- . . undary Layer Stability Anplysis of a Natural Laminar Flow Glove on the Fi l l 1 TACT Airplane

A natural laminar flow airfoil has been developed jointly by NASA's Dryden Flight Research and Langley Research Centers a s a part of the aircraft energy efficiency (ACEE) program. A NASA flight program incorporating this airfoil into partial wing gloves on the F-111 TACT airplane was scheduled to start in May, 1980. In support of this research effort, Boeing has conducted a n extensive boundary, layer stability analysis of the partial glove. The results of that analysis show the expected effects of wing leading-edge sweep angle, Reynolds number, and compressibility on boundary layer stability and transition. These results indicate that it should be possible to attain on the order of 60% laminar flow on the upper surface and 50% laminar flow on the lower surface for sweep angles of a t least 20 deg, chord Reynolds numbers of 25 x lo6 and Mach numbers from 0.81 to 0.85.