General Aerodynamics II

Faculty of Engineering UNLP

Practical Guide to Digital DATCOM

Introduction
Datcom is the compendium of information (DataCompendium) created by the Air Force
from the United States, a collection of equations of approximately 3100 pages used
in aircraft design. This manual was completed from the 1930s until the
from the '50s, when designs and calculations were done by hand. Digital Datcomes is a program
written during the 1960s and 70s in Fortran language to incorporate the manual
mentioned in a program, to accelerate the calculation process of new or existing ones
aircraft.
This guide is put together with the intention of summarizing the User Manual of Digital Datcom for
basic configurations, it is not a replacement for it.

Files
Inside the folder containing the program, there are 9 files in .dat format (for005...
for014) and an executable file (DATCOM). The DATCOM file is responsible for
read the input file and generate the output files.
For practical purposes of this guide, we will only analyze the input file and the
output principal. The input file is for005.dat, within this file it should be
To record the flight conditions and geometry of the aircraft under study, the first part of
this guide is about how to generate this file which is the crucial part of the method. The
the output file is for006.dat, within this it will contain everything that is requested to the
program and this can perform, in the second part of this guide this file is explained.
For the Digital Datcom to work, it is necessary to have the file in the same folder.
for005.dat and the DATCOM executable, when opening the latter, generates for a moment a
command window that closes immediately, this indicates that the program executed
the calculation. The program will generate the missing .dat files (if they were already generated,
then they will overwrite them).

Entries
Digital Datcom works using the so-called 'case' 1A 'case' is a series of
entries that define the configuration and flight conditions. The "case" consists of a
input of up to four groups of data:
Group I: Flight conditions and reference dimensions.

Much of this guide will be in English as it is the language used by the software.
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 Group II: Geometry for conventional configurations, which are fuselage,
wing and stabilizers.
- Group III: Additional configurations to group II, which are power plant,
flaps, tabs, ground effect, and tail in 'H'. In addition to those other configurations
defined in group II as low aspect ratio wings, control by jets and
hypersonic flaps.
-Group IV: Inputs to control the execution of the 'case', or multiple 'cases' and
allows the user to choose certain options to obtain a different output file,
This type of input is called control letters.
Data entry technique
Digital Datcom uses the 'namelist' input technique for groups I, II, and III. The
Well, the advantage of this type of technique is that it reduces errors and increases the utility of the program.
the following way
Variables within a namelist can be placed in any order.
Variables are not restricted to a particular column, Fortran allows
enter data up to 80 columns wide.
Only certain variables are needed as input. All the variables are
they are initialized as a zero computation (1e-60) in the case that a
If the necessary variable is not entered, that value will be used.
A variable can be placed multiple times, the last time it appears will be the
value to use.
Digital Datcom allows you to switch the measurement system to be used, metric or English. For
A better description uses the following nomenclature when talking about measures.
-"l" used for units of length: feet, inches, meters, or centimeters,
"A" is used for area units:ft2 , in2 , m2or cm2 .
"Deg" is used for angular measurements in degrees, or for temperature in degrees.
Rankine or Kelvin.
"F" is used for force: pounds or Newtons.
t used for time: seconds.
GROUP I
The first namelist of this group is FLTCON in which the conditions are entered.
flight, in theTable 1the entries of this are observed.
Table 1. Namelist FLTCON
Size
Variable Type Definition Units
vector
NMACH Entero - Amount of Mach to calculate -
MACH Vector 20 Mach values to calculate -
VINF Values of Speed of the current
Vector - free to calculate l/t

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NALPHA Enter - Number of angles of attack to calculate -
Angle of attack values, in order
ALSCHD
Vector 20 ascending DEG
RNNUB Vector 20 Reynolds number per unit length, 1/l
NALT Enter - Number of altitudes to calculate -
ALT Vector 20 Values of altitudes to calculate L
PINF Vector 20 Static pressure values of the free stream F/A
TINF Vector 20 Values of free stream temperature DEG
Upper limit of Mach for subsonic analysis
STMACH
Enter - (0.6 < STMACH < 0.9). Default value 0.6 -
Lower limit of Mach for supersonic analysis
TSMACH
Entero - (0.6<STMACH<0.9). Default value 0.6 -
WT Enter - Vehicle weights F
GAMMA Enter - Slip angle DEG
Control del loop of program
=1 variation in altitude y Make together, by default
LOOP
=2 variation Mach, a a fixed altitude.
Entero - =3 varies with altitude, at a fixed Mach -

