Correlation of Flow Visualization and Force and Moment Measurements in a Water Tunnel

Flow visualization and force and moment measurements were conducted on a number of delta wing planforms and realistic configurations in order to ascertain the existence of Reynolds number effects. The results show the effect of Reynolds number at high angles of attack is insignificant in comparison to other effects such as tunnel blockage and support interference for highly swept lifting surfaces with sharp leading edges. For realistic configurations however the situation is significantly more complicated because of the interaction of vortices shed from the forebody and multiple lifting surfaces. In such cases, it is important to consider such effects carefully when extrapolating to full-scale Reynolds numbers.