraft.
Htails and and the related Tripletails have also been used to lower the tail
heighttoallowanaircrafttofitintoexistinghangars.
Twin tails on the fuselage can position the rudders away from the aircraft
centerline, which may become blanketed by the wing or forward fuselage at
high angles of attack. Also, twin tails have been used simply to reduce the
height required with single tail. Twin tails are usually heavier than an equal
areacenterlinemountedsingletail,butareoftenmoreeffective.Twintailsare
seenonmostlargemodernfighters.
The Vtail is intended to reduce wetted area .The horizontal and vertical tail
forcesaretheresultofhorizontalandveticalprojectionsoftheforceexerted
upon the V surfaces. The tail dihedral angle would be found as the
arctangentoftheratioofrequiredverticalandhorizontalareas.Theresulting
wetted area would be clearly be less. Vtails offer reduced interference drag
but at some penalty in controlactuation complexity, as the rudder and
elevator control inputs must be blended in a mixer to provide the proper
movementoftheVtailruddervators.
When the right rudder pedal of a Vtail aircraft is pressed, the right
ruddervatordeflectsdownward,andtheleftruddervatordeflectsupward.The
combined forces push the tail to the left, so the nose goes to the right as
desired.However,theruddervatorsalsoproducearollingmomenttowardthe
leftinoppositiontothedesireddirectionofturnanactioncalledadverseroll
yawcoupling
Theringtailconceptattemptstoprovidealltailcontributionsviaanairfoil
sectionedringattachedtotheaftfuselage,usuallydoublingasapropeller
shroud.Whileconceptuallyappealing,theringtailhasproveninadequate
inapplication.
TailArrangementforSpinRecovery
Theverticaltailplaysakeyroleinspinrecovery.Anaircraftinaspinis
essentiallyfallingverticallyandrotatingaboutaverticalaxis,withthe
insidewingfullystalled.Theaircraftisalsotypicallyatalargesideslip
angle. To recover from the spin requires that the wing will be
unstalled,sotheangleofattackmustbereduced.However,firstthe
rotation must be stooped and the sideslip angle reduced, or the
aircraft will immediately enter another spin. This requires adequate
ruddercontrolevenatthehighanglesofattackseeninthespin.
The effect of tail
arrangement
upon
rudder control at high
angles of attack: At high
angle of attack the
horizontal tail is stalled,
producing a turbulent
wake extending upward
atapproximately450.
Unblankated
portion
Moving of the
horizontal tail aft
with respect to
theverticaltail.
The use of dorsal fin improves tail
effectivenessathighanglesofsideslip
by creating a vortex that attaches to
theverticaltail.Thistendstoprevent
the high angles of sideslip seen in
spins,andaugmentsruddercontrolin
thespin.Theventraltailalsotendsto
prevent high sideslip, and has the
extra advantage of being where it
cannot be blankated by the wing
wake. Ventral tails are also used to
avoid lateral instability in highspeed
flight.
TailGeometry
Thesurfaceareasrequiredforalltypesoftailsaredirectlyproportionaltotheaircraftswing
area, so the tail areas can not be selected until the initial estimate of aircraft takeoff gross
weight has been made. The initial estimation of tail area is made using the tail volume
coefficientmethod.
Othergeometricparametersforthetailscanbeselected:
Tailaspectratioandtaperratioshowlittlevariationoverawiderangeofaircrafttypes.
Tailaspectratioandtaperratio.(Raymer)
Horizontaltail
A
Verticaltail
A
Fighter
34
Sailplane
Others
35
Ttail
0.71.2 0.61.0
Somegeneralaviationaircraftuse
untaperedhorizontaltails(=1.0)
toreducemanufacturingcosts.
Leadingedgesweepofthehorizontaltailisusuallysettoabout50morethanthewingsweep.
Thistendstomakethetailstallafterthewing,andalsoprovidesthetailwithahigherMcrthan
thewing,whichavoidslossofelevatoreffectivenessduetoshockformation.
Forlowspeedaircraft,thehorizontaltailsweepisfrequentlysettoprovideastraighthinge
line for the elevator, which usually has the left and right sides connected to reduce flutter
tendencies.
Verticaltailsweepvariesbetween350and550.Foralowspeedaircraft,thereislittlereason
for verticaltail sweep beyond about 200 other than asthetics. For a highspeed aircraft,
verticaltailsweepisusedprimarilytoensurethatthetailsMcrishigherthanthewings.
Theexactplanformofthetailsurfacesisactuallynotverycriticalintheearlystagesofthe
design process. The tail geometries are revised during later analytical and windtunnel
studies.Forconceptualdesign,itisusuallyacceptablesimplytodrawtailsurfacesthtlook
right,baseduponpriorexperienceandsimilardesigns.
Tail thickness ratio is usually similar to the wing thickness ratio, as determined by the
historical guidelines provided in the winggeometry section. For a highspeed aircraft, the
horizontal tail is frequently about 10% thinner than the wing to ensure that the tail has a
higherMcr.
