Last updated: February 20, 2004

Gulfstream personnel completed modeling studies of two candidate wing pods that were being considered for HIAPER. The HPO received the study results in late December 2003.

Initally two pods were selected that were considered to be viable candidates that can be purchased "off the shelf". The pods are used primarily by the military. They would require some modifications to the interior to accommodate instrumentation. These two pods are referred to as the Sargent Fletcher (manufacturer) F-16 cargo pod (model NGCP) and the P-3 400 gallon pod (model ATP-D1). The Gulfstream aerodynamic study showed that both pods had the potential to restrict the flight envelope of the GV due to drag, shockwaves, induced flutter and loss of lift to varying degrees. The F-16 pod was considered to be the least aerodynamically clean and would need modification of its shape. Neither pod has been ruled out however, Gulfstream and NCAR jointly agreed that a smaller more aerodynamically clean pod than either of these would be a better candidate for a first deployed wing pod that would give the GV the opportunity to operate over the entire flight envelope with pods in place.

NCAR has designed a new shape (the "NCAR" pod) that should meet these criteria. The NCAR pod has a constant diameter section 48 inches long with a 20 inch diameter and is 164 inches from the nose tip to tail end. When mounted below the wing, the top of the pod will be approximately 17 inches below the wing at its lowest point (this wing to pod distance will be greater fore and aft of the lowest point). NCAR has asked Gulfstream engineers to proceed with aero, loads and stress analyses of this new shape.

Wing mounted instruments and pods will not be limited to these pods or instruments that fit in them and it is anticipated that specially designed and fabricated pods or instrument pylons will be developed at a later date. However, in the near term our goal is to provide investigators with a well defined standard pod that is easily certifiable. This will allow investigators to package their instruments to a known configuration and environment. Find out more: wing pod information continued. (Access specific wing pod information using the quick links below.)

Proposed GV Instrument Wing Pods

Download File/Document File Type/Size NCAR Pod Shape JPG, 31KB Sargent Fletcher Cargo Pod Assembly V2 Section PDF*, 41KB Pod Comparison MS Excel, 16KB P3 Wing Pod Assembly JPG, 35KB P3 Wing Pod Assembly Section JPG, 38KB P3 Wing Pod Assembly Side JPG, 24KB GV Wing Pod Locations JPG, 40KB

* Note: Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view PDF files.