What Makes Airplanes Fly?: History, Science, and Applications of Aerodynamics

263 Pages·1997·9.74 MB·English

by  Peter P. Wegener (auth.)

What MaRes Airplanes FlU?
Springer
New York
Berlin
Heidelberg
Barcelona
Hong Kong
London
Milan
Paris
Singapore
Tokyo
What MaRes Airplanes FlU?
History, Science, and Applications of Aerodynamics
With 113 Illustrations
Second Edition
Springer
Peter P. Wegener
Engineering and Applied Science (Emeritus)
Yale University
New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wegener, Peter P., 1917-
What makes airplanes fly?: history, science, and applications of
aerodynamics / Peter P. Wegener. - 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4612-7474-2 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4612-2254-5
DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4612-2254-5
1. Aerodynamics. I. Title.
TL570.W4 1996
629.132' 3-dc20 96-23154
Printed on acid-free paper.
© 1997, 1991 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in
part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer-Verlag New York,
Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA), except for brief excerpts in
connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form
of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software,
or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is
forbidden.
The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, etc., in this pub
lication, even if the former are not especially identified, is not to be taken as a
sign that such names, as understood by the Trade Marks and Merchandise Marks
Act, may accordingly be used freely by anyone.
Production managed by Steven Pisano; manufacturing by Jacqui Ashri.
Typeset by KP Company, Brooklyn, NY.
9876543
Springer-Verlag New York Berlin Heidelberg
A member of BertelsmannSpringer Science+Business Media GmbH
To Annette
Preface
·
rr
e the first edition of this book, the second edition is addressed to
all who are interested in aerodynamics. In addition to the aerody
namics of flight from low-speed craft to supersonic airliners, the
topic is interpreted in a broad sense, including the aerodynamics of
automobiles, bird flight, and the motion of diverse objects through
air or water. The fundamentals of basic mechanics and fluid mechan
ics-the physics underlying aerodynamics-and general remarks on
the nature of science and engineering are interspersed in the text. The
use of mathematics is minimal; it is restricted to elementary algebra,
and only a handful of simple but basic equations appear. This is in
harmony with the expectations of college students in the humanities
and social sciences taking courses outside their field, and of general
readers whose interest in flight transcends the discussion of specific
airplanes, piloting, airlines, airports, and so on.
A brief history of man's attempts to fly from the early days to the
Wright brothers and beyond is given. The selection from the multi
tude of events over the centuries is of necessity incomplete, but some
of the major contributions-in particular those that influenced the
Wright brothers-are discussed. An overview of the current status of
aeronautics and some thoughts on the future of air traffic are given at
the end. These discussions are restricted to civilian air transporta
tion. Books on history, aeronautical engineering, and military avia
tion are listed in Appendix 4 to facilitate further study.
The general reader may safely skip all appendixes and the foot
notes. Even the few equations can be dispensed with, since their mean
ing is explained in the text. However, college students who use this
book in general science or engineering courses directed to liberal arts
students will find it useful to hear more about the metric system of
measurement and subjects such as dimensional analysis. The latter is
an important contribution of engineers to human knowledge that gave
us, for example, the Reynolds and Mach numbers. Careful study of
vii
this material will enable students to solve the problems found in the
study guide. The tables of properties in the book are sufficient to
extract the numerical values required for their solution.
I developed the material given here while teaching Yale College
students in the liberal arts, and I hope that the book may be used
similarly elsewhere as a textbook. The instructor ought to be an engi
neer or scientist with an interest in the fascinating topic of flight, who
in addition believes in a liberal education that cannot ignore science
and engineering. About a century ago, man rose for the first time
from the surface of the earth in gliders and powered aircraft, ma
chines that must be counted among the greatest engineering feats.
Who is not curious to find out how it is possible for huge modern
airliners to take off at a steep angle and transport people and goods
to any place on earth?
I first considered turning my rough lecture notes into a book in
1986, during a term as a fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study in
Berlin. The manuscript was written with the support of a grant to
Yale University from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Sam Goldberg,
who directed the foundation's New Liberal Arts Program, suggested
that I write this text. I am deeply grateful to him for his trust in and
continuing support of this venture. My colleagues W. Jack
Cunningham and Katepalli R. Sreenivasan read the manuscript and
provided important advice.
For the first edition of this book published in 1991, John H.
McMasters of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Company, Reinhard
Hilbig of Messerschmidt-Bolkow-Blohm, and Richard S. Shevell of
