Inviscid Wing-Tip Vortex Behavior Behind Wings in Close Formation Flight

Nomenclature bH = nondimensionalized half-span of the hitchhiker aircraft by the half-span of the hitchhiker aircraft, Eq. (1) bM = half-span of the mothership divided by the half-span of the hitchhiker aircraft dt = time step, s dy = distance between the mothership and the hitchhiker divided by the half-span of the hitchhiker aircraft dz = relative height between the mothership and the hitchhiker divided by the half-span of the hitchhiker aircraft N = total number of elements representing each wing (u, v) H j = induced velocity at a wake vortex j on the hitchhiker aircraft by other vortices on the hitchhiker aircraft (u, v) M j = induced velocity at a wake vortex j on the hitchhiker aircraft by vortices from the mothership aircraft (u, v) H j = induced velocity at a wake vortex j on the mothership aircraft by vortices on the hitchhiker aircraft (u, v) M j = induced velocity at a wake vortex j on the mothership aircraft from other vortices on the mothership aircraft x = downstreamwise distance from a wing’s trailing edge H 0 = maximum circulation on the hitchhiker for an elliptic load distribution M 0 = maximum circulation on the mothership for an elliptic load distribution δ = smoothing factor, 0.1