INVESTIGATION OF THE STATIC STABILITY CHARACTERISTICS OF TWO STAGES OF A THREE-STAGE MISSILE AT A MACH NUMBER OF 4.00

摘要

An investigation has been conducted in the Langley Unitary Plan wind tunnel to determine the aerodynamic characteristics of two stages of the l/7-scale Trailblazer II configuration. Included in this investigation was the determination of the effect of fin cant, fin size, and length of stage coupling. Test6 were performed at a Mach number of 4.00 and a Reynolds number of 13.26 X 106 based on model length. The angle-of-attack range was from about -5° to 5° and angle of sideslip was varied from approximately -4° to 4°.nThe results showed that the configuration is longitudinally and directionally stable with either of the two sets of fins. Canting each of the vertical fins 2° leads to an incremental rolling-moment coefficient of about 0.30 to 0.35 at angles of attack from -4° to 4°. Increasing stage-coupling length leads to decreases in both longi¬tudinal and lateral stability;however, if the center of gravity of the configuration is moved forward with this change, it is believed there would be little or no effect of the variable on the stability characteristics of the configuration.