Wind-tunnel tests of an aircraft turret model

The drag of a half-scale aircraft laser turret is investigated in a low-spe ed wind tunnel. Forces, moments, and pressures are recorded for the turret and aft-mounted fairings and splitter plates. Oil traces and tufts indicate that the how is characterized by dominant vortices shedding from the top o f the turret and a large trailing wake of vorticity. Splitter plates are in effective in reducing drag as a result of the strong flow over the top of t he turret. A small fairing reduces the baseline drag coefficient by 49% but is unable to produce attached dow near the turret. A large fairing elimina tes nearly all separation regions and reduces the baseline drag coefficient by 55%.