Pressure measurements on a forward-swept wing-canard configuration

Abstract

In a previous analysis of the effect of a fore sweep in the subsonic and transonic regimes it was found that the flow on a forward-swept wing separates first in the root region, suggesting that the inclusion of an aerodynamic device such as a lifting canard may produce a favourable interference effect in that region. In the present work, experiments were carried out to study canard-wing configuration at Mach numbers 0.3 and 0.7, with a Reynolds number = 2.8 x 10 exp 6 and high angles of attack. Pressure measurements were carried out on 320 points of the wing surface, in a medium speed wind tunnel. The results show that the canard effect is significantly dependent on canard position and that very small variations in the aerodynamic characteristics of the wing can be obtained by utilizing a high positioned canard. (AIAA)