|
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
NASA Langley Research Center
…
The 12th and Final NACA Reun
…
5/2/08
| Description |
The 12th and Final NACA Reunion took place at the NASA Langley Research Center, which was established as the first NACA facility in 1917 as the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. NACA Reunion XII was co-sponsored by the NASA Langley Research Center and the Langley Alumni Association and took place in Hampton, Virginia, May 2-4, 2008. There were 360 attendees from over 30 States, |
| Date |
5/2/08 |
|
Hyper III, M2-F2 & RC Mother
…
| Title |
Hyper III, M2-F2 & RC Mothership |
| Full Description |
The Remote Controlled research staff from left to right are: Richard C. Eldredge, Dale Reed, James O. Newman and Bob McDonald. In support of the M2 lifting body program in the early 1960s, Dale Reed had built a number of small lifting body shapes and drop tested them from a radio controlled mothership. By late 1968, "Mother" had made over 120 launch drops. Next, Reed devised a program in which NASA research pilot Milt Thompson could remotely pilot "Mother" using an 8-ball attitude indicator from the ground. |
| Date |
01/01/1968 |
| NASA Center |
Dryden Flight Research Center |
|
M2-F1 in flight over lakebed
…
| Photo Description |
Following the first M2-F1 airtow flight on 16 August 1963, the Flight Research Center used the vehicle for both research flights and to check out new lifting-body pilots. These included Bruce Peterson, Don Mallick, Fred Haise, and Bill Dana from NASA. Air Force pilots who flew the M2-F1 included Chuck Yeager, Jerry Gentry, Joe Engle, Jim Wood, and Don Sorlie, although Wood, Haise, and Engle only flew on car tows. In the three years between the first and last flights of the M2-F1, it made about 400 car tows and 77 air tows. |
| Project Description |
The wingless, lifting body aircraft design was initially concieved as a means of landing an aircraft horizontally after atmospheric reentry. The absence of wings would make the extreme heat of re-entry less damaging to the vehicle. In 1962, Dryden management approved a program to build a lightweight, unpowered lifting body as a prototype to flight test the wingless concept. It would look like a "flying bathtub," and was designated the M2-F1, the "M" referring to "manned" and "F" referring to "flight" version. It featured a plywood shell placed over a tubular steel frame crafted at Dryden. Construction was completed in 1963. The first flight tests of the M2-F1 were over Rogers Dry Lake at the end of a tow rope attached to a hopped-up Pontiac convertible driven at speeds up to about 120 mph. This vehicle needed to be able to tow the M2-F1 on the Rogers Dry Lakebed adjacent to NASA's Flight Research Center (FRC) at a minimum speed of 100 miles per hour. To do that, it had to handle the 400-pound pull of the M2-F1. Walter "Whitey" Whiteside, who was a retired Air Force maintenance officer working in the FRC's Flight Operations Division, was a dirt-bike rider and hot-rodder. Together with Boyden "Bud" Bearce in the Procurement and Supply Branch of the FRC, Whitey acquired a Pontiac Catalina convertible with the largest engine available. He took the car to Bill Straup's renowned hot-rod shop near Long Beach for modification. With a special gearbox and racing slicks, the Pontiac could tow the 1,000-pound M2-F1 110 miles per hour in 30 seconds. It proved adequate for the roughly 400 car tows that got the M2-F1 airborne to prove it could fly safely and to train pilots before they were towed behind a C-47 aircraft and released. These initial car-tow tests produced enough flight data about the M2-F1 to proceed with flights behind the C-47 tow plane at greater altitudes. The C-47 took the craft to an altitude of 12,000 where free flights back to Rogers Dry Lake began. Pilot for the first series of flights of the M2-F1 was NASA research pilot Milt Thompson. Typical glide flights with the M2-F1 lasted about two minutes and reached speeds of 110 to 120 mph. A small solid landing rocket, referred to as the "instant L/D rocket," was installed in the rear base of the M2-F1. This rocket, which could be ignited by the pilot, provided about 250 pounds of thrust for about 10 seconds. The rocket could be used to extend the flight time near landing if needed. More than 400 ground tows and 77 aircraft tow flights were carried out with the M2-F1. The success of Dryden's M2-F1 program led to NASA's development and construction of two heavyweight lifting bodies based on studies at NASA's Ames and Langley research centers--the M2-F2 and the HL-10, both built by the Northrop Corporation, and the U.S. Air Force's X-24 program, with an X-24A and -B built by Martin. The Lifting Body program also heavily influenced the Space Shuttle program. The M2-F1 program demonstrated, the feasibility of the lifting body concept for horizontal landings of atmospheric entry vehicles. It also demonstrated a procurement and management concept for prototype flight test vehicles that produced rapid results at very low cost (approximately $50,000, excluding salaries of government employees assigned to the project). |
| Photo Date |
August 30, 1963 |
|
M2-F3 with test pilot John A
…
| Title |
M2-F3 with test pilot John A. Manke |
| Description |
(control) system. When the M2-F2 was rebuilt by the Northrop Corporation with the help and cooperation of the FRC and redesignated theM2-F3 [ http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/M2-F3/index.html ], it was modified with an additional third vertical fin--centered between the tip fins--to improve control characteristics. The M2-F2/F3 was the first of the heavy-weight, entry-configuration (i.e., configured for re-entry to the atmosphere from space) lifting bodies. Its successful development as a research test vehicle answered many of the generic questions about these vehicles. NASA donated The M2-F3 vehicle to the Smithsonian Institute in December 1973. It is currently hanging in the Air and Space Museum along with the X-15 aircraft number 1, which was its hangar partner at Dryden from 1965 to 1969., NASA research pilot John A. Manke is seen here in front of the M2-F3 Lifting Body. Manke was hired by NASA on May 25, 1962, as a flight research engineer. He was later assigned to the pilot's office and flew various support aircraft including the F-104, F5D, F-111 and C-47. After leaving the Marine Corps in 1960, Manke worked for Honeywell Corporation as a test engineer for two years before coming to NASA. He was project pilot on the X-24B and also flew the HL-10, M2-F3, and X-24A lifting bodies. John made the first supersonic flight of a lifting body and the first landing of a lifting body on a hard surface runway. Manke served as Director of the Flight Operations and Support Directorate at the Dryden Flight Research Center prior to its integration with Ames Research Center in October 1981. After this date John was named to head the joint Ames-Dryden Directorate of Flight Operations. He also served as site manager of the NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility. John is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He retired on April 27, 1984. A fleet of lifting bodies flown at the NASA Flight Research Center (FRC--later the Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, from 1963 to l975 demonstrated the ability of pilots to maneuver and safely land a wingless vehicle designed to fly back to Earth from space and be landed like an aircraft at a pre-determined site. Aerodynamic lift--essential to flight in the atmosphere--was obtained from the shape of their bodies. The addition of fins and control surfaces allowed the pilots to stabilize and control the vehicles and regulate their flight paths. The information the lifting body program generated contributed to the data base that led to development of today's space shuttle program. The success of the FRC'sM2-F1 [ http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/M2-F1/index.html ]program led to NASA's development and construction of two heavyweight lifting bodies based on studies at NASA's Ames and Langley research centers--the M2-F2 and the HL-10, both built by the Northrop Corporation. The "M" refers to "manned" and "F" refers to "flight" version. "HL" comes from "horizontal landing" and 10 is for the tenth lifting body model to be investigated by Langley. The first flight of the M2-F2--which looked much like the "F1"--was on July 12, 1966. Milt Thompson was the pilot. By then, the same B-52s used to air launch the famed X-15 rocket research aircraft were modified to also carry the lifting bodies. Thompson was dropped from the B-52's wing pylon mount at an altitude of 45,000 feet on that maiden glide flight. The M2-F2 weighed 4,620 pounds, was 22 feet long, and had a width of about 10 feet. On May 10, 1967, during the sixteenth glide flight leading up to powered flight, a landing accident severely damaged the vehicle and seriously injured the NASA pilot, Bruce Peterson. NASA pilots and researchers realized the M2-F2 had lateral control problems, even though it had a stability augmentation |
| Date |
01.01.1972 |
|
F-15B #836 Research Testbed
Project Description The F-15
…
9/23/08
| Description |
Project Description The F-15B Research Testbed is a modified twin-engine jet fighter that provides NASA, industry, and universities with long-term capability for the efficient flight test of aerodynamic, instrumentation, propulsion, and other flight research experiments. This aircraft is a unique airborne resource, and is considered by researchers to be a virtual "flying wind tunnelÔøΩÔøΩ_ÔøΩ__ and reliable supersonic testbed. In addition to flying research missions, Dryden's F-15B also is used for crew training, pilot proficiency, and safety chase support for other research aircraft. Bearing NASA tail number 836, the F-15B is about 64 feet long and has a wingspan of just under 43 feet. It is powered by two Pratt and Whitney F100-PW-100 turbofan engines that can produce almost 24,000 pounds of thrust each in full afterburner. It is capable of dash speeds of Mach 2.3, or 2.3 times the speed of sound, at altitudes of 40,000 to 60,000 feet. With the Flight Test Fixture mounted beneath the fuselage in place of the standard external fuel tank, speeds are limited to Mach 2.0. The aircraft has a full-fuel takeoff weight of about 42,000 pounds and a landing weight of about 32,000 pounds. It has aerial refueling capability for extended-duration research missions. Photo Description Group photo following the 300th NASA Dryden flight of F-15B #836 October 20, 2006 Nasa Photo /Tom Tschida ED06-0196-1 |