The program needs Mach and Reynolds numbers to perform the calculation. In the case that
To calculate the Reynolds numbers, the program uses an atmospheric model.
standard of 1962, which only requires entering the Mach number and altitudes or
combinations with which the program manages to calculate everything. In the

him observe the Entrance Calculate program

combination of
variables y what calculate the program
MACH, RNNUB -
to obtain lo necessary. The
MACH, ALT PINF, TINF, RNNUB
entered variables by the user taken
VINF, ALT PINF, TINF, MACH, RNNUB
precedence in the calculation.
PINF, TINF, VINF RNNUB, MACH
Table 2. Entries PINF TINF minimums of FLTCON
MACH RNNUB, VINF
Entry Calculate program
MACH, RNNUB -
MACH, ALT PINF, TINF, RNNUB
VINF, ALT PINF
PINF, TINF, VINF RNNUB, MACH
PINF TINF
MACH RNNUB, VINF

Other optional inputs are the slip angle and the weight, these parameters are
necessary if the trimming option is used.
The second namelist of the group is OPTINS, which allows for the input of dimensions of
references that the program will use to obtain coefficients and derivatives. If the area
The reference is not defined; the program will use the wing area and its extension within the.

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fuselage. If the longitudinal reference length is not defined, the program uses the
the mean aerodynamic chord and the lateral length will be equal to the wingspan if it is not
defined. InTable 3The entries to this namelist are shown. In the case of roughness
superficial in the original Datcom manual, values for different can be found
surface.
Table 3. Namelist OPTINS

Variable Definition Units

ROUGFC Surface roughness. By default 0.16e-3 in or 0.406e-3 cm l*
SREF Reference area A
CBARR Reference longitudinal length
BLREF Reference lateral length l

GROUP II
The namelistSYNTHS defines the basic configuration of the aircraft intheTable 4are detailed
the variables to enter and intheFig. 1 a plan to better understand the mentioned table. The
The program allows scaling the model to perform wind tunnel analysis.

Table 4. Namelist SYNTHS

Symbol
Engineering Unit
xcg XCG Longitudinal position of the cg l
zcg ZCG Vertical position of the cg l
xw XW Longitudinal position of the leading edge of the wing l
zw ZW Vertical position of the leading edge of the wing l
Geometric angle of the root chord of the wing from the plane of
iw EXTRAORDINARY
reference deg
Longitudinal position of the leading edge of the stabilizer
xh XH horizontal l
zh ZH Vertical position of the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer l
Geometric angle of the root chord of the stabilizer
ih TRANSFER
horizontal from the reference plane deg
Longitudinal position of the leading edge of the stabilizer
xv XV vertical l
xvf XVF Longitudinal position of the leading edge of the ventral l
zv ZV Vertical position of the leading edge of the vertical stabilizer l
zvf ZVF Vertical position of the leading edge of the ventral l
- SCALE Scaling factor -
xhg HINAX Horizontal position of the axis of rotation of the vertical stabilizer l

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 Fig. 1. Namelist SYNTHS

The namelist BODY defines the geometric configuration of the fuselage, in theTable 5they are seen the
variables that can be entered in the program, it is worth noting that only it is necessary
enter one of the variables that define the fuselage area (radius, area, or perimeter), theFig.
2serves as help to understand the mentioned table.
Table 5. Namelist BODY
Symbol
engineering Variable Definition Unit
Number of longitudinal stations to which values are given
- NX maximum 20 -
xI X Longitudinal distance of each station l
SI S Area at station xI A
Pi P Perimeter at station xi l
ri R Radio at station xi l
zui TO Upper vertical coordinate at station xi l
zli ZL Lower vertical coordinate at station xi l
- BNOSE Forma nariz =1.0 (cónica); =2.0 (ojiva) -
- BTAIL Shape cone = 1.0 (conical); = 2.0 (ogive) -
ln BLN Length of the nose l
la BLA Length of the cylindrical segment after the nose l

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ds DS Diameter of the leading edge of the nose l

Fig. 2. Namelist BODY

The NamelistWGPLNF, HTPLNF, VTPLNF, VFPLNF are used to define the plant.
of the wing, horizontal stabilizer, vertical stabilizer, and ventral respectively, in theTable 6it
they show the variables to be entered in these namelists and in theFig. 3 a diagram is shown
with the aim of understanding them. Digital Datcom allows division into up to two regions.
length of the semi-span. If you want to use the canard configuration, it is enough to define

