NACA Research Memorandums

An investigation was conducted in the Langley high-speed 7- by 10-foot tunnel to determine effects of modifications to a bomb model (particularly with regard to drag) when mounted on a wing-fuselage model and tested at Mach numbers from 0.70 to 1.10. In addition, the static longitudinal stability characteristics of several configurations of a larger scale model of the bomb alone were obtained over a Mach number range from 0.50 to 0.95. The results obtained for the wing-fuselage-bomb model indicate that large reductions in installation drag were obtained for the wing-fuselage-bomb model when the flat nose of the basic bomb was replaced by rounded or pointed noses of various calibers. Shortening the mounting pylon gave further decreases in the installation drag. The tests of the bomb alone indicated that only the flat-nose configurations were stable over the greater part of the Mach number range. Nose-shape modifications which improved the drag also caused the bombs to become unstable at low angles of attack. The stability of the low-drag bomb configurations could be improved by lengthening the cylindrical portion of the body behind the center of gravity