Airbus380
Airbus300
Krgerflaps
SpoilersAirbrakes
Threeslotted
innerflaps
HighSpeedAileron
Flaptrack
fairing
Spoilers
Threeslotted
outerflaps
LowSpeed
Aileron
Slats
Wingtip
Threeslottedinnerflaps
Flaptrackfairing
SpoilersAirbrakes
HighSpeedAileron
Threeslottedouterflaps
Spoilers
LowSpeedAileron
Krgerflaps
Slats
Wingtip
Plainflap:therearportionofairfoilrotatesdownwardsonasimplehingemountedat
thefrontoftheflap.[2]Usedinthisformasearlyas1917(duringWorldWarI)onthe
widelyproducedBreguet14andpossiblyearlieronexperimentaltypes.[3]Duetothe
greaterefficiencyofotherflaptypes,theplainflapisnormallyonlyusedwhere
simplicityisrequired.Amodernvariationontheplainflapexploitstheabilityof
compositestobedesignedtoberigidinonedirection,whileflexibleinanother.When
suchamaterialformstheskinofthewing,itscambercanbealteredbythegeometryof
theinternalsupportingstructure,allowingsuchasurfacetobeusedeitherasaflapor
asanaileron.Whilemostcurrentlyuseacomplexsystemofmotorsandactuators,the
simplestsuchinstallationusesribsthatresemblebentcarrotswhenthebendisnearly
horizontal,thereisnodeflection,butwhenthecarrotisrotatedsothebendis
downward,thecamberoftheairfoilischangedinthesamemannerasonaplain
flap.[citationneeded]
Splitflap:therearportionofthelowersurfaceoftheairfoilhingesdownwardsfromtheleadingedgeoftheflap,
whiletheuppersurfacestaysimmobile.[4]Liketheplainflap,thiscancauselargechangesinlongitudinaltrim,
pitchingthenoseeitherdownorup,andtendstoproducemoredragthanlift.Atfulldeflection,asplitflapsacts
muchlikeaspoiler,producinglotsofdragandlittleornolift.ItwasinventedbyOrvilleWrightandJamesM.H.
Jacobsin1920butonlybecamecommoninthe1930sandwasthenquicklysuperseded.TheDouglasDC3&C47
usedasplitflap.
Slottedflap:agapbetweentheflapandthewingforceshighpressureairfrombelowthewingovertheflap
helpingtheairflowremainattachedtotheflap,increasingliftcomparedtoasplitflap.[5]Additionally,liftacross
theentirechordoftheprimaryairfoilisgreatlyincreasedasthevelocityofairleavingitstrailingedgeisraised,
fromthetypicalnonflap80%offreestream,tothatofthehigherspeed,lowerpressureairflowingaroundthe
leadingedgeoftheslottedflap.[6]Anyflapthatallowsairtopassbetweenthewingandtheflapisconsidereda
slottedflap.TheslottedflapwasaresultofresearchatHandleyPage,avariantoftheslotanddatesfromthe
1920sbutwasn'twidelyuseduntilmuchlater.Someflapsusemultipleslotstofurtherboosttheeffect.
Fowlerflap:splitflapthatslidesbackwardflat,beforehingingdownward,therebyincreasingfirstchord,then
camber.[7]Theflapmayformpartoftheuppersurfaceofthewing,likeaplainflap,oritmaynot,likeasplitflap
butitmustsliderearwardbeforelowering.Itmayprovidesomesloteffectbutthisisnotadefiningfeatureofthe
type.[8]InventedbyHarlanD.Fowlerin1924,andtestedbyFredWeickatNACAin1932.Theywerefirstusedon
theMartin146prototypein1935,andinproductiononthe1937LockheedElectra,[9]andisstillinwidespreaduse
onmodernaircraft,oftenwithmultipleslots.Asmentionedundertheplainflaps,variablegeometrywingsare
makingacomeback,andaGeneralDynamicsF111Aardvarkwasmodifiedwithsuchasystemthatactedasfowler
flapsbyNASAfortrialsontheAFTI/F111MissionAdaptiveWing.
JunkersFlap:aslottedplainflapwheretheflapisfixedbelowthetrailingedgeofthewing,rotatingaboutitsforward
edge.[10]Whennotinuse,ithasmoredragthanothertypesbutismoreeffectiveatcreatingadditionalliftthanaplain
orsplitflap,whileretainingtheirmechanicalsimplicity.InventedbyO.MaderatJunkersinthelate1920s,itwaswidely
usedontheJunkersJu52,thoughitcanbefoundonmanymodernultralights.
Gougeflap:atypeofsplitflapthatslidesbackwardalongcurvedtracksthatforcethetrailingedgedownward,
increasingchordandcamberwithoutaffectingtrimorrequiringanyadditionalmechanisms.[11]Itwasinventedby
ArthurGougeforShortBrothersin1936andusedontheShortEmpireandSunderlandflyingboatswhichusedthevery
thickShortsA.D.5airfoil.ShortBrothersmayhavebeentheonlycompanytousethistype.
