What is the coefficient of drag of a Javelin ?

Answer 1

It depends on the exact size and shape of the javelin, and the roughness of the surface, the orientation of the javelin as it travels, the material it's traveling through, and the speed at which it travels.

If the javelin is flying through the air sideways, its drag coefficient will be similar to that of a long cylinder, about 2.0 for low speeds, and perhaps 0.8 for high speeds.

If the javelin is flying precisely point-first through the air, it will have an extremely low drag coefficient.

Update:
I did a calculation in FLUENT using a smooth, 2-meter javelin with a 2 cm diameter and long (70 cm) tapering points at both ends. The cylindrical portion in the middle is 60 cm long. The javelin is traveling point-first through air at 30 meters per second.

After iterating and converging, the drag coefficient (using the javelin's length as the characteristic length) was calculated to be:
Cd = 0.00011748897
The components of the drag coefficient were:
Cd(viscous drag) = 0.00011604687
Cd(form drag) = 0.0000014420974

As you can see, the vast majority of the drag is from viscous forces, since the javelin has a tiny front profile, but lots of surface area.

Answer 2

I dont know to be quest honest. I would assume its very low considering the areodynamic design of it.