FLIGHT CONTROL AUGMENTORS FOR AFT-CENTER-OF-GRAVITY LAUNCH VEHICLES

The author presents the details of the designed fright control augment ors, the wind tunnel test programs conducted at the NASA Marshall Spac e Flight Center, and the stability and control analyses results for th e augmented launch vehicle. Forward and aft, all-movable, blunt-traili ng-edge flight control augmentors have been designed and wind tunnel t ested to provide the required flight control augmentation for a family of aft-center-of-gravity launch vehicles that could not be adequately controlled using engine ginbaling alone. Previous publications have p resented the other parts of this comprehensive research project: the d evelopmental stages of the program, the comprehensive reviews of our n ational heritage of launch vehicles that have used aerodynamic surface s and current use of these by ether nations, and a state-of-the-art as sessment of smart materials and advanced composites directly applicabl e to the innovative design of the flight control augmentors. It is sho wn that the blunt-trailing-edge design provides the maximum flight con trol augmentation.