The Acme Aircraft Co S-1 Sierra was an experimental aircraft of unusual configuration built in the US in
1948
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
to investigate the advantages of a
pusher propeller
In aeronautical and naval engineering, pusher configuration is the term used to describe a drivetrain of air- or watercraft with propulsion device(s) after the engine(s). This is in contrast to the more conventional tractor configuration, whic ...
configuration.
[ Apart from this ]engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...
installation, the aircraft was unusual in having an Y-shaped tail
The tail is the elongated section at the rear end of a bilaterian animal's body; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage extending backwards from the midline of the torso. In vertebrate animals that evolution, evolved to los ...
incorporating ruddervator
The V-tail or ''vee-tail'' (sometimes called a butterfly tail or Rudlicki's V-tailGudmundsson S. (2013). "General Aviation Aircraft Design: Applied Methods and Procedures" (Reprint). Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 489. , 9780123973290) of an aircraf ...
s on the upper fins. The wing was shoulder-mounted on the fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...
and was unswept.
During the 1960s, the US aerospace manufacturer Northrop used the aircraft as a technology demonstrator for boundary layer control
In engineering, boundary layer control refers to methods of controlling the behaviour of fluid flow boundary layers.
It may be desirable to reduce flow separation on fast vehicles to reduce the size of the wake (streamlining), which may reduce ...
concepts.[
]
Specifications (S-1 Sierra)
See also
References
{{reflist, refs=
[{{cite web , last=Eckland , first=E.O , title=American airplanes: Acme Aircraft Co , url=http://aerofiles.com/_ab.html , website=www.aerofiles.com , publisher=Aerofiles , access-date=May 15, 2025 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121205051134/http://aerofiles.com/_ab.html , archive-date=December 5, 2012]
[{{cite journal , journal=Flight Magazine , title=Single-Seat Pusher: An interesting experiment in high performance for lightplanes , date=November 1953 , volume=40, number=5 , pages=26, 28, 41 , publisher=Air Review Publishing Corporation , location=Dallas, TX , url=https://archive.org/details/sim_flight-operations_1953-11_40_5/page/26/mode/2up? , access-date=May 15, 2025]
[{{cite web , last= , first= , title=Acme Aircraft Co (Sierradyne Inc) S-1 Sierra (Sue) , url=http://www.wmof.com/Serria_Sue.html , website=wmof.com , publisher=Western Museum of Flight , access-date=May 15, 2025 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328075858/http://www.wmof.com/Serria%20Sue.html , url-status=dead , archive-date=28 March 2016]
1950s United States experimental aircraft
Sierra
V-tail aircraft
Single-engined pusher aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1953
Shoulder-wing aircraft
Aircraft with conventional landing gear