| Date |
9/23/08 |
|
Lunar Landing Research Vehic
…
Once NASA had been challenge
…
1/5/09
| Description |
Once NASA had been challenged to put a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth, attention turned to a delivery system for the mission. Less visible to the nation was how to resolve the matter of landing on the moon itself and then leaving it safely. Simultaneously but independently, engineers at the Flight Research Center (now Dryden) and Bell Aircraft Co. of Buffalo, N.Y., conceived of a free-flying machine meant to replicate the lunar environment - that is, the absence of an atmosphere, and one-sixth Earth's gravity. NASA awarded Bell the contract to build two Lunar Landing Research Vehicles that were then sent to the FRC for research. The LLRV was built of lightweight aluminum tubing for reduced weight. A double gimbal held a General Electric CF700 fanjet engine in vertical position. It had small hydrogen peroxide thrusters at the four corners, and a cluster of larger thrusters anchored to the frame around the double gimbal. For nearly three years pilots and engineers flew the LLRVs in various configurations, experimenting with thrust levels to determine settings ideal for replicating the Lunar Module's controls. Once a pilot reached altitude (200-300 feet), he engaged the lunar simulation mode. The computers weighed the vehicle, reduced engine thrust to compensate for only five-sixths Earth's gravity, and unlocked the engine gimbals. All the Apollo spacecraft commanders trained in a Lunar Landing Training Vehicle - the training version of the research vehicle. Each commander credited the LLTV for making the actual lunar landing familiar. Perhaps the most remarkable feature of an extraordinary aircraft was the control system: engineers chose an analog fly-by-wire system with no mechanical backup. It became the first genuine fly-by-wire aircraft, and its success led directly to Dryden's 1970s-era digital fly-by-wire experiments with an F-8. Photo Description The Lunar Landing Research Vehicle flies. NASA Photo |
| Date |
1/5/09 |
|
The X-38 Second Prototype Gl
…
| Photo Description |
The X-38 technology demonstrator descends under its steerable parafoil toward a lakebed landing in a March 2000 test flight. |
| Project Description |
The X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) research project is designed to develop the technology for a prototype emergency crew return vehicle, or lifeboat, for the International Space Station. The project is also intended to develop a crew return vehicle design that could be modified for other uses, such as a joint U.S. and international human spacecraft that could be launched on the French Ariane-5 Booster. The X-38 project is using available technology and off-the-shelf equipment to significantly decrease development costs. Original estimates to develop a capsule-type crew return vehicle were estimated at more than $2 billion. X-38 project officials have estimated that development costs for the X-38 concept will be approximately one quarter of the original estimate. Off-the-shelf technology is not necessarily "old" technology. Many of the technologies being used in the X-38 project have never before been applied to a human-flight spacecraft. For example, the X-38 flight computer is commercial equipment currently used in aircraft and the flight software operating system is a commercial system already in use in many aerospace applications. The video equipment for the X-38 is existing equipment, some of which has already flown on the space shuttle for previous NASA experiments. The X-38's primary navigational equipment, the Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System, is a unit already in use on Navy fighters. The X-38 electromechanical actuators come from previous joint NASA, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Navy research and development projects. Finally, an existing special coating developed by NASA will be used on the X-38 thermal tiles to make them more durable than those used on the space shuttles. The X-38 itself was an unpiloted lifting body designed at 80 percent of the size of a projected emergency crew return vehicle for the International Space Station, although two later versions were planned at 100 percent of the CRV size. The X-38 and the actual CRV are patterned after a lifting-body shape first employed in the Air Force-NASA X-24 lifting-body project in the early to mid-1970s. The current vehicle design is base lined with life support supplies for about nine hours of orbital free flight from the space station. ItÕs landing will be fully automated with backup systems which allow the crew to control orientation in orbit, select a deorbit site, and steer the parafoil, if necessary. The X-38 vehicles (designated V131, V132, and V-131R) are 28.5 feet long, 14.5 feet wide, and weigh approximately 16,000 pounds on average. The vehicles have a nitrogen-gas-operated attitude control system and a bank of batteries for internal power. The actual CRV to be flown in space was expected to be 30 feet long. The X-38 project is a joint effort between the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas (JSC), Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia (LaRC) and Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California (DFRC) with the program office located at JSC. A, contract was awarded to Scaled Composites, Inc., Mojave, California, for construction of the X-38 test airframes. The first vehicle was delivered to the JSC in September 1996. The vehicle was fitted with avionics, computer systems and other hardware at Johnson. A second vehicle was delivered to JSC in December 1996. Flight research with the X-38 at Dryden began with an unpiloted captive-carry flight in which the vehicle remained attached to its future launch vehicle, DrydenÕs B-52 008. There were four captive flights in 1997 and three in 1998, plus the first drop test on March 12, 1998, using the parachutes and parafoil. Further captive and drop tests occurred in 1999. In March 2000 Vehicle 132 completed its third and final free flight in the highest, fastest, and longest X-38 flight to date. It was released at an altitude of 39,000 feet and flew freely for 45 seconds, reaching a speed of over 500 miles per hour before deploying its parachutes for a landing on Rogers Dry Lakebed. In the drop tests, the X-38 vehicles have been autonomous after airlaunch from the B-52. After they deploy the parafoil, they have remained autonomous, but there is also a manual mode with controls from the ground. |
| Photo Date |
March 2000 |
|
X-38 Being Prepared for Ship
…
| Photo Description |
Technicians prepare the X-38 lifting body research vehicle, seen here wrapped in a protective material, for shipping in May 2000. |
| Project Description |
The X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) research project is designed to develop the technology for a prototype emergency crew return vehicle, or lifeboat, for the International Space Station. The project is also intended to develop a crew return vehicle design that could be modified for other uses, such as a joint U.S. and international human spacecraft that could be launched on the French Ariane-5 Booster. The X-38 project is using available technology and off-the-shelf equipment to significantly decrease development costs. Original estimates to develop a capsule-type crew return vehicle were estimated at more than $2 billion. X-38 project officials have estimated that development costs for the X-38 concept will be approximately one quarter of the original estimate. Off-the-shelf technology is not necessarily "old" technology. Many of the technologies being used in the X-38 project have never before been applied to a human-flight spacecraft. For example, the X-38 flight computer is commercial equipment currently used in aircraft and the flight software operating system is a commercial system already in use in many aerospace applications. The video equipment for the X-38 is existing equipment, some of which has already flown on the space shuttle for previous NASA experiments. The X-38's primary navigational equipment, the Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System, is a unit already in use on Navy fighters. The X-38 electromechanical actuators come from previous joint NASA, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Navy research and development projects. Finally, an existing special coating developed by NASA will be used on the X-38 thermal tiles to make them more durable than those used on the space shuttles. The X-38 itself was an unpiloted lifting body designed at 80 percent of the size of a projected emergency crew return vehicle for the International Space Station, although two later versions were planned at 100 percent of the CRV size. The X-38 and the actual CRV are patterned after a lifting-body shape first employed in the Air Force-NASA X-24 lifting-body project in the early to mid-1970s. The current vehicle design is base lined with life support supplies for about nine hours of orbital free flight from the space station. ItÕs landing will be fully automated with backup systems which allow the crew to control orientation in orbit, select a deorbit site, and steer the parafoil, if necessary. The X-38 vehicles (designated V131, V132, and V-131R) are 28.5 feet long, 14.5 feet wide, and weigh approximately 16,000 pounds on average. The vehicles have a nitrogen-gas-operated attitude control system and a bank of batteries for internal power. The actual CRV to be flown in space was expected to be 30 feet long. The X-38 project is a joint effort between the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas (JSC), Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia (LaRC) and Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California (DFRC) with the program office located at JSC. A, contract was awarded to Scaled Composites, Inc., Mojave, California, for construction of the X-38 test airframes. The first vehicle was delivered to the JSC in September 1996. The vehicle was fitted with avionics, computer systems and other hardware at Johnson. A second vehicle was delivered to JSC in December 1996. Flight research with the X-38 at Dryden began with an unpiloted captive-carry flight in which the vehicle remained attached to its future launch vehicle, DrydenÕs B-52 008. There were four captive flights in 1997 and three in 1998, plus the first drop test on March 12, 1998, using the parachutes and parafoil. Further captive and drop tests occurred in 1999. In March 2000 Vehicle 132 completed its third and final free flight in the highest, fastest, and longest X-38 flight to date. It was released at an altitude of 39,000 feet and flew freely for 45 seconds, reaching a speed of over 500 miles per hour before deploying its parachutes for a landing on Rogers Dry Lakebed. In the drop tests, the X-38 vehicles have been autonomous after airlaunch from the B-52. After they deploy the parafoil, they have remained autonomous, but there is also a manual mode with controls from the ground. |
