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Computers and wind tunnels: complementary aids to aircraft design

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

A. B. Haines
A. B. Haines*
Affiliation:
Aircraft Research Association Ltd
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Extract

This Second European Pioneers Day Lecture has two main themes: to pay tribute to the memory of Professor Dietrich Küchemann and second, to comment on how computers and wind tunnels should be used to assist aircraft design. These are not separate themes; as I will show, they are closely interrelated. You may be surprised that I feel that a lecture on the second theme is needed. However, in the past ten years, there has been a dramatic advance in theoretical methods on aerodynamics and in particular, for transonic flow calculations. This has created new opportunities but if we are not alert, there are also dangers in the new situation. My aim in this lecture is to draw attention to the opportunities and the dangers. I want to express my belief that computers will never completely replace the wind tunnel; we must learn to use them in partnership; only in this way can we hope to compensate for the limitations of any theory or the deficiencies of any experiment and finally, we must never forget that both are only tools; they are not a substitute for the human brain. Ideas, concepts, inventive genius, intuition, experience, the ability to interpret and draw logical conclusions will always be needed: in short, without scientists such as Professor Küchemann, the computers and the wind tunnels will be of little value.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 81 , Issue 799 , July 1977 , pp. 306 - 321
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1977 

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