Definition of Safe-Separation Criteria for External Stores and Pilot Escape Capsules
Abstract
It is shown that the early part of the trajectory of any store or escape capsule released from a parent aircraft is governed principally by two effects. The first is the relative velocity between the store and the aircraft at the instant of release. The second is the acceleration acting on the store at the same instant. This acceleration is due not only to gravity, but also to the aerodynamic forces and moments acting on the store. The (normalized relative velocity and (normalized) acceleration, as the ordinate and abcissa, define a planar coordinate system. A boundary delineating safe from unsafe separation characteristics can be drawn on this plane. Thus, if the proper data are available, safe separation conditions can be predicted in advance. The available data from flight tests strongly support the predictive aspects of this diagram. In principle, since the diagram is based on velocity and airloads, no additional information is needed to define safe-separation characteristics. Moreover, the results from this study suggest that airload data for the store on a rack can be directly applied to give valuable results about safe-store separation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1971
- Accession Number
- AD0726695
Entities
People
- Eugene E. Covert
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology