Experimental Investigation of the Propeller Design for future QESTOL Aircraft in the BNF Project

Due to increasing airport congestion the German research project ’Burgernahes Flugzeug’ (BNF, citizen friendly airplane) investigates the potential of aircraft concepts for a possible future air transportation system integrating small airports. Key technologies in aerodynamics for developing new generation quiet, efficient, short take-off and landing (QESTOL) aircraft are studied through the synergistic exploitationof Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and new wind tunnel data. One subject of the conducted investigations is a ninebladed high power propeller mounted in tractor configuration on a wing that is equipped with an active gapless high-lift system. As the aerodynamic focus of the BNF project is on the interaction between the propeller slipstream and the high-lift flowfield, this paper is focussed on the experimental investigation of the propeller performance in comparison with simulation data.