Boundary Layer Control

Abstract

It has almost become a tradition in recent years to begin a paper on boundary layer by paying a tribute to the great Prandtl and his famous paper in which he introduced the conception of boundary layer into Fluid Dynamics. The year 1954 is, however, not only memorable to mark the passing of fifty years since Prandtl's classical demonstration of the effect of boundary layer suction on the flow pattern around a cylinder; it is also memorable because in 1954 most convincing demonstrations of practical applications of boundary layer control for aircraft have taken place. I am referring, in particular, to the demonstrations with the Attinello flap in the United States which mark the introduction of one form of boundary layer control as an engineering and practical reality.