Unsteady features of jets in lift and cruise modes for VTOL aircraft

Experiments were performed to simulate jet plume effects associated with VTOL aircraft in takeoff and cruise modes. A water facility was used to investigate the influence of inclination angle and separation distance on the three-dimensional fountain flowfield generated by two impinging jets operating at a jet Reynolds number of 250,000. Substantial differences in the flow features were observed for different spacings between the jets. Plume effects in cruise mode were simulated by a supersonic unheated jet parallel to a wall. Variation of the distance between the wall and the edge of the plume is shown to have a major controlling effect on the supersonic screech instability.