The Langley Annular Transonic Tunnel

Report describes the development of the Langley annular transonic tunnel, a facility in which test Mach numbers from 0.6 to slightly over 1.0 are achieved by rotating the test model in an annular passage between two concentric cylinders. Data obtained for two-dimensional airfoil models in the Langley annular transonic tunnel at subsonic and sonic speeds are shown to be in reasonable agreement with experimental data from other sources and with theory when comparisons are made for nonlifting conditions or for equal normal-force coefficients rather than for equal angles of attack. The trends of pressure distributions obtained from measurements in the Langley annular transonic tunnel are consistent with distributions calculated for Prandtl-Meyer flow.