Hybrid laminar flow control tests in the Boeing Research Wind Tunnel

The hybrid laminar flow control (HLFC) concept has undergone wind tunnel testing at near full-scale Reynolds number on an infinite wing of 30-deg sweep on which boundary-layer suction was furnished over the first 20 percent of chord of the upper surface. Depending on the external pressure distribution, the HLFC extended the laminarity of the boundary layer as far back as 45 percent of chord; this corresponds to a transition Reynolds number of about 11 million. The maximum chordwise extent of laminar run was found to be insensitive to the suction level over a wide range.