Investigation of the Possibilities of Rotating Cylinders as an Auxiliary Lift Device

Abstract

The following is an attempt to show the gains and losses achieved when a rotating cylinder is used to create additional lift during the take-off and landing of an aircraft.A hundred-year old theory lies behind the results (the “Magnus” effect), which, up to the present day has not been put to practical use in flight for increasing CL. Many proposals and tentative designs have been studied at major Research Establishments, notably A.V.A. Gottingen and the RAE but experimental studies on aircraft converted for the purpose have yet to be made.Limited test results show that the CL on a rotating cylinder can be as great as 15 providing that sufficient care is taken to approach infinite aspect ratio by means of end-plates on a high aspect ratio cylinder. The one great disadvantage with the cylinder is the high drag coefficients produced. However, there seems no reason why a fairing should not be placed in the wake to reduce the drag to that corresponding to a blunt-nosed thick aerofoil section.