FaireyYoungmanflap:dropsdown(becomingaJunkersFlap)beforeslidingaftandthenrotatingupordown.Fairey
wasoneofthefewexponentsofthisdesign,whichwasusedontheFaireyFireflyandFaireyBarracuda.Wheninthe
extendedposition,itcouldbeangledup(toanegativeangleofincidence)sothattheaircraftcouldbedivedvertically
withoutneedingexcessivetrimchanges.
ZapFlaporcommonlybutincorrectlyZappFlap:InventedbyEdwardF.ZaparkawhilehewaswithBerliner/Joyceand
testedonaGeneralAircraftCorporationAristocratin1932andonothertypesperiodicallythereafter,butitsawlittle
useonproductionaircraftotherthanontheNorthropP61BlackWidow.Theleadingedgeoftheflapismountedona
track,whileapointatmidchordontheflapisconnectedviaanarmtoapivotjustabovethetrack.Whentheflap's
leadingedgemovesaftalongthetrack,thetriangleformedbythetrack,theshaftandthesurfaceoftheflap(fixedat
thepivot)getsnarroweranddeeper,forcingtheflapdown.[12]
Kruegerflap:hingedflapwhichfoldsoutfromunderthewing'sleadingedgewhilenotformingapartoftheleading
edgeofthewingwhenretracted.Thisincreasesthecamberandthicknessofthewing,whichinturnincreasesliftand
drag.[13][14]Thisisnotthesameasaleadingedgedroopflap,asthatisformedfromtheentireleadingedge.[15]
InventedbyWernerKrgerin1943andevaluatedinGoettingen,[16]Kruegerflapsarefoundonmanymodernswept
wingairliners.
Gurneyflap:Asmallfixedperpendiculartabofbetween1and2%ofthewingchord,mountedonthehighpressure
sideofthetrailingedgeofanairfoil.ItwasnamedforracingcardriverDanGurneywhorediscovereditin1971,buthas
sinceusedonsomehelicopterssuchastheSikorskyS76Btocorrectcontrolproblemswithouthavingtoresorttoa
majorredesign.Itbooststheefficiencyofevenbasictheoreticalairfoils(madeupofatriangleandacircleoverlapped)
Leadingedgedroop:entireleadingedgeofthewingrotatingdownward,[17]effectivelyincreasingcamberbut
slightlyreducingchord.Mostcommonlyfoundonfighterswithverythinwingsunsuitedtootherleadingedgehigh
liftdevices.
Blownflaps:alsoknownasBoundaryLayerControlSystems,aresystemsthatblowengineairovertheupper
surfaceofanyofthepreviouslymentionedtypesofflaptoimproveliftcharacteristics.Twotypesexisttheoriginal
typeblewairoutofchannelsorholesinthesurfaceoftheflap,whilenewersystemssimplyblowengineexhaust
overthetopoftheflap.Theserequireamplereservesofpowerandaremaintenanceintensivethuslimitingtheir
usebuttheyprovidelotsofliftatlowairspeeds.AlthoughinventedbytheBritish,thefirstproductionaircraftwith
blownflapswastheLockheedF104Starfighter.ThelatertypewastrialledontheBoeingYC14in1976.
Controlsthatlooklikeflapsbutarenot:
HandleyPageleadingedgeslats/slotsmaybeconfusedforflapsbutaremountedonthetopofthewings'
leadingedgeandwhiletheymaybeeitherfixedorretractable,whendeployedtheyprovideaslotorgapunderthe
slattoforceairagainstthetopofthewingwhichisabsentonaKruegerflap.Theyofferexcellentliftandenhance
controllabilityatlowspeeds.Othertypesofflapsmaybeequippedwithoneormoreslotstoincreasetheir
effectiveness,atypicalsetuponmanymodernairliners.Theseareknownasslottedflapsasdescribedabove.
FrederickHandleyPageexperimentedwithforeandaftslotdesignsinthe20sand30s.
Spoilersmayalsobeconfusedforflapsbutareintendedsolelytocreatedragandnotlift.Aspoilerismuch
largerthanaGurneyflap,andcanberetracted.
Aileronsaresimilartoflaps(andworkthesameway)butareintendedtoprovidelateralcontrol,ratherthanto
changetheliftingcharacteristicsofbothwingstogether,andsooperatedifferentiallywhenanailerononone
wingincreasesthelift,theoppositeailerondoesnot,andwilloftenworktodecreaselift.Someaircraftuse
flaperons,whichcombineboththefunctionalityofflapsandaileronsinasinglecontrol,workingtogetherto
increaselift,buttoslightlydifferentdegreessotheaircraftwillrolltowardthesidegeneratingtheleastlift.
FlaperonswereusedbytheFaireyAviationCompanyasearlyas1916butdidn'tbecomecommonuntilafterWorld
WarII.