| Photo Date |
May 2000 |
|
X-38 Being Prepared for Ship
…
| Photo Description |
Technicians prepare the X-38 lifting body research vehicle, seen here wrapped in a protective material, for shipping in May 2000. |
| Project Description |
The X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) research project is designed to develop the technology for a prototype emergency crew return vehicle, or lifeboat, for the International Space Station. The project is also intended to develop a crew return vehicle design that could be modified for other uses, such as a joint U.S. and international human spacecraft that could be launched on the French Ariane-5 Booster. The X-38 project is using available technology and off-the-shelf equipment to significantly decrease development costs. Original estimates to develop a capsule-type crew return vehicle were estimated at more than $2 billion. X-38 project officials have estimated that development costs for the X-38 concept will be approximately one quarter of the original estimate. Off-the-shelf technology is not necessarily "old" technology. Many of the technologies being used in the X-38 project have never before been applied to a human-flight spacecraft. For example, the X-38 flight computer is commercial equipment currently used in aircraft and the flight software operating system is a commercial system already in use in many aerospace applications. The video equipment for the X-38 is existing equipment, some of which has already flown on the space shuttle for previous NASA experiments. The X-38's primary navigational equipment, the Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System, is a unit already in use on Navy fighters. The X-38 electromechanical actuators come from previous joint NASA, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Navy research and development projects. Finally, an existing special coating developed by NASA will be used on the X-38 thermal tiles to make them more durable than those used on the space shuttles. The X-38 itself was an unpiloted lifting body designed at 80 percent of the size of a projected emergency crew return vehicle for the International Space Station, although two later versions were planned at 100 percent of the CRV size. The X-38 and the actual CRV are patterned after a lifting-body shape first employed in the Air Force-NASA X-24 lifting-body project in the early to mid-1970s. The current vehicle design is base lined with life support supplies for about nine hours of orbital free flight from the space station. ItÕs landing will be fully automated with backup systems which allow the crew to control orientation in orbit, select a deorbit site, and steer the parafoil, if necessary. The X-38 vehicles (designated V131, V132, and V-131R) are 28.5 feet long, 14.5 feet wide, and weigh approximately 16,000 pounds on average. The vehicles have a nitrogen-gas-operated attitude control system and a bank of batteries for internal power. The actual CRV to be flown in space was expected to be 30 feet long. The X-38 project is a joint effort between the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas (JSC), Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia (LaRC) and Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California (DFRC) with the program office located at JSC. A, contract was awarded to Scaled Composites, Inc., Mojave, California, for construction of the X-38 test airframes. The first vehicle was delivered to the JSC in September 1996. The vehicle was fitted with avionics, computer systems and other hardware at Johnson. A second vehicle was delivered to JSC in December 1996. Flight research with the X-38 at Dryden began with an unpiloted captive-carry flight in which the vehicle remained attached to its future launch vehicle, DrydenÕs B-52 008. There were four captive flights in 1997 and three in 1998, plus the first drop test on March 12, 1998, using the parachutes and parafoil. Further captive and drop tests occurred in 1999. In March 2000 Vehicle 132 completed its third and final free flight in the highest, fastest, and longest X-38 flight to date. It was released at an altitude of 39,000 feet and flew freely for 45 seconds, reaching a speed of over 500 miles per hour before deploying its parachutes for a landing on Rogers Dry Lakebed. In the drop tests, the X-38 vehicles have been autonomous after airlaunch from the B-52. After they deploy the parafoil, they have remained autonomous, but there is also a manual mode with controls from the ground. |
| Photo Date |
May 2000 |
|
F-8 SCW in flight
| Photo Description |
A Vought F-8A Crusader was selected by NASA as the testbed aircraft (designated TF-8A) to install an experimental Supercritical Wing in place of the conventional wing. The unique design of the Supercritical Wing (SCW) reduces the effect of shock waves on the upper surface near Mach 1, which in turn reduces drag. In this photograph a Vought F-8A Crusader is shown being used as a flying testbed for an experimental Supercritical Wing airfoil. The smooth fairing of the fiberglass glove with the wing is illustrated in this view. This is the configuration of the F-8 SCW aircraft late in the program. The SCW team fitted the fuselage with bulges fore and aft of the wings. This was similar to the proposed shape of a near-sonic airliner. Both the SCW airfoil and the bulged-fuselage design were optimal for cruise at Mach 0.98. Dr. Whitcomb (designer of the SCW) had previously spent about four years working on supersonic transport designs. He concluded that these were impractical due to their high operating costs. The high drag at speeds above Mach 1 resulted in greatly increased costs. Following the fuel-price rises caused by the October 1973 oil embargo, airlines lost interest in near-sonic transports. Rather, they wanted a design that would have lower fuel consumption. Dr. Whitcomb developed a modified supercritical-wing shape that provided higher lift-to-drag ratios at the same speeds. He did this by using thicker airfoil sections and a reduced wing sweepback. This resulted in an increased aspect ratio without an increase in wing weight. In the three decades since the F-8 SCW flew, the use of such airfoils has become common. |
| Project Description |
The F-8 Supercritical Wing was a flight research project designed to test a new wing concept designed by Dr. Richard Whitcomb, chief of the Transonic Aerodynamics Branch, Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. Compared to a conventional wing, the supercritical wing (SCW) is flatter on the top and rounder on the bottom with a downward curve at the trailing edge. The Supercritical Wing was designed to delay the formation of and reduce the shock wave over the wing just below and above the speed of sound (transonic region of flight). Delaying the shock wave at these speeds results in less drag. Results of the NASA flight research at the Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, (later renamed the Dryden Flight Research Center) demonstrated that aircraft using the supercritical wing concept would have increased cruising speed, improved fuel efficiency, and greater flight range than those using conventional wings. As a result, supercritical wings are now commonplace on virtually every modern subsonic commercial transport. Results of the NASA project showed the SCW had increased the transonic efficiency of the F-8 as much as 15 percent and proved that passenger transports with supercritical wings, versus conventional wings, could save $78 million (in 1974 dollars) per year for a fleet of 280 200-passenger airliners. The F-8 Supercritical Wing (SCW) project flew from 1970 to 1973. Dryden engineer John McTigue was the first SCW program manager and Tom McMurtry was the lead project pilot. The first SCW flight took place on March 9, 1971. The last flight of the Supercritical wing was on May 23, 1973, with Ron Gerdes at the controls. Original wingspan of the F-8 is 35 feet, 2 inches while the wingspan with the supercritical wing was 43 feet, 1 inch. F-8 aircraft were powered by Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet engines. The TF-8A Crusader was made available to the NASA Flight Research Center by the U.S. Navy. F-8 jet aircraft were built, originally, by LTV Aerospace, Dallas, Texas. Rockwell International?s North American Aircraft Division received a $1.8 million contract to fabricate the supercritical wing, which was delivered to NASA in December 1969. |
| Photo Date |
January 10, 1973 |
|
X-38 Drop Model: Glides to E
…
| Photo Description |
