Theory of Wing Sections; Including a Summary of Airfoil Data

x,693, [1] pages. Illustrations. Formulae. Index. Cover has some creasing, wear and soiling. Minor ink marks and notes inside rear cover. This Dover edition, first published in 1959 is an unabridged and corrected republication of the first edition first published in 1949 by McGraw-Hill Book Company. This Dover edition includes a new Preface by the authors. Dr. Abbott was the Director of Aeronautical and Space Research at NASA and Dr. von Doenhoff was a NASA research engineer. The new edition reflected a continuing demand for a concise compilation of the subsonic aerodynamic characteristics of modern NACA wing sections together with a description of their geometry and associated theory. These wing sections, or their derivations, continued to be the most commonly used ones for airplanes designed for both subsonic and supersonic speeds, and for applicaitons to helicopter rotor blades, propeller blades, and high performance fans. Since original publication many new contributions had been made to the understanding of the boundary layer, the methods of boundary-layer control, and the effects of compressibility at super-critical speeds. These were acknowledged but not fully addressed in this revision. Ira H. Abbott (July 18, 1906 - November 3, 1988) was an American aerospace engineer. A graduate of MIT, Abbott worked for Langley Aeronautical Laboratory in 1929. He was a Director of Aeronautical and Space Research at NASA during the middle of the twentieth century and before that was employed by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Abbott supervised the X-15, supersonic transport, nuclear rocket and advanced reentry programs. He retired in 1962. As Assistant Director of NACA, Abbott was decisive in keeping Ames Research Center focused on research instead of moving into operations during the development of the proposed Orbiting Astronomical Observatory in 1960. In recognition for his "outstanding contributions" to airfoil research and his leadership, he was inducted into the first round of the NACA/NASA Hall of Fame on August 13, 2015. "Most useful in working with wing sections and methods for using section data to predict wing characteristics. . . much detailed geometric and aerodynamic data." -- "Mechanical Engineering" Intended to be primarily a reference work for engineers and students, the book devotes over 300 pages to theoretical and experimental considerations. The theoretical treatment progresses from elementary considerations to methods used for the design of NACA low-drag airfoils. Methods and data are presented for using wing section data to predict wing characteristics, and judiciously selected plots and cross-plots of experimental data are presented for readily useful correlation of certain simplifying assumptions made in the analyses. The chapters on theory of thin wings and airfoils are particularly valuable, as is the complete summary of the NACA's experimental observations and system of constructing families of airfoils.