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to the horizontal stabilizer as the main wing and to the lifting surface as the
horizontal stabilizer, the program has an algorithm that according to the relationship of
wingspans know that it is a canard.
Table 6. Namelist WGPLNF, HTPLNF and VTPLNF
Estab.
Estab. Symbol
Ala Horiz Variable Definition Unit
Green engineering
ontological
x x x ct CHRDTP Point string l
x x x b*0/2 SSPNOP Semienvergadura external panel l
x x x b*/2 SSPNE Semi-span internal panel from fuselage l
Theoretical wingspan from plane of
x x x b/2 SSPN l
symmetry
x x x cb CHRDBP Cable at the junction point of panels l
x x x cr CHRDR Root cord l
x x x (Λx/c)I SAVSI Arrow of the inner panel deg
x x x (Λx/c)o SAVSO Arrow of the outer panel deg
Relative position from which it is measured
x x x x/c CHSTAT -
arrow
Twist angle, negative if the edge of
x x θ TWISTA deg
low attack
Projection of the panel's semi-span
x x (b/2)G0 SSPNDD l
external due to the dihedral
x x Γi DHDADI Dihedral angle internal panel deg
x x Γ0 DHDADO Dihedral angle external panel deg
Tipo de ala =1.0 un solo panel, =2.0 dos
x x x - TYPE -
panels, =3.0 double delta

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 Fig. 3. Namelist WGPLNF, HTPLNF and VTPLNF

The namelists WGSCHR, HTSCHR VTSCHR, VFSCHR are used to enter the
geometry of the wing profile, horizontal, vertical, and ventral stabilizer respectively.
These namelists can be replaced by the NACA control letter, which is explained further.
if you want more information about these namelists, consult the tutorial
original from Digital Datcom.
The namelistEXPR is used to input experimental or known values into the method.
of calculation, the derivatives of the lift surfaces, the fuselage and
from the combination of these, as well as the downwash angle and angles within the
characteristic curves of the profile, for more information about this namelist consult the tutorial
original from Digital Datcom.
GROUP III
Group three is used to define special configurations, those that do not fit in.
within the initial calculation of wing-fuselage-stabilizers.

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The namelist of this group falls outside the scope of this guide, which is why a
introduction of what they are used for but without going into detail, for more information
refer to the original manual of Digital Datcom.
The namelist PROPWR, JETPWE as can be seen from the name are used to input data.
from the propulsion plant, propeller or jet respectively. It allows for the placement of up to two
engines in any position in the aircraft.
The namelist TVTPANes used to define the vertical panels can be used in the
glue it on the wing. The method calculates the increase in lateral stability, the effect that
The longitudinal stability is not calculated. If the namelist is used in the stabilizer
horizontal and the configuration has a vertical or ventral stabilizer, the interference between
this is not calculated.
The namelists SYMFLP, ASYFLP, CONTAB are used to define devices.
high-lift and control devices. The flaps are defined using the namelist SYMFLP.
CONTAB is used to define the tabs. The spoilers and wings are defined using
ASYFLP.
The namelist GRNDEF is used if a site effect calculation is necessary, it can be defined.
the heights at which the calculation is to be made.
The pending namelist for this group are LARWB, TRNJET, HYPEFF which are used
for individual analyses which are not used with inputs from group II. These serve
for the study of very low aspect ratio wings, control through a transverse jet and flap
hypersonic respectively.
GROUP IV
Within this group are the so-called control charts. Control charts
they must be placed in column 1 and there should be no blank space in the name unless
that the name consists of two words. They can be entered anywhere in the file of
entry, except for the NEXT CASE. This group can be divided into three sections:
Case control
It is used to handle the case and tell the program the bases. It contains the
next letters.
The LetterNAMELIST serves to notify the program to use the entered namelists, it
it is recommended to use it when there is doubt about the entered values

The SAVE letter is used to save data, in the following case the saved variables
they remain with their value unless they are changed again. This card affects the cards
NACA, DERIV and DIM
The DIM letter to choose the unit system must use one of these DIM
FT, DIM IN, DIM M, DIM CM. If the DIM FT is not specified, it means the program has it.
by default. The following table shows the units used by each system.