A 4-foot-long model of NASA's X-38, an experimental crew return vehicle, glides to earth after being dropped from a Cessna aircraft in late 1995. The model was used to test the ram-air parafoil landing system, which could allow for accurate and controlled landings of an emergency Crew Return Vehicle spacecraft returning to Earth. |
| Project Description |
The X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) research project is designed to develop the technology for a prototype emergency crew return vehicle, or lifeboat, for the International Space Station. The project is also intended to develop a crew return vehicle design that could be modified for other uses, such as a joint U.S. and international human spacecraft that could be launched on the French Ariane-5 Booster. The X-38 project is using available technology and off-the-shelf equipment to significantly decrease development costs. Original estimates to develop a capsule-type crew return vehicle were estimated at more than $2 billion. X-38 project officials have estimated that development costs for the X-38 concept will be approximately one quarter of the original estimate. Off-the-shelf technology is not necessarily "old" technology. Many of the technologies being used in the X-38 project have never before been applied to a human-flight spacecraft. For example, the X-38 flight computer is commercial equipment currently used in aircraft and the flight software operating system is a commercial system already in use in many aerospace applications. The video equipment for the X-38 is existing equipment, some of which has already flown on the space shuttle for previous NASA experiments. The X-38's primary navigational equipment, the Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System, is a unit already in use on Navy fighters. The X-38 electromechanical actuators come from previous joint NASA, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Navy research and development projects. Finally, an existing special coating developed by NASA will be used on the X-38 thermal tiles to make them more durable than those used on the space shuttles. The X-38 itself was an unpiloted lifting body designed at 80 percent of the size of a projected emergency crew return vehicle for the International Space Station, although two later versions were planned at 100 percent of the CRV size. The X-38 and the actual CRV are patterned after a lifting-body shape first employed in the Air Force-NASA X-24 lifting-body project in the early to mid-1970s. The current vehicle design is base lined with life support supplies for about nine hours of orbital free flight from the space station. ItÕs landing will be fully automated with backup systems which allow the crew to control orientation in orbit, select a deorbit site, and steer the parafoil, if necessary. The X-38 vehicles (designated V131, V132, and V-131R) are 28.5 feet long, 14.5 feet wide, and weigh approximately 16,000 pounds on average. The vehicles have a nitrogen-gas-operated attitude control system and a bank of batteries for internal power. The actual CRV to be flown in space was expected to be 30 feet long. The X-38 project is a joint effort between the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas (JSC), Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia (LaRC) and Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California (DFRC) with the program office located at JSC. A, contract was awarded to Scaled Composites, Inc., Mojave, California, for construction of the X-38 test airframes. The first vehicle was delivered to the JSC in September 1996. The vehicle was fitted with avionics, computer systems and other hardware at Johnson. A second vehicle was delivered to JSC in December 1996. Flight research with the X-38 at Dryden began with an unpiloted captive-carry flight in which the vehicle remained attached to its future launch vehicle, DrydenÕs B-52 008. There were four captive flights in 1997 and three in 1998, plus the first drop test on March 12, 1998, using the parachutes and parafoil. Further captive and drop tests occurred in 1999. In March 2000 Vehicle 132 completed its third and final free flight in the highest, fastest, and longest X-38 flight to date. It was released at an altitude of 39,000 feet and flew freely for 45 seconds, reaching a speed of over 500 miles per hour before deploying its parachutes for a landing on Rogers Dry Lakebed. In the drop tests, the X-38 vehicles have been autonomous after airlaunch from the B-52. After they deploy the parafoil, they have remained autonomous, but there is also a manual mode with controls from the ground. |
| Photo Date |
1995 |
|
X-38 Drop Model: Used to Tes
…
| Photo Description |
A 4-foot-long model of NASA's X-38, an experimental crew return vehicle, glides to earth after being dropped from a Cessna aircraft in late 1995. The model was used to test the ram-air parafoil landing system, which could allow for accurate and controlled landings of an emergency Crew Return Vehicle spacecraft returning to Earth. |
| Project Description |
The X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) research project is designed to develop the technology for a prototype emergency crew return vehicle, or lifeboat, for the International Space Station. The project is also intended to develop a crew return vehicle design that could be modified for other uses, such as a joint U.S. and international human spacecraft that could be launched on the French Ariane-5 Booster. The X-38 project is using available technology and off-the-shelf equipment to significantly decrease development costs. Original estimates to develop a capsule-type crew return vehicle were estimated at more than $2 billion. X-38 project officials have estimated that development costs for the X-38 concept will be approximately one quarter of the original estimate. Off-the-shelf technology is not necessarily "old" technology. Many of the technologies being used in the X-38 project have never before been applied to a human-flight spacecraft. For example, the X-38 flight computer is commercial equipment currently used in aircraft and the flight software operating system is a commercial system already in use in many aerospace applications. The video equipment for the X-38 is existing equipment, some of which has already flown on the space shuttle for previous NASA experiments. The X-38's primary navigational equipment, the Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System, is a unit already in use on Navy fighters. The X-38 electromechanical actuators come from previous joint NASA, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Navy research and development projects. Finally, an existing special coating developed by NASA will be used on the X-38 thermal tiles to make them more durable than those used on the space shuttles. The X-38 itself was an unpiloted lifting body designed at 80 percent of the size of a projected emergency crew return vehicle for the International Space Station, although two later versions were planned at 100 percent of the CRV size. The X-38 and the actual CRV are patterned after a lifting-body shape first employed in the Air Force-NASA X-24 lifting-body project in the early to mid-1970s. The current vehicle design is base lined with life support supplies for about nine hours of orbital free flight from the space station. ItÕs landing will be fully automated with backup systems which allow the crew to control orientation in orbit, select a deorbit site, and steer the parafoil, if necessary. The X-38 vehicles (designated V131, V132, and V-131R) are 28.5 feet long, 14.5 feet wide, and weigh approximately 16,000 pounds on average. The vehicles have a nitrogen-gas-operated attitude control system and a bank of batteries for internal power. The actual CRV to be flown in space was expected to be 30 feet long. The X-38 project is a joint effort between the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas (JSC), Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia (LaRC) and Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California (DFRC) with the program office located at JSC. A, contract was awarded to Scaled Composites, Inc., Mojave, California, for construction of the X-38 test airframes. The first vehicle was delivered to the JSC in September 1996. The vehicle was fitted with avionics, computer systems and other hardware at Johnson. A second vehicle was delivered to JSC in December 1996. Flight research with the X-38 at Dryden began with an unpiloted captive-carry flight in which the vehicle remained attached to its future launch vehicle, DrydenÕs B-52 008. There were four captive flights in 1997 and three in 1998, plus the first drop test on March 12, 1998, using the parachutes and parafoil. Further captive and drop tests occurred in 1999. In March 2000 Vehicle 132 completed its third and final free flight in the highest, fastest, and longest X-38 flight to date. It was released at an altitude of 39,000 feet and flew freely for 45 seconds, reaching a speed of over 500 miles per hour before deploying its parachutes for a landing on Rogers Dry Lakebed. In the drop tests, the X-38 vehicles have been autonomous after airlaunch from the B-52. After they deploy the parafoil, they have remained autonomous, but there is also a manual mode with controls from the ground. |
| Photo Date |
1995 |
|
The First X-38 Technology De
…
| Photo Description |
The first X-38 technology demonstrator (V-131) is seen here undergoing modifications to the rear to conform more to the shape of the future Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) |
| Project Description |
