WING DEVELOPMENT

EXPERIMENTAL OBSERVATIONS OBTAINED DURING A RECENT RESEARCH PROGRAM AT FLOW INDUSTRIES HAVE SHOWN THAT A LEADING EDGE VORTEX ON A DELTA WING AT CONSTANT ANGLE OF ATTACK CONSISTS OF A SERIES OF DISCRETE SMALLER VORTICES. THESE VORTICES PAIR, MUCH THE SAME AS IN A FREE SHEAR LAYER. A DEVICE IS PROPOSED TO MODULATE THE SHEDDING AND THE PAIRING OF THE DISCRETE VORTICES BY MECHANICALLY OR ACOUSTICALLY PERTURBING THE LEADING EDGE OF A DELTA WING. BY APPLYING THE PERTURBATION PREFERENTIALLY ON ONLY ONE SIDE OF THE WING, THE ROLLING MOMENT AROUND THE AXIS OF SYMMETRY OF THE AIRCRAFT IS CONTROLLED. THE PROPOSED DEVICE WILL ENABLE THE PILOT OF A FIGHTER AIRCRAFT TO ACHIEVE A PREVIOUSLY UNATTAINED DEGREE OF MANEUVERABILITY.