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 Table 7. System of units
Reynolds for
Letter from Roughness
System Pressure unit of
Superficial Longitudinal Control
length
Pies, Libra, Segundo DIM FT Pies Inch lb/ft2 R 1/ft
Inch
Second DIM IN Inch Inch lb/in2 R 1/ft
Metro, Newton,
Second DIM M MetroCentimeterN/m2 K 1/m
Centimeter, Newton
Second DIM CM Cm Centimeter2 K 1/m

NEXT CASE when this letter is placed, the program reads the input data and starts the
calculation of the case. It is not necessary to include it in the last case but it is recommended.

Execution control
It indicates to the program what to do.

TRIM allows trimming calculations for the subsonic range. Trimming can be performed
with a control device or moving the entire horizontal stabilizer
The DAMP letter indicates to the program to calculate the derivatives.

The NACA letter allows the use of subsonic or supersonic airfoil profiles. It can be used
together with the namelists used to define the profile. If the coordinates are defined
of the profile and the NACA letter is used in the same program, the coordinates of the profile will be
the ones used by the program. The following table describes how to use it
Table 8. NACA Control Chart

Column Entry Purpose

1 to 4 NACA They say it is a NACA
5 script
Where the letter Wing (W), horizontal stabilizer (H), is applied,
6 W, H, V or F Vertical (V) or ventral (F)
7 script
Profile type series 1 (1), 4 digits (4), 5 digits (5), 6 digits (6) or
8 1, 4, 5, 6, S supersonic
9 script
10 to 80 NACA Designation

If you want to use a NACA 2412 airfoil on the vertical stabilizer, it should be placed in the
first column of the file NACA-V-1-241. In the Digital Datcom manual
they find more application examples.

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Exit control
CASEID is used to give an identification to the case, for example CASEID Guide
Datcom will print in the output file that the case is called Datcom Guide.
If you want the derivatives in radians, use DERIV RAD. If you want the output in
radians should be defined in each case, otherwise it defaults to degrees. If it
want to change the previous one uses DERIV DEG.
The letter serves to obtain auxiliary and partial outputs for each Mach, for more
information see section 6.1.8 of Datcom

Outputs
General header
The output file begins with a general header, followed by an error analysis.
to debug the program if necessary and a couple of lines that show the commands of
entry and then a heading for each combination of flight conditions indicating
the version of datcom from which the calculation methodologies are extracted, the type of
vehicle configuration for which there is aerodynamic output and the name
entered by the user.
Reference parameters
For each flight condition, the parameters are displayed: Mach number, Altitude,
Speed
reference, Reference longitudes (longitudinal and lateral), Position of the center of
reference for the moments.
Longitudinal and lateral static stability
The static coefficients and derivatives are shown:
Resistance coefficient
Lift coefficient
Pitching moment coefficient
Coefficient of normal force to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle
Coefficient of axial force to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle
Distance between the reference center of moments and the position of the center of gravity

Lift coefficient derivative vs angle of attack

Derivative of longitudinal moment coefficient vs angle of attack

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 Derivative of lateral force coefficient vs slip angle

Derivative of yaw moment coefficient vs. sideslip angle

Derivative of roll moment coefficient vs slip angle

Relationship of dynamite pressure in the horizontal stabilizer and that of the free current

( ) Downwash angle in degrees

( Derivative
) of the downwash angle vs angle of attack.

Dynamic Derivatives
Derivative that relates the variation of the lift coefficient with respect to the
dimensionless pitch speed. = ̅
(2 )

Derivative that relates the variation of the longitudinal moment coefficient with
regarding the non-dimensionalized pitch rate. = ̅
(2 )

̇ Derivative that relates the variation of the lift coefficient with respect to
variation of angle of attack. = ̇̅
(2 )

̇ Derivative that relates the variation of the longitudinal moment coefficient

regarding the variation of angle of attack. = ̇̅
(2 )

Derivative that relates the variation of the rolling moment coefficient with respect to
the non-dimensionalized rolling speed. =
(2 )

Derivative that relates the variation of the lateral force coefficient with respect to
dimensionless roll speed = .
(2 )

Derivative that relates the variation of the yaw moment coefficient with respect to
the nondimensionalized rolling speed. =
(2 )

Derivative that relates the variation of the yaw moment coefficient and the
dimensionless yaw rate. =
(2 )

Derivative relating the variation of the rolling moment coefficient with respect to
the dimensionless yaw rate. =
(2 )

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Others
If requested, the program has the capacity to provide everything related to devices.
high lift devices, trimming, etc.

