The Effect of Streamlining the Afterbody of an N.A.C.A. Cowling

The drag and the power cost associated with the changing of the nose of a nacelle from a streamline shape to a conventional N.A.C.A. cowling shape was investigated in the N.A.C.A. 20-foot tunnel. Full-scale propellers and nacelles were used. The increment of drag associated with the change of nose shapes was found to be critically dependent on the afterbody of the nacelle. Two streamline afterbodies were tested. The results fo the tests with the more streamlined afterbody showed that the added drag due to the open-nose cowling was only one-fourth of the drag increase obtained with the other afterbody. The results of this research indicate that the power cost, in excess of that with a streamline nose, of using an N.A.C.A. cowling in front of a well-designed afterbody to enclose a 1,500-horsepower engine in an airplane with a speed of 300 miles per hour amounts to 1.5 percent of the engine power. If the open-nose cowling is credited with 1 percent because it cools the front of the cylinders, the non-useful power cost amounts to only 0.5 percent of the engine power.