Effect of Ground Proximity on Aerodynamic Characteristics of Two Horizontal-Attitude Jet Vertical-Take-Off-and-Landing Airplane Models

An investigation has been made to study the effect of ground proximity on the aerodynamic characteristics of two jet vertical-take-off-and-landing airplane models in which the fuselage remains in a horizontal attitude for the take-off and landing. The first model (called the tilt-wing model) had a tilting wing-engine assembly which was set at 90 deg incidence for the take-off and landing. The second model, called the deflected-jet model) had a cascade of retractable turning vanes to deflect the exhaust of the horizontally mounted jet engines downward for vertical take-off and landing while the entire model remained in a horizontal attitude. With the models at various heights above the ground in the take-off and landing configuration, the lift, drag, and pitching moment were measured and tuft surveys were made to determine the flow field caused by the jet exhaust. The tilt-wing model experienced a loss of lift of less than 3 percent near the ground. The deflected-jet model, however, suffered losses in lift as high as 45 percent near the ground because of a low pressure region under the model caused by the entrainment of air by the jet exhaust as it spread out along the ground. This loss in lift for the deflected-jet configuration could probably be reduced to less than 5 percent by the use of a longer landing gear and a high wing location.