Early Design Methods Matured – DATCOM, RAeS, JSASS Data Sheets

New stability and control problems associated with geometries appropriate to tran­sonic and supersonic speeds and their approximate theoretical or empirical consequences led to the creation of handbook data for their solution in a form suitable for the use of airplane designers. Handbooks have been produced by the USAF Wright Air Development Center, the British Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS), the Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences (JSASS), and others. The USAF version, called DATCOM, for Data Compilation (Hoak, 1976), is supplemented by a computer version intended to reduce the manual labor in using the rather bulky hard copy version of the material.

The goal of all these compilations is to show the effects of all possible design factors on aircraft forces and moments. Charts and elaborate formulas are used, as in the example of Figure 6.3, from the DATCOM. RAeS data sheets have similar function and appearance, except for a wide use of ingenious carpet plots. Dr. H. H. B. M. Thomas played a key role in the development of the RAeS data sheets.