The X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) research project is designed to develop the technology for a prototype emergency crew return vehicle, or lifeboat, for the International Space Station. The project is also intended to develop a crew return vehicle design that could be modified for other uses, such as a joint U.S. and international human spacecraft that could be launched on the French Ariane-5 Booster. The X-38 project is using available technology and off-the-shelf equipment to significantly decrease development costs. Original estimates to develop a capsule-type crew return vehicle were estimated at more than $2 billion. X-38 project officials have estimated that development costs for the X-38 concept will be approximately one quarter of the original estimate. Off-the-shelf technology is not necessarily "old" technology. Many of the technologies being used in the X-38 project have never before been applied to a human-flight spacecraft. For example, the X-38 flight computer is commercial equipment currently used in aircraft and the flight software operating system is a commercial system already in use in many aerospace applications. The video equipment for the X-38 is existing equipment, some of which has already flown on the space shuttle for previous NASA experiments. The X-38's primary navigational equipment, the Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System, is a unit already in use on Navy fighters. The X-38 electromechanical actuators come from previous joint NASA, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Navy research and development projects. Finally, an existing special coating developed by NASA will be used on the X-38 thermal tiles to make them more durable than those used on the space shuttles. The X-38 itself was an unpiloted lifting body designed at 80 percent of the size of a projected emergency crew return vehicle for the International Space Station, although two later versions were planned at 100 percent of the CRV size. The X-38 and the actual CRV are patterned after a lifting-body shape first employed in the Air Force-NASA X-24 lifting-body project in the early to mid-1970s. The current vehicle design is base lined with life support supplies for about nine hours of orbital free flight from the space station. ItÕs landing will be fully automated with backup systems which allow the crew to control orientation in orbit, select a deorbit site, and steer the parafoil, if necessary. The X-38 vehicles (designated V131, V132, and V-131R) are 28.5 feet long, 14.5 feet wide, and weigh approximately 16,000 pounds on average. The vehicles have a nitrogen-gas-operated attitude control system and a bank of batteries for internal power. The actual CRV to be flown in space was expected to be 30 feet long. The X-38 project is a joint effort between the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas (JSC), Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia (LaRC) and Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California (DFRC) with the program office located at JSC. A, contract was awarded to Scaled Composites, Inc., Mojave, California, for construction of the X-38 test airframes. The first vehicle was delivered to the JSC in September 1996. The vehicle was fitted with avionics, computer systems and other hardware at Johnson. A second vehicle was delivered to JSC in December 1996. Flight research with the X-38 at Dryden began with an unpiloted captive-carry flight in which the vehicle remained attached to its future launch vehicle, DrydenÕs B-52 008. There were four captive flights in 1997 and three in 1998, plus the first drop test on March 12, 1998, using the parachutes and parafoil. Further captive and drop tests occurred in 1999. In March 2000 Vehicle 132 completed its third and final free flight in the highest, fastest, and longest X-38 flight to date. It was released at an altitude of 39,000 feet and flew freely for 45 seconds, reaching a speed of over 500 miles per hour before deploying its parachutes for a landing on Rogers Dry Lakebed. In the drop tests, the X-38 vehicles have been autonomous after airlaunch from the B-52. After they deploy the parafoil, they have remained autonomous, but there is also a manual mode with controls from the ground. |
| Photo Date |
November 1999 |
|
Two X-38 Ship Demonstrators
…
| Photo Description |
This photo shows two X-38 Crew Return Vehicle technology demonstrators under development at NASAÕs Johnson Space Flight Center, Houston, Texas. |
| Project Description |
The X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) research project is designed to develop the technology for a prototype emergency crew return vehicle, or lifeboat, for the International Space Station. The project is also intended to develop a crew return vehicle design that could be modified for other uses, such as a joint U.S. and international human spacecraft that could be launched on the French Ariane-5 Booster. The X-38 project is using available technology and off-the-shelf equipment to significantly decrease development costs. Original estimates to develop a capsule-type crew return vehicle were estimated at more than $2 billion. X-38 project officials have estimated that development costs for the X-38 concept will be approximately one quarter of the original estimate. Off-the-shelf technology is not necessarily "old" technology. Many of the technologies being used in the X-38 project have never before been applied to a human-flight spacecraft. For example, the X-38 flight computer is commercial equipment currently used in aircraft and the flight software operating system is a commercial system already in use in many aerospace applications. The video equipment for the X-38 is existing equipment, some of which has already flown on the space shuttle for previous NASA experiments. The X-38's primary navigational equipment, the Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System, is a unit already in use on Navy fighters. The X-38 electromechanical actuators come from previous joint NASA, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Navy research and development projects. Finally, an existing special coating developed by NASA will be used on the X-38 thermal tiles to make them more durable than those used on the space shuttles. The X-38 itself was an unpiloted lifting body designed at 80 percent of the size of a projected emergency crew return vehicle for the International Space Station, although two later versions were planned at 100 percent of the CRV size. The X-38 and the actual CRV are patterned after a lifting-body shape first employed in the Air Force-NASA X-24 lifting-body project in the early to mid-1970s. The current vehicle design is base lined with life support supplies for about nine hours of orbital free flight from the space station. ItÕs landing will be fully automated with backup systems which allow the crew to control orientation in orbit, select a deorbit site, and steer the parafoil, if necessary. The X-38 vehicles (designated V131, V132, and V-131R) are 28.5 feet long, 14.5 feet wide, and weigh approximately 16,000 pounds on average. The vehicles have a nitrogen-gas-operated attitude control system and a bank of batteries for internal power. The actual CRV to be flown in space was expected to be 30 feet long. The X-38 project is a joint effort between the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas (JSC), Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia (LaRC) and Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California (DFRC) with the program office located at JSC. A, contract was awarded to Scaled Composites, Inc., Mojave, California, for construction of the X-38 test airframes. The first vehicle was delivered to the JSC in September 1996. The vehicle was fitted with avionics, computer systems and other hardware at Johnson. A second vehicle was delivered to JSC in December 1996. Flight research with the X-38 at Dryden began with an unpiloted captive-carry flight in which the vehicle remained attached to its future launch vehicle, DrydenÕs B-52 008. There were four captive flights in 1997 and three in 1998, plus the first drop test on March 12, 1998, using the parachutes and parafoil. Further captive and drop tests occurred in 1999. In March 2000 Vehicle 132 completed its third and final free flight in the highest, fastest, and longest X-38 flight to date. It was released at an altitude of 39,000 feet and flew freely for 45 seconds, reaching a speed of over 500 miles per hour before deploying its parachutes for a landing on Rogers Dry Lakebed. In the drop tests, the X-38 vehicles have been autonomous after airlaunch from the B-52. After they deploy the parafoil, they have remained autonomous, but there is also a manual mode with controls from the ground. |
| Photo Date |
November 1999 |
|
A Full-Size Mockup of the Ca
…
| Photo Description |
This photo, taken at NASAÕs Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, shows a full-size mockup of the cabin for the Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) for the International Space Station |
| Project Description |
