A CFD-based analysis of the 14-Bis aircraft aerodynamics and stability

Abstract

Abstract The work reported in the present paper was performed to honor the centennial of the flight by Alberto Santos Dumont with his 14-Bis aircraft. The paper describes results for a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of the 14-Bis aircraft aerodynamics and flight stability. The 14-Bis aircraft geometry was generated from historical sources and observations. CFD computations were performed using well-established commercial codes for calculation of the historical flight conditions. Simulations considered a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes formulation, in which turbulence closure was achieved by using Menter's model. The flight conditions investigated were primarily concerned with historical observations regarding flight speeds and the need for a more powerful engine, as well as flight stability characteristics of the 14-Bis airplane, which are unknown up to the present day. The results led to qualitative agreement with historical reports, although quite interesting conclusions could be drawn with regard to the actual aerodynamic flight speeds and the aircraft stability parameters.