The Design of Tailless Airplanes

Author: Dore, Frank John

Year: 1947

Degree: Engineer's thesis

Advisor: Unknown, Unknown

Committee Member: Unknown, Unknown

Option: Aeronautics

DOI: 10.7907/0RZ6-EV10

Abstract

This paper reviews the various sources of information pertaining to the design of tailless airplanes. The particular topic of any report or memorandum is illustrated by its application to the problems encountered in the design of a given airplane. The subjects mentioned are the determination of the sweepback angle, aspect ratio, taper ratio, twist, dihedral, airfoil section, spanwise loading, and aerodynamic center of the wing; the control elements; and the fuselage and fillet for high speed aircraft.

To illustrate the application of the source material the design of a tailless supersonic airplane is considered. The slow speed wind tunnel tests of the 1/12-scale model are included in the report.

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