Measurement of the Basic SR-71 Airplane Near-Field Signature
Haering Jr., Edward A. and Whitmore, Stephen A. and Ehernberger, L.J. (1999) Measurement of the Basic SR-71 Airplane Near-Field Signature. In Proceedings High-Speed Research: 1994 Sonic Boom Workshop – Configuration Design, Analysis, and Testing, pages 171-197, Hampton, Virginia.
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Abstract
Airplane design studies have developed configuration concepts that may produce lower sonic boom annoyance levels (Ref. 1). Since lower noise designs differ significantly from other HSCT designs, it is necessary to accurately assess their potential before HSCT final configuration decisions are made. Flight tests to demonstrate lower noise design capability by modifying an existing airframe have been proposed for the Mach 3 SR-71 reconnaissance airplane (Ref. 2, 3). To support the modified SR-71 proposal, baseline in-flight measurements were made of the unmodified aircraft. These measurements of SR-71 near-field sonic boom signatures were obtained by an F-16XL probe airplane at flightpath separation distances ranging from approximately 740 to 40 ft. This paper discusses the methods used to gather and analyze the flight data, and makes comparisons of these flight data with CFD results from Douglas Aircraft Corporation and NASA Langley Research Center. The CFD solutions were obtained for the near-field flow about the SR-71, and then propagated to the flight test measurement location using the program MDBOOM (Ref. 4). The CFD and MDBOOM data from Douglas Aircraft Corporation in this paper are covered by limited exclusive rights data provisions.
| EPrint Type: | Conference or Meeting Presentation |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | SR-71 airplane |
| Subjects: | Aircraft/Project: SR-71 Blackbird |
| ID Code: | 1711 |
| Deposited On: | 17 September 2007 |
| Additional Information: | 27 pages. In NASA/CP-1999-209699, High-Speed Research: 1994 Sonic Boom Workshop – Configuration Design, Analysis, and Testing, pages 171-197. |
