Author: Ronald J. Wilson

Publisher:

Published: 1971

Total Pages: 92

ISBN-13:

A turbulence response investigation was conducted with the XB-70 airplane. No special turbulence penetration techniques, speeds, or other restrictions were specified for the investigation, nor were any flights made solely to obtain turbulence data. During 79 flights, turbulence was encountered, and recorded on a VGH recorder, 6.2 percent of the total flight distance at supersonic speeds above an altitude of 12,192 meters (40,000 feet). Geographical locations are given for selected turbulence encounters. For 22 flights the airplane was instrumented to measure true gust velocities and the structural acceleration response to turbulence. The turbulence intensities measured were very low in comparison with those measured at high altitudes in other investigations. Acceleration response spectra, frequency response transfer functions, and coherence functions were computed from three turbulence encounters at Mach numbers of 0.88, 1. 59, and 2.35. Results are compared with calculated studies. Frequencies from the vertical and lateral structural modes, dominant in the airplane acceleration responses, were compared with the natural frequencies of the human body in the vertical and lateral directions.