Abstract
Cabin pressurization in transport airplanes tends to form bulges in the fuselage skin between the frames and stringers, and the resulting wavy surface is liable to produce a higher aerodynamic drag. A flight test study has been made to determine the effect of pressurization on the fuselage drag of a Boeing 720 jetliner. The study is based on boundary-layer measurements, made by pitot-static rakes at several points of the fuselage in both pressurized and unpressurized conditions. The effect of pressurization is manifested in an increased boundary-layer momentum thickness. The analysis indicates that the drag coefficient of the fuselage is increased by approximately 5% as a result of the pressurization. It appears, however, that only a lesser part of this drag increment is caused by the skin bulging, and the greater part is caused by leakage of the pressurized air or exhaust-air associated with the pressurization system.
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