NACA Technical Notes

A 1/10-size model of the hull of the French flying boat Latecoere 521 was tested in the NACA tank. This model is one of a series of models of the hulls of actual flying boats of both foreign and domestic type that are being tested in the NACA tank to provide information regarding the water characteristics of a variety of forms of hull and to illustrate the development of present-day types of flying boat. The lines and the offsets of the hull were obtained from the manufacturer through the Paris office of the NACA. The form of the stub-wing stabilizers was not furnished and, therefore, the model was tested without them. The model was tested free to trim at the design initial load (initial load coefficient of 0.428) and by the general method at load coefficients from 0.025 to 0.6. The spray characteristics of the model are good. The form of the bow would be particularly desirable for rough water use. The interference of the afterbody and the tail extension is excessive, causing very high resistance at high speeds. A violent vertical instability is present at trims of 4 degrees and 6 degrees with light loads and high speeds