Aerodynamic characteristics of two general aviation canard configurations at high angles of attack

The results of wind tunnel tests of two propeller driven canard general aviation aircraft models at high angles of attack are reported. Both tractor and pusher prop configurations were examined. Angles of attack of -6 to 40 deg were used with the pusher model at Re of 1,600,000, and from -30 to 90 deg and Re of 550,000 for the tractor model. The tests showed that the canard would stall long before the wing and produce a nose-down tendency, thus effectively keeping the aircraft out of the stall regime. However, a sequence of pilot actions or design factors such as the airfoils, relative geometry of the canard and wing, the propeller location and the center of gravity location could introduce a wide variance in stall characteristics from one aircraft to another.