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National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, Research Memorandum - Investigation of Wingless Missile Configurations with Folding Controls and Low Aspect Ratio Stabilizing Surfaces

A wind-tunnel investigation has been made of Wingless missile
configurations having cylindrical bodies and conical or hemispherical
noses, extensible control surfaces aft of the nose, and tails consisting
of eight low-aspect-ratio triangular or rectangular fins. Normal-force,
axial-force, and pitching-moment coefficients were obtained for various
control deflections up to a maximum of 30° for mach numbers of 1.2 and 1.9.

The results of the investigation indicate that the tail-on configu-
rations had adequate static stability in pitch at the Mach numbers tested
for a center of gravity at 56.5 percent of the body length. For particular
center-of—gravity locations chosen, the control surface on the conical-
nosed body was the most effective of all the configurations tested par-
ticularly at angles of attack above zero. Changing the tail configuration
on the hemispherical-nosed body by substituting rectangular fins for
triangular fins had a negligible effect on control effectiveness.

The use of large-span wings on air-to-air guided.missiles may result
in performance penalties on missile—carrying fighter aircraft because of
increased airplane drag due to externally mounted missiles or large air-
plane volume needed to store the weapons internally. A reduction in size
of missile wings would reduce stowage drag. If the wings could be elimi—
nated entirely and replaced.by folding controls and stabilizing surfaces,
a twofold gain could result; first, stowage drag would.be reduced and,
second, the missiles could be launched from.a tube which should aid in
reducing launching errors. Results of some previous experimental investi—
gations of Wingless missile configurations are presented in references 1
through h. These results show that large-span wings may not be necessary
to provide adequate lift for maneuvering, especially at high Mach numbers.

The investigation reported herein was conducted to determine the
feasibility of a body flap on a configuration similar to that presented
in reference 2 which utilized a control that was a deflectable segment
of a conical nose. Moving the control surface onto the body aft of the
nose would provide additional room in the nose for warhead and seeker
equipment. In addition, a similar body flap was investigated on a wing-
less hemispherical-nosed body. Such a nose shape may be required in
preference to a conical nose for increased efficiency of operation of '
some seeker systems.