Air Force Tests of Sperry Messenger Model with Six Sets of Wings

The purpose of this test was to compare six well-known airfoils, the R.A.F 15, U.S.A. 5, U.S.A. 27, U.S.A. 35-B, Clark Y, and Gottingen 387, fitted to the Sperry Messenger model, at full scale Reynolds number as obtained in the variable density wind tunnel of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics; and to determine the scale effect on the model equipped with all the details of the actual airplane. The results show a large decrease in minimum drag coefficient upon increasing the Reynolds number from about one-twentieth scale to full scale. Maximum lift coefficient was increased with increasing scale for all the airfoils except the Gottingen 387, for which it was slightly decreased. A comparison is made between the results of these tests and those obtained from tests made in this tunnel on airfoils alone. (author