Applied aerodynamics: Challenges and expectations

Aerospace is the leading positive contributor to this country's balance of trade, derived largely from the sale of U.S. commercial aircraft around the world. This powerfully favorable economic situation is being threatened in two ways: (1) the U.S. portion of the commercial transport market is decreasing, even though the worldwide market is projected to increase substantially; and (2) expenditures are decreasing for military aircraft, which often serve as proving grounds for advanced aircraft technology. To retain a major share of the world market for commercial aircraft and continue to provide military aircraft with unsurpassed performance, the U.S. aerospace industry faces many technological challenges. The field of applied aerodynamics is necessarily a major contributor to efforts aimed at meeting these technological challenges. A number of emerging research results that will provide new opportunities for applied aerodynamicists are discussed. Some of these have great potential for maintaining the high value of contributions from applied aerodynamics in the relatively near future. Over time, however, the value of these contributions will diminish greatly unless substantial investments continue to be made in basic and applied research efforts. The focus: to increase understanding of fluid dynamic phenomena, identify new aerodynamic concepts, and provide validated advanced technology for future aircraft.