Comparisons are made between some measurements of skin friction and heat transfer over five axisymmetric bodies and the predictions of a simple theory. The development of the theory is outlined and explicit expressions obtained for all the gross turbulent boundary-layer characteristics (δ*,θ,H,Cf and St).

The equations of motion of a highly idealised model of a helicopter with a simple lag-hinged rotor are derived by Lagrange’s method. It is shown that the transformed equations governing Coleman instability (ground resonance) have a regular form involving wholly symmetric and skew-symmetric matrices. The work input to the unstable motions derives wholly from the torque applied to the rotor by the engine, but the torque equation is superfluous as far as the eigenvalues are concerned. Approximate stability criteria show that chassis and lag dampings per se are destabilising relative to the undamped reference condition and can lead to a substantial lowering of the critical rotor speed for instability onset. A necessary condition for instability (dynamic) is that two eigenvalues of the stiffness matrix are simultaneously negative.

A wind tunnel technique has been developed to measure the aerodynamic forces acting on golf balls over a wide range of Reynolds number and spin rate. Balls with round dimples and hexagonal dimples have been investigated. The dimples are found to induce a critical Reynolds number behaviour at a lower value of Reynolds number than that experienced by a smooth sphere and beyond this point, unlike the behaviour of a sand-roughened sphere, there is little dependence of the forces on further increases in Reynolds number. A hexagonally-dimpled ball has a higher lift coefficient and a slightly lower drag coefficient than a conventional round-dimpled ball. Trajectories are calculated using the aerodynamic data and the ranges are compared with data obtained from a driving machine on a golf course.

The effects of free-stream turbulence and of sinusoidal free-stream pulsations of controlled frequencies and amplitudes on the periodic wake of a circular cylinder are investigated experimentally by employing hot-wire and smoke visualisation techniques. In addition, the effects of cylinder yaw and mild favourable and adverse pressure gradients on the vortex shedding mechanism have been explored.

The data relating frequency to mean velocity follow Berger’s relation; this relation is uninfluenced by free-stream turbulence intensities up to 8 per cent. As the longitudinal turbulence intensity increases from 0.3 to 8 per cent, the downstream distance Lp behind the cylinder over which the hot-wire signal is periodic decreases progressively, indicating that the otherwise steady periodic wake interacts non-linearly with the three-dimensional free-stream turbulence and undergoes either transition or rapid diffusion by turbulence, depending on both the Reynolds number and the turbulence intensity. For a given turbulence intensity, Lp decreases also with increasing Reynolds number.

The shedding frequency behind a yawed cylinder does not vary as the cosine of the yaw angle ϕ for ϕ < 50°; the signal switches intermittently between periodic and irregular form as the yaw is increased from 0 to 70°. Mild pressure gradients (favourable as well as adverse) do not affect the shedding frequency; this is confirmed by smoke visualisation, which also shows that the pressure gradient changes the longitudinal vortex spacing downstream; the measured frequency is that determined by the local Reynolds number corresponding to the Berger relation.

Sinusoidal streamwise pulsations of controlled frequencies, and of amplitudes up to 10 per cent of free-stream velocity, have no effect on the natural shedding frequency; this is confirmed by smoke visualisation of the cylinder wake. However, the wake signal is amplitude-modulated at a frequency equal to the difference between the pulsation frequency and the natural shedding frequency corresponding to the free-stream mean velocity. The vortices are diffused faster in the presence of pulsation. When the pulsation amplitude is increased beyond 20 per cent, the hot-wire signal frequency in the wake equals the driving frequency; the frequency in the wake centre is also that of the pulsation. The effect of free-stream pulsation on the periodic wake is different from that due to longitudinal or transverse cylinder vibration, when lock-in has been observed.

It appears that free-stream disturbances – random or periodic – cannot account for the “Tritton jump”.

A detailed survey of a delta wing of 70° sweep has been performed at M = 2.5. The measurements include upper- and lower-surface pressure distributions, schlieren photographs, vapour-screen photographs and surface oil-flow visualisation. The results have been compared with thin-shock-layer theory and various other predictions.

This paper deals with the force coefficients on the leeward of two bluff bodies, in particular with the origin and nature of the lift force. Initially a general description of the characteristics of the force coefficients, plus the effect of parameters such as free-stream turbulence and surface roughness in the form of stranding, is given.

A resume of all the known suggestions for the origin of the lift force is listed and a series of experiments, attempting to test these suggestions using simple methods, is described. These methods consist mainly of force measurement, involving force measurement on the leeward conductor using different shapes for the leeward and windward bodies. However, static pressure tapping and flow visualisation are also employed to a small degree.

It is shown that none of the suggestions gives a satisfactory explanation for the origin of the lift force. However, several interesting points were noted; for instance the dependence of the lift profiles for the leeward body on its own characteristics in the wake and not particularly on the wake characteristics. Hence it is shown that the use of wake parameters, measured without the presence of the leeward body when attempting to assess the forces thereon, is an over-simplification of the situation as far as lift is concerned while appearing to work quite well for drag.