The X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) research project is designed to develop the technology for a prototype emergency crew return vehicle, or lifeboat, for the International Space Station. The project is also intended to develop a crew return vehicle design that could be modified for other uses, such as a joint U.S. and international human spacecraft that could be launched on the French Ariane-5 Booster. The X-38 project is using available technology and off-the-shelf equipment to significantly decrease development costs. Original estimates to develop a capsule-type crew return vehicle were estimated at more than $2 billion. X-38 project officials have estimated that development costs for the X-38 concept will be approximately one quarter of the original estimate. Off-the-shelf technology is not necessarily "old" technology. Many of the technologies being used in the X-38 project have never before been applied to a human-flight spacecraft. For example, the X-38 flight computer is commercial equipment currently used in aircraft and the flight software operating system is a commercial system already in use in many aerospace applications. The video equipment for the X-38 is existing equipment, some of which has already flown on the space shuttle for previous NASA experiments. The X-38's primary navigational equipment, the Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System, is a unit already in use on Navy fighters. The X-38 electromechanical actuators come from previous joint NASA, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Navy research and development projects. Finally, an existing special coating developed by NASA will be used on the X-38 thermal tiles to make them more durable than those used on the space shuttles. The X-38 itself was an unpiloted lifting body designed at 80 percent of the size of a projected emergency crew return vehicle for the International Space Station, although two later versions were planned at 100 percent of the CRV size. The X-38 and the actual CRV are patterned after a lifting-body shape first employed in the Air Force-NASA X-24 lifting-body project in the early to mid-1970s. The current vehicle design is base lined with life support supplies for about nine hours of orbital free flight from the space station. ItÕs landing will be fully automated with backup systems which allow the crew to control orientation in orbit, select a deorbit site, and steer the parafoil, if necessary. The X-38 vehicles (designated V131, V132, and V-131R) are 28.5 feet long, 14.5 feet wide, and weigh approximately 16,000 pounds on average. The vehicles have a nitrogen-gas-operated attitude control system and a bank of batteries for internal power. The actual CRV to be flown in space was expected to be 30 feet long. The X-38 project is a joint effort between the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas (JSC), Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia (LaRC) and Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California (DFRC) with the program office located at JSC. A, contract was awarded to Scaled Composites, Inc., Mojave, California, for construction of the X-38 test airframes. The first vehicle was delivered to the JSC in September 1996. The vehicle was fitted with avionics, computer systems and other hardware at Johnson. A second vehicle was delivered to JSC in December 1996. Flight research with the X-38 at Dryden began with an unpiloted captive-carry flight in which the vehicle remained attached to its future launch vehicle, DrydenÕs B-52 008. There were four captive flights in 1997 and three in 1998, plus the first drop test on March 12, 1998, using the parachutes and parafoil. Further captive and drop tests occurred in 1999. In March 2000 Vehicle 132 completed its third and final free flight in the highest, fastest, and longest X-38 flight to date. It was released at an altitude of 39,000 feet and flew freely for 45 seconds, reaching a speed of over 500 miles per hour before deploying its parachutes for a landing on Rogers Dry Lakebed. In the drop tests, the X-38 vehicles have been autonomous after airlaunch from the B-52. After they deploy the parafoil, they have remained autonomous, but there is also a manual mode with controls from the ground. |
| Photo Date |
November 1999 |
|
The Interior of the Crew Ret
…
| Photo Description |
This photo of the interior of a full-size mock-up of the Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) cabin at NASAÕs Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, shows how up to seven astronauts could be carried aboard the spacecraft. |
| Project Description |
The X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) research project is designed to develop the technology for a prototype emergency crew return vehicle, or lifeboat, for the International Space Station. The project is also intended to develop a crew return vehicle design that could be modified for other uses, such as a joint U.S. and international human spacecraft that could be launched on the French Ariane-5 Booster. The X-38 project is using available technology and off-the-shelf equipment to significantly decrease development costs. Original estimates to develop a capsule-type crew return vehicle were estimated at more than $2 billion. X-38 project officials have estimated that development costs for the X-38 concept will be approximately one quarter of the original estimate. Off-the-shelf technology is not necessarily "old" technology. Many of the technologies being used in the X-38 project have never before been applied to a human-flight spacecraft. For example, the X-38 flight computer is commercial equipment currently used in aircraft and the flight software operating system is a commercial system already in use in many aerospace applications. The video equipment for the X-38 is existing equipment, some of which has already flown on the space shuttle for previous NASA experiments. The X-38's primary navigational equipment, the Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System, is a unit already in use on Navy fighters. The X-38 electromechanical actuators come from previous joint NASA, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Navy research and development projects. Finally, an existing special coating developed by NASA will be used on the X-38 thermal tiles to make them more durable than those used on the space shuttles. The X-38 itself was an unpiloted lifting body designed at 80 percent of the size of a projected emergency crew return vehicle for the International Space Station, although two later versions were planned at 100 percent of the CRV size. The X-38 and the actual CRV are patterned after a lifting-body shape first employed in the Air Force-NASA X-24 lifting-body project in the early to mid-1970s. The current vehicle design is base lined with life support supplies for about nine hours of orbital free flight from the space station. ItÕs landing will be fully automated with backup systems which allow the crew to control orientation in orbit, select a deorbit site, and steer the parafoil, if necessary. The X-38 vehicles (designated V131, V132, and V-131R) are 28.5 feet long, 14.5 feet wide, and weigh approximately 16,000 pounds on average. The vehicles have a nitrogen-gas-operated attitude control system and a bank of batteries for internal power. The actual CRV to be flown in space was expected to be 30 feet long. The X-38 project is a joint effort between the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas (JSC), Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia (LaRC) and Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California (DFRC) with the program office located at JSC. A, contract was awarded to Scaled Composites, Inc., Mojave, California, for construction of the X-38 test airframes. The first vehicle was delivered to the JSC in September 1996. The vehicle was fitted with avionics, computer systems and other hardware at Johnson. A second vehicle was delivered to JSC in December 1996. Flight research with the X-38 at Dryden began with an unpiloted captive-carry flight in which the vehicle remained attached to its future launch vehicle, DrydenÕs B-52 008. There were four captive flights in 1997 and three in 1998, plus the first drop test on March 12, 1998, using the parachutes and parafoil. Further captive and drop tests occurred in 1999. In March 2000 Vehicle 132 completed its third and final free flight in the highest, fastest, and longest X-38 flight to date. It was released at an altitude of 39,000 feet and flew freely for 45 seconds, reaching a speed of over 500 miles per hour before deploying its parachutes for a landing on Rogers Dry Lakebed. In the drop tests, the X-38 vehicles have been autonomous after airlaunch from the B-52. After they deploy the parafoil, they have remained autonomous, but there is also a manual mode with controls from the ground. |
| Photo Date |
November 1999 |
|
F-8 Supercritical Wing (SCW)
…
| Project Description |
The F-8 Supercritical Wing was a flight research project designed to test a new wing concept designed by Dr. Richard Whitcomb, chief of the Transonic Aerodynamics Branch, Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. Compared to a conventional wing, the supercritical wing (SCW) is flatter on the top and rounder on the bottom with a downward curve at the trailing edge. The Supercritical Wing was designed to delay the formation of and reduce the shock wave over the wing just below and above the speed of sound (transonic region of flight). Delaying the shock wave at these speeds results in less drag. Results of the NASA flight research at the Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, (later renamed the Dryden Flight Research Center) demonstrated that aircraft using the supercritical wing concept would have increased cruising speed, improved fuel efficiency, and greater flight range than those using conventional wings. As a result, supercritical wings are now commonplace on virtually every modern subsonic commercial transport. Results of the NASA project showed the SCW had increased the transonic efficiency of the F-8 as much as 15 percent and proved that passenger transports with supercritical wings, versus conventional wings, could save $78 million (in 1974 dollars) per year for a fleet of 280 200-passenger airliners. The F-8 Supercritical Wing (SCW) project flew from 1970 to 1973. Dryden engineer John McTigue was the first SCW program manager and Tom McMurtry was the lead project pilot. The first SCW flight took place on March 9, 1971. The last flight of the Supercritical wing was on May 23, 1973, with Ron Gerdes at the controls. Original wingspan of the F-8 is 35 feet, 2 inches while the wingspan with the supercritical wing was 43 feet, 1 inch. F-8 aircraft were powered by Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet engines. The TF-8A Crusader was made available to the NASA Flight Research Center by the U.S. Navy. F-8 jet aircraft were built, originally, by LTV Aerospace, Dallas, Texas. Rockwell International's North American Aircraft Division received a $1.8 million contract to fabricate the supercritical wing, which was delivered to NASA in December 1969. |
|
M2-F3 Lifting Body glide fli
…
M2-F3 Lifting Body flight
A restored NACA P-51 Mustang
…
| Title |
A restored NACA P-51 Mustang in flight |
| Description |