Basic programming rules of Datcom

Finally, the basic rules for generating a datcom input file are shown.
The code is limited to a maximum of 80 columns per row (no limit on these)
last). The entries must be placed between column 2 and 80, not in column 1.
it can be used, control charts are the only exception to this rule. It is not
It is necessary to complete the 80 columns, you can continue on the next row.
2- The name of each list must not have blank spaces and must be capitalized.
by the symbol $. The $ symbol must be placed in column 2 and the name of the
the list starts in column 3. After the name of each list, a space should be left
blank space.
3- Lists must end with a $ or $END symbol.
4- The values of the variables must be specified using one of the following
ways
-Vname = c,
-Anombre = c1, c2, c3,…, cn.
Where
Vnombre is the name of a variable (such as wingspan).
Anombre is the name of a vector of variables (such as the angles to
calculate).
Variable names should not have white spaces
5- Each entry must be immediately followed by a comma and there must be no
blank spaces
6- The variables within the lists can be in any order.
7- It is not necessary to enter all the variables in the list (only the essential ones)
8- Variables within lists can appear multiple times; it will be used
the last value.
9- Multiple appearances of the same constant within a vector in a list
it can be represented in the form K*C, where K is the number of successive
occurrences and C is the numerical constant to repeat. K must be an integer. By
example Aname=4*3.0, is the same as writing Aname=3.0,3.0,3.0,3.0,
10- In vector type entries, the index of the first element to be specified must be
placed.
11- Each entry to be continued on another line must end with a comma.

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 12- All numeric variables in Datcom must specify a decimal point.
All variables, except for logical ones, are real.
The items mentioned above can be found in the image.

Fig. 4. Columns and rows of datcom

Application example
A plane similar to that in the following figure will be calculated. For two Mach numbers 0.3 and 0.4.
those corresponding to two heights 1500 and 3000 ft respectively. All dimensions
They are in imperial units.

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 Fig. 5. Example of application.

Below is the input file for the datcom with comments in italics
(these comments do not go in the file)
CASEID EXAMPLE AERODYNAMICS
$FLTCON NMACH=2.0, MACH(1)=0.3,0.4,%%Flight conditions
NALPHA=9.0, ALSCHD(1)=-2.0,0.0,2.0,4.0,8.0,12.0,16.0,20.0,24.0,
500.0,500.0$
$OPTINS SREF=2.25, CBARR=0.822, BLREF=3.00$%%Reference parameters
$SYNTHS XCG=2.60, ZCG=0.0, XW=1.70, ZW=0.0, ALIW=0.0, XH=3.93,
Geometric parameters
$BODY NX=10.0, BNOSE=2.0, BTAIL=1.0, BLN=1.46, BLA=1.97, %%Fuselage
X(1)=0.0, .175,.322,.530,.850,1.46,2.5,3.43,3.97,4.57,
S(1)=0.0,.00547,.022,.0491,.0872,.136,.136,.136,.0993,.0698,
P(1)=0.0,.262,.523,.785,1.04,1.305,1.305,1.305,1.12,.866,
R(1)=0.0, .0417,.0833,.125,.1665,.208,.208,.208,.178,.138$
NACA-W-5-23118%%Control letter in the wing uses a NACA 23118
$WGPLNF CHRDTP=0.346, SSPNE=1.29, SSPN=1.5, CHRDR=1.16, SAVSI=45.0,
CHSTAT=0.25, SWAFP=0.0, TWISTA=0.0, SSPNDD=0.0,
Wing Geometry
NACA-V-4-0012%%Control chart in the vertical uses a NACA 0012
CHRDTP=.42
Vertical geometry
NACA-H-4-0012%%Control letter in the horizontal uses a NACA 0012
$HTPLNF CHRDTP=0.253, SSPNE=0.52, SSPN=0.67, CHRDR=0.42, SAVSI=45.0,
CHSTAT=0.25, SWAFP=0.0, TWISTA=0.0, SSPNDD=0.0, DHDADI=0.0, DHDADO=0.0,

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 Geometry of the horizontal
DAMP%%Control letter for the return of dynamic derivatives
SAVE

Comentarios
In the case of the fuselage, it is not necessary to enter S, P, and R; entering one of them is enough.
three enough.
If you want to create a case below by changing certain things, just add
a control letter that says NEXT CASE and write the variations, respecting
the format.

Bibliography
The USAF stability and control DATCOM, Volume I, User Manual; McDonnell Douglas
Astronautics Company; St. Louis, Missouri; April 1979.

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