What are some first-order drag approximations for airframe/propwash interactions, both for dynamic flight and for static thrust, in a traditional tractor configuration?
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There is surprisingly little literature on that. This answer by @xxavier lead me to a very interesting paper in which the drag of a Luscombe 8b with and without thrust was compared. A very thoughtful way was used to arrive at zero-thrust numbers, and the result showed that the additional drag from the propeller effects was about 30% of the total zero-lift drag without thrust.
In the paper, the prop efficiency is 81% while the overall efficiency drops to 62% due to slipstream losses.
answered May 16, 2020 at 4:39