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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 0769.PDF
!, PLIGHT International, 17 May 1962 161 PL SHOWS LIFT-FAN WORK ALTHOUGH the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington has been engaged in research on lift-fan wings for VTOL applications for some years, it was only last week, on the occasion of the laboratory's annual Open Days, that this work was exhibited for the first time. Included in this work have been wind- tunnel tests on the Boulton Paul P.135 VTOL project, a 3/25 model of which is illustrated in the upper two photographs below. A series of experiments in which flow conditions at entry and exit were examined in detail for wing-mounted fans has been completed, and has been followed by tests in which two similar fans are mounted in tandem in a comparatively deep nacelle-shaped body. Mutual interactions between the flows through the fans are being examined, together with the effect of the much greater depth of duct available on the uniformity of flow through the fan. Models on show in the 13ft X 9ft tunnel room at Teddington last week included the twin lift-fan nacelle, a single lift-fan wing, and shapes incorporating a square entry with articulated guide vanes, circular entry with 15° fan tilt, and forward facing submerged entry. Other current work in the Aerodynamics Division of NPL includes research into the stability and flutter properties of slender deltas, and the structural strength under severe conditions of flight —both at supersonic cruising speeds and for the comparatively low speeds and high incidence angles of landing and take-off. In the area of "industrial" aerodynamics, wind-loading and smoke- dispersion studies have included tests in three tunnels on models of Liverpool Cathedral, the Severn suspension bridge and the new St Thomas' Hospital, London. Hovercraft research is the responsibility at NPL not of the Aerodynamics Division, but of the Ship Division, and in particular the Ship Hydrodynamics Laboratory at Feltham. The model illustrated below on a general-purpose rig at Feltham is being used to study fundamental principles of hydrodynamic aspects of ground- effect machines, under Ministry of Aviation contract. Detailed accounts of the work of NPL's nine divisions during last year are contained in the 1961 report of the laboratory, which is published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office at 15s. This 3/25-JC0/e modil of the Boulton Paul P.I35 VTOL project, featuring a single lift-fan, has been tested in the 13ft x 9ft wind tunnel at NPL under Ministry of Aviation contract Crown copyright photographs, National Physical Laboratory Smoke-plume investigation on model of the new St Thomas' Hospital, London, in the open-jet tunnel NLP Ship Division's ground-effect model mounted on general- purpose test rig
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