Investigation of the Separation Characteristics of Various Stores from the A-7D Aircraft at Mach Numbers from 0.34 to 0.95

Abstract : Tests were conducted in the Aerodynamic Wind Tunnel (4T) using 0.05- scale models to investigate the separation characteristics of the unfinned and finned BLU-IC/B, M-11GP, MK-82GP, and MK-82SE when released from various wing pylon locations on the A-7D aircraft. Captive trajectory data were obtained at Mach numbers from 0.34 to 0.95 at simulated pressure altitudes from 5000 to 7000 ft. The parent aircraft angle of attack was varied from 1.8 to 12.3, depending on Mach number, climb angle, and simulated altitude. At selected test conditions, parent climb angles of 0, -35, -50, and -70 deg were simulated. In some cases, the separation trajectories of the BLU-1C/B were initiated at the end of the ejector piston stroke using flight-test data to determine the initial store positions and velocities. In general, the separation trajectories agreed well with flight-test data for the trajectory interval of the test. For the trajectory intervals of the test, most of the stores separated from the parent aircraft without store-to-parent contact.