MAE 3241 Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics

Assigned: Apr 1, 2015

Homework #6
Due: Apr 8, 2015
Submit your answers to all questions below. Show your working steps in sufficient details.
1.

(20 pts.)
A NACA 23012 airfoil is put at an angle of attack of 4o in a uniform stream. The low speed
23012 airfoil data is given in the Appendix of this homework set.
a. If the free-stream Mach number is 0.5, calculate its lift coefficient and moment coefficient
about the quarter-chord point.
b. When the airfoil is set at a specific angle of attack and the free-stream Mach number is
increased to 0.6, its lift coefficient is found to be 1.0. What is the new angle of attack of
the airfoil?

2. (15 pts.)
The critical Mach number of a two-dimensional straight rectangular wing having a NACA
23012 airfoil is 0.67.
a. Estimate the lift-curve slope of this wing right at its critical Mach number.
Hint: NACA 23012 airfoil has 12% thickness-to-chord ratio, so it can still be considered
as a thin airfoil.
b. What should be the leading-edge sweep angle of the wing to have a critical Mach number
of 0.9?
3. (20 pts.)
A thin flat plate is put in a Mach 2.6 inviscid freestream at an angle of attack of 5 o. Using the
results of linearized theory,
a. determine the pressure coefficients on the top and bottom surfaces of the flat plate.
b. calculate its lift and wave-drag coefficients.
c. determine the value of lift-to-drag ratio as a function of angle of attack. Also determine the
value of the maximum lift-to-drag ratio and the angle of attack at which it occurs.
4. (25 pts.)
A diamond-wedge airfoil as shown in the figure below possesses a half-angle = 5o. The airfoil
is set at an angle of attack of 15o to a Mach 2 freestream.
a. Using linear theory, calculate the lift and wave-drag coefficients of the airfoil.
b. Indicate the percentage differences from your results in part a. if you obtain the coefficients
by approximating the airfoil as a flat plate. From the nature of the airfoil, is flat plate
approximation a good quick way to estimate the lift and wave-drag coefficients? Explain
briefly why.

5. (20 pts.)
The wing area of the Lockheed F-104 straight-wing supersonic fighter airplane is
approximately 210 ft2. The weight of the airplane while flying level at Mach 2.2 at a standard
altitude of 36,000 ft is 16,000 lb. Note that at this altitude, air density is 7.1x10-4 slug/ft3 and
the speed of sound is 969 ft/s.
a. Estimate the wave drag experienced by the airplane. Assume that all the necessary lift is
generated by the wing of the airplane. It can usually be assumed that the two-dimensional
thin airfoil results are applicable for the wing.
Hint: To fly level, the airplanes lift must balance its weight.
b. How far behind the nose of the airplane will the shock wave impinge upon the ground? For
this problem, assume that the angle of the shock wave from the nose is approximated by
the Mach angle (very weak shock) and the ground is flat and level.

APPENDIX