Abstract: An experimental investigation has been performed to determine the effect of changes in body cross-section shape on the aerodynamic characteristics of bodies and wing-body combinations. A series of 13 bodies having a given length and given longitudinal distribution of cross-sectional area but various cross-section shapes were tested at a Mach number of 2.01. The bodies were tested alone and in combination with a 47° sweptback wing having a 6-percent-thick hexagonal section.

An experimental investigation was conducted in the Ames 6- by 6-Foot Wind Tunnel to measure the static aerodynamic characteristics for two bodies of elliptic cross section and for their equivalent body of revolution. The equivalent body of revolution had the same length and axial distribution of cross-sectional area as the elliptic bodies. It consisted of a tangent ogive nose of fineness ratio 3 followed by a cylinder with a fineness ratio of 7. For the first body of elliptic cross section, the ratio of the semimajor axis to semiminor axis was held constant at 2 all along the body length. For the second elliptic body the nose was unchanged, but the aftersection was changed as follows: The cross-sectional axis ratio a/b was decreased from 2 to 1 over an axial distance of about 1.66 diam. Then, at this position, the a,b axis system was rotated 900, and the a/b ratio was increased back to 2 over the next 2.34 diam in length. Over the last length of three body diam, this rotated a/b ratio was held constant at 2.