Wind-Tunnel Investigation of Some Effects of Wing Sweep and Horizontal-Tail Height on the Static Stability of an Airplane Model at Transonic Speeds

A research model of an airplane with a configuration suitable for supersonic flight was tested at transonic speeds in order to establish the effects on longitudinal and lateral stability of certain changes in both wing sweep and height of the horizontal tail. Two wings of aspect ratio 3 and taper ratio 0.15, one having the quarter-chord line swept back 30 deg and the other 45 deg, were each tested with the horizontal tail of the model in a low and in a high position. One configuration was also tested with fuselage strakes. The tests were made at Mach numbers from 0.60 to 1.17 and Reynolds numbers from 1.9 x 10(exp 6) to 2.6 x 10(exp 6). The results indicated that a low horizontal-tail position (below the wing-chord plane) gave positive longitudinal stability for the model for all angles of attack used (angles of attack up to 24 deg); whereas, a higher tail position (above the wing-chord plane) resulted in a large reduction in stability at moderate angles of attack. With the higher horizontal tail, the 30 deg-swept-wing model had somewhat more stability than the 45 deg-swept-wing model at subsonic Mach numbers. With the lower tail, the 45 deg-swept-wing model had slightly more stability at all Mach numbers. The model with the 30 deg swept wing had greater directional stability with the tail in the higher rather than the lower position, but the opposite was true for the 45 deg-swept-wing model. The directional stability decreased sharply at high angles of attack; this characteristic was alleviated by the use of fuselage strakes which, however, proved to be detrimental to the longitudinal stability of the model tested.