![]() ![]() The pioneer German aerodynamicist, Ludwig Prandtl, published in 1904 the first accurate theoretical description of the boundary layer of a fluid in motion. The idea of deriving a significant performance improvement by “controlling” the thin boundary layer of air, which covers all surfaces of an aircraft in flight, is not new. On the civil side, LFC aircraft could conceivably bring twenty-five percent reductions in fare and freight rates and still make greater profits for the airlines than possible with current equipment. ![]() ![]() Such multipurpose studies, generally included under the name tag “Dromedary” a few months ago, now are identified by the name “Maple.” In addition to performing specialized missions, it also appears possible that one large LFC airplane could be given the proper multipurpose capability to perform the defensive, offensive, transport, and command-and-control jobs plus the ASW mission. Transports using LFC would be able to carry the same payloads nonstop across the entire Pacific that current aircraft of comparable size can today lift only across the Atlantic.Īirborne command and control posts in LFC aircraft would have a vastly improved security and reconnaissance capability due to their longer time in the air. It would dilute the defensive concentration now permitted along the few routes of strategic approach available to conventional bombers. The aircraft’s great range would allow the Eurasian land mass to be approached from any quadrant. Offensively, an LFC used as a carrier for air-launched missiles could greatly complicate Soviet air-defense problems. LFC and the new engines could have the same kind of impact on aircraft that the nuclear powerplant has had upon submarines.ĭefensively, a large LFC airplane, loaded with two dozen or more high-performance air-to-air missiles and a large tracking radar, could stay on station for more than two full days 2,000 to 3,000 miles out from the continental limits of the United States. Such a dramatic improvement in endurance and range could change the character of nearly all military aircraft missions. A global air force based entirely on the continental US could become a reality. The implications of Laminar Flow Control, for both military and civil air operations, are as obvious as they are amazing.Ĭoupling the low drag of LFC with new, very-low-fuel-consumption turboprop and turbofan engines now under development conceivably could permit aircraft with useful military payloads eventually to fly nonstop around the world without refueling. Put another way, LFC would allow a reduction in size of an airplane of more than forty percent-say from 400,000 pounds to 225,000 pounds for one B-52 model -without changing the aircraft’s speed, range, endurance, or load-carrying ability. The lift/drag ratio of an aircraft such as the commercial DC-8 or the military B-52, for example, could be raised from about twenty to more than thirty. Theoretically, LFC can double the range and endurance of a large subsonic airplane by raising its aerodynamic efficiency by more than fifty percent. The revolutionary aerodynamic technique utilized on Northrop’s new experimental aircraft, the X-21, is low-drag boundary-layer control, called Laminar Flow Control, or LFC. If the attempt is successful-and early flight test results from the X-21 test-bed are favorable-it will be the first time that aircraft range and endurance have been extended significantly without using a more powerful or less fuel-hungry engine. The Northrop Corporation, with Air Force and Federal Aviation Agency support, is attempting a major aircraft performance improvement by controlling the airflow around an airplane in new ways, rather than depending upon raw power. ![]()
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