[NASA Figure 1.1 Douglas DC-3 (NASA). Figure 1.5 Lockheed-Martin F-22 (U.S. Air Force Photo/Staff Sgt. Vernon Young Jr.).
The purpose of this problem is to give you a feel for the magnitude of
Reynolds number appropriate to real airplanes in actual flight.
a. Consider the DC-3 shown in (1.1). The wing root chord length
(distance from the front to the back of the wing where the wing joins
the fuselage) is 14.25 ft. Consider the DC-3 flying at 200 miles per
hour at sea level. Calculate the Reynolds number for the flow over the
wing root chord. (This is an important number, because as we will see
later, it governs the skin-friction drag over that portion of the wing.)
b. Consider the F-22 shown in (1.5), and also gracing the cover of
this book. The chord length where the wing joins the center body is
21.5 ft. Consider the airplane making a high-speed pass at a velocity
of 1320 ft/s at sea level (Mach 1.2). Calculate the Reynolds number at
the wing root.
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