Stanford University provided much needed advice and data on air
craft aerodynamics. Werner Nachtigall of the University of
Kaiserslautern commented on the biological aspects of bird flight.
The second edition at hand, aside from improvements and exten
sions, provides updated information. This is primarily found in Chap
ters 10 and 11 on new and planned aircraft. In addition, my some
what pessimistic earlier thoughts concerning the future of supersonic
flight and romantic visions, etc., are put in the context of recent de
velopments. Again I am grateful for Richard S. Shevell's sage advice.
Ronald L. Bengelink, the chief engineer in aerodynamics engineering
at the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, provided interesting in
sights and data on new commercial aircraft. D. K. Hennecke of the
Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany), an expert on aircraft
propulsion, offered additional thoughts. These colleagues extended
valuable aid, but all possible errors are of course my own responsibil
ity. The physics editorial department of Springer-Verlag New York
read the manuscript and provided many suggestions. I am grateful
for this sensitive advice.
viii What MaRCS Airplancs Fly?
In addition to changes in the text, the Suggestions for Further
Reading have been updated and extended. The Study Guide now has
been enlarged. In addition, solutions to a number of the problems are
now included.
Finally, my gratitude goes to Stephen Mayer, who edited the manu
script of the first edition as well as the new material in the second
edition. His background is in the humanities, and when he was
stumped, I knew I had to make changes in the text. Susan Hochgraf
prepared the drawings, and Mafalda Stock did the final word pro
cessing of the first edition.
Preface ix
(Orlterlts
PREFACE ............................................. vii
CHAPTER 1 A Dream Comes True: The Wright
Brothers and Their Predecessors .............. 1
1.1 The First Flights at Kitty Hawk. . . . . . . . .. 1
1.2 Mythology and Legend. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 4
1.3 Early Adventures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 7
1.4 From Cayley to the Wright Brothers. . . .. 12
CHAPTER 2 Milestones of the Modern Age. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 29
2.1 Notes on Aeronautical Research . . . . . . .. 29
2.2 Great Moments in Aviation . . . . . . . . . . .. 31
CHAPTER 3 The Nature of Liquids and Gases ............ 47
3.1 Description and Properties. . . . . . . . . . . .. 47
3.2 Behavior of Liquids at Rest. . . . . . . . . . .. 50
CHAPTER 4 The Atmosphere of the Earth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 55
4.1 History and Composition. . . . . . . . . . . .. 55
4.2 Structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 57
4.3 Global Circulation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 63
CHAPTER 5 Air in Motion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 65
5.1 Description of Movement: Kinematics ... 65
5.2 Conservation of Mass and Energy. . . . . .. 70
5.3 Viscosity and Turbulence. . . . . . . . . . . . .. 78
5.4 The Boundary Layer ................. 85
CHAPTER 6 Turning to Aerodynamics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 91
6.1 How Do We Test Models of Airplanes? .. 91
6.2 Drag, Lift, and Other Coefficients. . . . . .. 98
CHAPTER 7 Aerodynamic Drag. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 101
7.1 What Is Drag? Blunt Bodies ........... 101
7.2 The Strange Case of the Sphere. . . . . . .. 105
7.3 Slender Bodies, Skin Friction, Airfoils. .. 109
7.4 Automobiles, Etc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 117
xi
CHAPTER 8 Aerod ynamic Lift. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 127
8.1 Early Experience and Some History .... 127
8.2 Lift of the Infinitely Extended Wing .... 133
8.3 The Finite Wing of an Airplane. . . . . . .. 143
8.4 How Birds Fly and Why We
Cannot Copy Them. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 144
CHAPTER 9 Notes on the Whole Airplane .............. 153
9.1 Stability and Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 153
9.2 Propulsion: From Propellers
to Rockets ........................ 158
CHAPTER 10 Toward High Speed: Supersonic and
Hypersonic Flight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 169
10.1 Pushing the Speed of Sound. . . . . . . . . .. 169
10.2 From Supersonic Transports to
Future Dreams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 182
CHAPTER 11 Air Transportation and the Outlook
for the Future. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 195
11.1 The New Traffic Patterns. . . . . . . . . . . .. 195
11.2 What Next. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 205
APPENDIX 1 Facts from Algebra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 213
ApPENDIX 2 Model Testing and Similarity. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 217
A2.1-Aircraft Nomenclature and
Model Testing ..................... 217
A2.2-Dimensions and Units. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 219
A2.3-Similarity Parameters and
Model Testing ..................... 221
APPENDIX 3 History of the Metric System:
The SI System and Conversion Tables . . . . . . .. 229
APPENDIX 4 Suggestions for Further Reading. . . . . . . . . . .. 235
ApPENDIX 5 Study Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 241
FIGURE AND TABLE CREDITS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 251
NAME INDEX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 253
SUBJECT INDEX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 255
xii What MaRes Airplanes Fly?