Abstract
Active Flow Control (AFC) experiments were performed at the California Institute of Technology and at The University of Arizona on a generic airplane vertical tail model and on swept back wings. They proved the effectiveness of sweeping jets in improving the control authority of a rudder and the lift generation of flaps. The results indicated that a momentum coefficient (Cμ) of the order of 1% could increase the lift or the side force by 30-50%. However sparsely distributed actuators providing a collective Cμ ? 0.1% were able to increase these forces by 20%. This result is achieved by reducing the spanwise flow on the swept back wing or rudder and its success is attributed to the large sweep back angle of the test articles.
