The Experimental Determination of the Electric Fields Surrounding a Model Aircraft

All aircraft collects electrostatic charges during flight, and use of the resultant electric fields has been proposed to initiate fuzing of antiaircraft projectiles. Plots of the resultant fields close to full-scale aircraft are difficult to obtain. An electrolytic tank may be used to measure these fields by using scaled models. Plots were made of the equipotential surfaces about an F4-J scaled aircraft and of potential differences (measure of potential gradient) between probes on prescribed trajectories past the scaled model. These data are presented in this report and can be used to estimate fuzing performance. (Author)