Asymmetric lateral-directional characteristics of pointed bodies of revolution at high angles of attack

A low-speed wind-tunnel investigation was conducted in order to determine the cause of asymmetric yawing moments produced by long pointed fuselage nose shapes at high angles of attack. Force tests were conducted with a cone, tangent-ogive model, and a paraboloid of revolution over a range of Reynolds numbers from 0.15 million to 0.35 million for an angle-of-attack range from 0 deg to 75 deg and an angle-of-sideslip range of plus or minus 30 deg. Tuft and smoke flow-visualization tests were also conducted to aid in the analysis. Large asymmetric yawing moments were obtained for the cone and tangent-ogive body at high angles of attack (of the order of 40 to 60 deg). These large moments were caused by asymmetric shedding of vortex sheets off the long pointed nose. The asymmetric moments could be eliminated by use of symmetrically arranged strikes on the nose. The paraboloid of revolution did not produce a strong asymmetric flow field at high angles of attack and did not exhibit asymmetric moments