An experimental and analytical investigation of effect on isolated boattail drag of varying Reynolds numbers up to 130,000,000

An investigation was conducted to determine whether large Reynolds number effects occur on isolated boattails, including an analytical study and tests in a 1/3-meter transonic cryogenic tunnel. This investigation was conducted at an angle of attack of 0 deg at Mach numbers from 0.6 to 0.9 for Reynolds numbers up to 130 million. Results indicate that as the Reynolds number was increased, the static pressure coefficients in the expansion region of the boattail became more negative whereas those in the recompression region became more positive. These two trends were compensating and, as a result, there was only a small effect (if any) of Reynolds numbers on boattail pressure drag.