Bill Allmon of Las Vegas, Nevada, brought his restored NACA P-51 to a reunion of former NACA employees at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center located at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Sept. 15, 2000. Allmon's award-winning restoration is a genuine former NACA testbed that saw service at the Langley Research Center in Virginia in the late 1940s. Later this Mustang was put on outdoor static display as an Air national Guard monument in Pittsburgh, Pa., where exposure to the elements ravaged its metal structure, necessitating an extensive four-year rebuild. |
| Date |
09.15.2000 |
|
Schlieren photograph of T-38
…
| Title |
Schlieren photograph of T-38 shock waves at Mach 1.1, 13,000 feet |
| Description |
This is Dr. Leonard Weinstein's Schlieren photograph of a T-38 at Mach 1.1, altitude 13,700 feet, taken at NASA Wallops in 1993. Schlieren photography (from the German word for "streaks") allows the visualization of density changes, and therefore shock waves, in fluid flow. Schlieren techniques have been used for decades in laboratory wind tunnels to visualize supersonic flow about model aircraft, but not full scale aircraft until recently. Dr. Leonard Weinstein of NASA Langley Research Center developed the first Schlieren camera, which he calls SAF (Schlieren for Aircraft in Flight), that can photograph the shock waves of a full sized aircraft in flight. He successfully took a picture which clearly shows the shock waves about a T-38 aircraft on December 13, 1993 at Wallops Island, MD. The camera was then brought to the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center because of the high number of supersonic flights there. |
| Date |
12.13.1993 |
|
F-16XL Ship #2 first flight
| Title |
F-16XL Ship #2 first flight |
| Description |
A laminar flow control experiment covering much of the left wing (dark area) of NASA's F-16XL "848" is seen clearly as the aircraft cruises over desert area near NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, on a functional check flight Oct. 13, 1995. The flight marked the beginning of an important program of 45 flights to see if the experimental wing panel could achieve laminar (smooth) air flow over the wing's surface at supersonic speeds. Researchers say that successful laminar flow on an aircraft the size of a future supersonic jetliner could help reduce gross takeoff weight by as much as 10 percent, leading to increased efficiency and lower operating costs. The laminar flow experiment on the delta-wing F-16XL features an internal suction system that pulls a small part of the boundary layer of air above the wing through millions of tiny laser-cut holes in the outer skin of the experiment, creating laminar flow. The research program is managed by NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., and involves an aerospace industry team that includes Boeing, Rockwell, and McDonnell Douglas. |
| Date |
01.01.1995 |
|
F-16XL Ship #2 first flight
| Title |
F-16XL Ship #2 first flight |
| Description |
A laminar flow control experiment covering much of the left wing (dark area) of NASA's F-16XL "848" is seen clearly as the aircraft cruises over desert area near NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, on a functional check flight Oct. 13, 1995. The flight marked the beginning of an important program of 45 flights to see if the experimental wing panel could achieve laminar (smooth) air flow over the wing's surface at supersonic speeds. Researchers say that successful laminar flow on an aircraft the size of a future supersonic jetliner could help reduce gross takeoff weight by as much as 10 percent, leading to increased efficiency and lower operating costs. The laminar flow experiment on the delta-wing F-16XL features an internal suction system that pulls a small part of the boundary layer of air above the wing through millions of tiny laser-cut holes in the outer skin of the experiment, creating laminar flow. The research program is managed by NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., and involves an aerospace industry team that includes Boeing, Rockwell, and McDonnell Douglas. |
| Date |
01.01.1995 |
|
F-16XL Ship #2 SLFC - full b
…
| Title |
F-16XL Ship #2 SLFC - full bottom view in flight |
| Description |
A Supersonic Laminar Flow Control (SLFC) experiment covering much of the top of the left wing (not visible in this photograph) is being conducted on NASA Dryden Flight Research Center's #2 F-16XL. The research program began back in October 1995 and this April 18, 1996 flight was one of many to gather data from the experimental wing panel on how to achieve laminar (smooth) airflow over the wing's surface at supersonic speeds. Researchers say that successful laminar flow on an aircraft the size of a future supersonic jetliner could help reduce gross takeoff weight by as much as 10 percent, leading to increased efficiency and lower operating costs. The laminar flow experiment on the delta-wing F-16XL features an internal suction system that pulls a small part of the boundary layer of air above the wing through millions of tiny laser-cut holes in the outer skin of the experiment, creating laminar flow. The research program is managed by NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., and involves an aerospace industry team that includes Boeing, Rockwell, and McDonnell Douglas. |
| Date |
01.01.1996 |
|
F-16XL Ship #2 SLFC - in fli
…
| Title |
F-16XL Ship #2 SLFC - in flight |
| Description |
A laminar flow control experiment covering much of the left wing (dark area) of NASA's F-16XL "848" is seen clearly as the aircraft cruises over desert area near NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, on a functional check flight Oct. 13, 1995. The flight marked the beginning of an important program of 45 flights to see if the experimental wing panel could achieve laminar (smooth) air flow over the wing's surface at supersonic speeds. Researchers say that successful laminar flow on an aircraft the size of a future supersonic jetliner could help reduce gross takeoff weight by as much as 10 percent, leading to increased efficiency and lower operating costs. The laminar flow experiment on the delta-wing F-16XL features an internal suction system that pulls a small part of the boundary layer of air above the wing through millions of tiny laser-cut holes in the outer skin of the experiment, creating laminar flow. The research program is managed by NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., and involves an aerospace industry team that includes Boeing, Rockwell, and McDonnell Douglas. |
| Date |
01.01.1995 |
|
F-18 HARV dirty probes on in
…
| Title |
F-18 HARV dirty probes on inlet rake |
| Description |
Pressure transducers are housed in tubes on the inlet rake of NASA's F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) to test pressure distortion patterns at different angles of attack. Located at the engine face, these probes provide information on how to adjust the engine to accomodate the distortions. The highly modified F-18 airplane flew 383 flights at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, over a nine year period and demonstrated concepts that greatly increase fighter maneuverability. Among concepts proven in the aircraft is the use of paddles to direct jet engine exhaust in cases of extreme altitudes where conventional control surfaces lose effectiveness. Another concept, developed by NASA Langley Research Center, is a deployable wing-like surface installed on the nose of the aircraft for increased right and left (yaw) control on nose-high flight angles. |
| Date |
01.01.1994 |
|
F-18 HARV final flight over
…
| Title |
F-18 HARV final flight over Edwards AFB |
| Description |
The final flight for the F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) took place at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, on May 29, 1996 and was flown by NASA pilot Ed Schneider. The highly modified F-18 airplane flew 383 flights over a nine year period and demonstrated concepts that greatly increase fighter maneuverability. Among concepts proven in the aircraft is the use of paddles to direct jet engine exhaust in cases of extreme altitudes where conventional control surfaces lose effectiveness. Another concept, developed by NASA Langley Research Center, is a deployable wing-like surface installed on the nose of the aircraft for increased right and left (yaw) control on nose-high flight angles. |
| Date |
05.29.1996 |
|
F-18 HARV forebody surface f
…
| Title |
F-18 HARV forebody surface flow visualization (close-up) at 26 degree angle of attack |
| Description |
A glycol-based liquid, released through very small holes around the nose of an F/A-18 flown by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, for its High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) program, aids researchers in flow visualization studies. This photograph, taken postflight, shows the airflow pattern at 26 degrees angle of attack. The program was conducted jointly with NASA's Langley Research Center. |
| Date |
01.01.1988 |
|
F-18 HARV forebody surface f
…
| Title |
F-18 HARV forebody surface flow visualization at 26 degree angle of attack |
| Description |
A glycol-based liquid, released through very small holes around the nose of an F/A-18 flown by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, for its High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) program, aids researchers in flow visualization studies. This photograph, taken postflight, shows the airflow pattern at 26 degrees angle of attack. The program was conducted jointly with NASA's Langley Research Center. |
| Date |
01.01.1988 |
|
F-18 HARV forebody surface f
…
| Title |
F-18 HARV forebody surface flow visualization using dye flow |
| Description |
A glycol-based liquid, released through very small holes around the nose of an F/A-18 flown by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, for its High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) program, aids researchers in flow visualization studies. This photograph, taken postflight, shows the airflow pattern at about 30 degrees angle of attack. The program was conducted jointly with NASA's Langley Research Center. |
| Date |
01.01.1988 |
