Development of wing and tail configurations for low altitude unmanned research aircraft (LAURA)

The Low Altitude/Airspeed Unmanned Research Aircraft (LAURA) is being developed by the U.S. Navy for flight test research using low-Reynolds number airfoils. This vehicle consists of a standard modular fuselage designed to accept the installation of several wings/tails having low Reynolds number airfoils, and various planform shapes. Design constraints include shipboard storage, long flight endurance at very low airspeeds and sea-skimming cruise altitude. The stringent design constraints require the development of high-performance low Reynolds number (LRN) airfoils, suitable lifting surface configuration, and advanced airframe-propulsion systems. The present paper describes ongoing efforts to develop wing and tail configurations for LAURA using airfoils designed at NASA Langley Research Center.