Longitudinal aerodynamic characteristics of an elliptical body with a horizontal tail at Mach numbers from 2.3 to 4.63

Longitudinal aerodynamic characteristics of a configuration consisting of an elliptical body with an in plane horizontal tail were investigated. The tests were conducted at Mach numbers of 2.3, 2.96, 4.0, and 4.63. In some cases, the configuration with negative tail deflections yielded higher values of maximum lift drag ratio than did the configuration with an undeflected tail. This was due to body upwash acting on the tail and producing an additional lift increment with essentially no drag penalty. Linear theory methods used to estimate some of the longitudinal aerodynamic characteristics of the model yielded results which compared well with experimental data for all Mach numbers in this investigation and for both small angles of attack and larger angles of attack where nonlinear (vortex) flow phenomena were present.