On the possibility of using a passive method to reduce the aerodynamic drag of light aircraft

The paper evaluates the effect of using a passive drag reduction method by installing flat plates near cylindrical elements of a light aircraft. A model problem is solved, the essence of which is to calculate the drag of a Cessna-172 aircraft for two cases: 1) for an aircraft in which the existing wing struts and landing gear struts are replaced with circular crosssection cylinders; 2) for an aircraft in which plates are installed near the cylindrical wing struts and landing gear struts. The geometric parameters of the plates are selected based on the condition of ensuring the minimum drag of the "cylinder-plate"system. It is found that the effect of reducing the total drag of the aircraft in the second case can reach 2.6% compared to the option without plates.