Inlet Distortion for an F/A-18A Aircraft During Steady Aerodynamic Conditions up to 60º Angle of Attack

Walsh, Kevin R. and Yuhas, Andrew J. and Williams, John G. and Steenken, William G. (1996) Inlet Distortion for an F/A-18A Aircraft During Steady Aerodynamic Conditions up to 60º Angle of Attack. In Proceedings High-Angle-of-Attack Technology Conference, pages 1083-1126, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia.

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Abstract

The effects of high-angle-of-attack flight on aircraft inlet aerodynamic characteristics were investigated at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, as part of NASA's High Alpha Technology Program. The highly instrumented F/A-18A High Alpha Research Vehicle was used for this research. A newly designed inlet total-pressure rake was installed in front of the starboard F404-GE-400 engine to measure inlet recovery and distortion characteristics. One objective was to determine inlet total-pressure characteristics at steady high-angle-of-attack conditions. Other objectives include assessing whether significant differences exist in inlet distortion between rapid angle-of-attack maneuvers and corresponding steady aerodynamic conditions, assessing inlet characteristics during aircraft departures, providing data for developing and verifying computational fluid dynamic codes, and calculating engine airflow using five methods. This paper addresses the first objective by summarizing results of 79 flight maneuvers at steady aerodynamic conditions, ranging from -10º to 60º angle of attack and from -8º to 11º angle of sideslip at Mach 0.3 and 0.4. These data and the associated database have been rigorously validated to establish a foundation for understanding inlet characteristics at high angle of attack.

EPrint Type:	Conference or Meeting Presentation
Keywords:	F/A-18A High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV), High angle of attack, Inlet distortion, Pressure distributions, Steady aerodynamic conditions
Subjects:	Aircraft/Project: F-18 HARV (01 - 09) Aeronautics: (07) Aircraft Propulsion And Power
ID Code:	1847
Deposited On:	07 March 2008
Additional Information:	44 pages. Presented at the High-Angle-of-Attack Technology Conference, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, September 17-19, 1996. In NASA/CP-1998-207676/PT3, pages 1083-1126. Also published as NASA/TM-104329 under NASA Contract NAS 3-26617. Walsh, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center; Yuhas, Analytical Services & Materials, Hampton, Virginia; Williams, Steenken, General Electric Aircraft Engines, Evendale, Ohio.