Drag device for providing stability to towed bodies

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology

ISSN: 0002-2667

Article publication date: 1 April 1998

83

Citation

(1998), "Drag device for providing stability to towed bodies", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 70 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.1998.12770bad.001

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 1998, MCB UP Limited


Drag device for providing stability to towed bodies

Drag device for providing stability to towed bodies

In GB Patent 2306147, GEC-Marconi Ltd describe a rigid cone used to provide stability to a body being towed by an aircraft. Many cones are useful only over a limited range of speeds. The invention provides a drag-producing aerodynamic device comprising variable position vanes. The blade positioning is determined by dynamic air pressure balanced by a spring acting through a slidable sleeve.

The cross-sectional area of the structure producing drag decreases as the towing speed, and hence the dynamic air pressure acting on the structure producing drag, increases and vice versa.

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