THE LONGITUDINAL AND LATERAL RANGE OF HYPERSONIC GLIDE VEHICLES WITH CONSTANT BANK ANGLE
Abstract
Approximate closed-form solutions for various flight conditions were obtained to determine both the longitudinal and lateral range of hypersonic glide vehicles with constant bank angle. Results for equilibrium glide vehicles with a constant lift-to-drag (L/D) ratio and small and slowly changing flight- path angle are presented in graphical form. Other approximate closed-form solutions are also obtained for glide reentry at very small flight-path angle, near-constant speed glide at high altitude, constant-deceleration glide at constant altitude, and constant-deceleration glide at fixed flight-path angle. The assumption of a very small flight-path angle results in a smaller range prediction than does the assumption of a small and slowly changing flight-path angle. This is especially true for prediction of the lateral range of vehicles with high lift-to-drag ratio. For a vehicle with an L/D of 3, entering at 0.98 orbital velocity and decelerating to 0.2 orbital velocity, the assumption of a very small flight-path angle results in predictions that underestimate lateral and longitudinal range by 22.6 and 22.5 percent, respectively, in comparison with the predictions based on the assumption of a small and slowly changing flight-path angle. In other words, completely neglecting the flight-path angle in the equations of motion leads to a conservative range prediction.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0629124
Entities
People
- S. Y. Chen
Organizations
- RAND Corporation