ESP (External-Stores Program) - A Pilot Computer Program for Determining Flutter-Critical External-Store Configurations. Volume 1. User's Manual,

A pilot computer program for determining flutter-critical external-store configurations has been developed and made operational on the Naval Air Development Center Central Computer System. The new program, designated ESP External-Stores Program, is a derivative of the previously developed Flutter and Strength Optimization Program FASTOP. Three key ingredients in ESP are A p-k flutter-solution algorithm that includes an automated procedure for defining the flutter speed. A calculation of the derivatives of the flutter speed with respect to the store parameters. A gradient-directed numerical-search algorithm to seek out progressively lower flutter speeds within a parameter space defined by the range of store parameters at each aircraft store station. The version of ESP that exists as of this writing was developed primarily with the objective of quickly evaluating the feasibility of the store-search concept. The program structure has not been optimized for minimum computing time, and not all options in the program have been checked. Thus, the current ESP version should be considered as a pilot code. Nevertheless, the unique capabilities of ESP have been shown to provide substantial advantages over previous approaches to the store-flutter problem. Therefore, this users manual was prepared to permit early utilization of ESP on practical problems.