|
F-18 HARV forebody vortex fl
…
| Title |
F-18 HARV forebody vortex flow visualization at 42 degree angle of attack |
| Description |
Smoke generators and yarn tufts are used for flow visualization studies on an F/A-18 flown by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, in its High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) program. The aircraft is at about 42 degrees angle of attack in this photo, taken with a wing mounted camera. The aircraft was modified with a thrust vectoring system to further investigate high angle of attack flying. The program was conducted jointly with NASA's Langley Research Center. |
| Date |
01.01.1988 |
|
F-18 HARV smoke and tuft flo
…
| Title |
F-18 HARV smoke and tuft flow visualization at 20 degree angle of attack |
| Description |
Smoke generators and yarn tufts are used for flow visualization studies on an F/A-18 flown by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, in its High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) program. The aircraft is at about 20 degrees angle of attack in this photo. The aircraft was modified with a thrust vectoring system to further investigate high angle of attack flying. The program was conducted jointly with NASA's Langley Research Center. |
| Date |
01.01.1989 |
|
F-18 HARV smoke and tuft flo
…
| Title |
F-18 HARV smoke and tuft flow visualization at 25 degree angle of attack |
| Description |
Smoke generators and yarn tufts are used for flow visualization studies on an F/A-18 flown by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, in its High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) program. The aircraft is at about 25 degrees angle of attack in this photo. The aircraft was modified with a thrust vectoring system to further investigate high angle of attack flying. The program was conducted jointly with NASA's Langley Research Center. |
| Date |
01.01.1989 |
|
F-18 HARV smoke and tuft flo
…
| Title |
F-18 HARV smoke and tuft flow visualization at 30 degree angle of attack |
| Description |
Smoke generators and yarn tufts are used for flow visualization studies on an F/A-18 flown by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, in its High Angle of Attack research Vehicle (HARV) program. The aircraft is at about 30 degrees angle of attack in this photo. The aircraft was modified with a thrust vectoring system to further investigate high angle of attack flying. The program was conducted jointly with NASA's Langley Research Center. |
| Date |
01.01.1989 |
|
F-18 HARV smoke and tuft vor
…
| Title |
F-18 HARV smoke and tuft vortex flow visualization along leading edge extension |
| Description |
Flow visualization smoke marks vortex flows along the leading edge extension on an F/A-18 flown by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, in its High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) program. The aircraft is at a high angle of attack in this photo. The aircraft was modified with a thrust vectoring system to further investigate high angle of attack flying. The program was conducted jointly with NASA's Langley Research Center. |
| Date |
01.01.1989 |
|
F-18 simulation with Simulat
…
| Title |
F-18 simulation with Simulation Group Lead Martha Evans at the controls |
| Description |
Simulation Group Leader Martha Evans is seen here at the controls of the F-18 aircraft simulator at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. Simulators offer a safe and economical alternative to actual flights to gather data, as well as being excellent facilities for pilot practice and training. The highly modified F-18 airplane flew 383 flights over a nine year period and demonstrated concepts that greatly increase fighter maneuverability. Among concepts proven in the aircraft is the use of paddles to direct jet engine exhaust in cases of extreme altitudes where conventional control surfaces lose effectiveness. Another concept, developed by NASA Langley Research Center, is a deployable wing-like surface installed on the nose of the aircraft for increased right and left (yaw) control on nose-high flight angles. |
| Date |
01.01.1993 |
|
KC-135A in flight - winglet
…
| Title |
KC-135A in flight - winglet study |
| Description |
During the 1970s, the focus at Dryden shifted from high-speed and high-altitude flight to incremental improvements in technology and aircraft efficiency. One manifestation of this trend occurred in the winglet flight research carried out on a KC-135 during 1979 and 1980. Richard Whitcomb at the Langley Research Center had originated the idea of adding small vertical fins to an aircraft's wing tips. His wind tunnel tests indicated that winglets produced a forward thrust, which reduced the strength of the vortices generated by an aircraft's wing tips and resulted in a reduction of drag and an increase in aircraft range. Whitcomb, who had previously developed the area rule concept and the supercritical wing, selected the best winglet shape for flight tests on a KC-135 tanker. When the tests were completed, the data showed that the winglets provided a 7 percent improvement in range over the standard KC-135. The obvious economic advantage at a time of high fuel costs caused winglets to be adopted on business jets, airliners, and heavy military transports. |
| Date |
01.01.1979 |
|
M2-F1 in flight
| Title |
M2-F1 in flight |
| Description |
The M2-F1 Lifting Body is seen here under tow by an unseen C-47 at the NASA Flight Research Center (later redesignated the Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California. The low-cost vehicle was the first piloted lifting body to be test flown. The lifting-body concept originated in the mid-1950s at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics' Ames Aeronautical Laboratory, Mountain View California. By February 1962, a series of possible shapes had been developed, and R. Dale Reed was working to gain support for a research vehicle. The wingless, lifting body aircraft design was initially concieved as a means of landing an aircraft horizontally after atmospheric reentry. The absence of wings would make the extreme heat of re-entry less damaging to the vehicle. In 1962, Dryden management approved a program to build a lightweight, unpowered lifting body as a prototype to flight test the wingless concept. It would look like a "flying bathtub," and was designated the M2-F1, the "M" referring to "manned" and "F" referring to "flight" version. It featured a plywood shell placed over a tubular steel frame crafted at Dryden. Construction was completed in 1963. The first flight tests of the M2-F1 were over Rogers Dry Lake at the end of a tow rope attached to a hopped-up Pontiac convertible driven at speeds up to about 120 mph. These initial tests produced enough flight data about the M2-F1 to proceed with flights behind a NASA C-47 tow plane at greater altitudes. The C-47 took the craft to an altitude of 12,000 where free flights back to Rogers Dry Lake began. Pilot for the first series of flights of the M2-F1 was NASA research pilot Milt Thompson. Typical glide flights with the M2-F1 lasted about two minutes and reached speeds of 110 to l20 mph. More than 400 ground tows and 77 aircraft tow flights were carried out with the M2-F1. The success of Dryden's M2-F1 program led to NASA's development and construction of two heavyweight lifting bodies based on studies at NASA's Ames and Langley research centers--the M2-F2 and the HL-10, both built by the Northrop Corporation, and the U.S. Air Force's X-24 program. The Lifting Body program also heavily influenced the Space Shuttle program. The M2-F1 program demonstrated the feasibility of the lifting-body concept for horizontal landings of atmospheric entry vehicles. It also demonstrated a procurement and management concept for prototype flight research vehicles that produced rapid results at very low cost (approximately $50,000, excluding salaries of government employees assigned to the project). |
| Date |
01.01.1964 |
|
M2-F1 in flight being towed
…
| Title |
M2-F1 in flight being towed by a C-47 |
| Description |
The M2-F1 Lifting Body is seen here being towed behind a C-47 at the Flight Research Center (later redesignated the Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California. In this rear view, the M2-F1 is flying above and to one side of the C-47. This was done to avoid wake turbulence from the towplane. Lacking wings, the M2-F1 used an unusual configuration for its control surfaces. It had two rudders on the fins, two elevons (called "elephant ears") mounted on the outsides of the fins, and two body flaps on the upper rear fuselage. The wingless, lifting body aircraft design was initially concieved as a means of landing an aircraft horizontally after atmospheric reentry. The absence of wings would make the extreme heat of re-entry less damaging to the vehicle. In 1962, Dryden management approved a program to build a lightweight, unpowered lifting body as a prototype to flight test the wingless concept. It would look like a "flying bathtub," and was designated the M2-F1, the "M" referring to "manned" and "F" referring to "flight" version. It featured a plywood shell placed over a tubular steel frame crafted at Dryden. Construction was completed in 1963. The first flight tests of the M2-F1 were over Rogers Dry Lake at the end of a tow rope attached to a hopped-up Pontiac convertible driven at speeds up to about 120 mph. These initial tests produced enough flight data about the M2-F1 to proceed with flights behind the C-47 tow plane at greater altitudes. The C-47 took the craft to an altitude of 12,000 where free flights back to Rogers Dry Lake began. Pilot for the first series of flights of the M2-F1 was NASA research pilot Milt Thompson. Typical glide flights with the M2-F1 lasted about two minutes and reached speeds of 110 to l20 mph. More than 400 ground tows and 77 aircraft tow flights were carried out with the M2-F1. The success of Dryden's M2-F1 program led to NASA's development and construction of two heavyweight lifting bodies based on studies at NASA's Ames and Langley research centers--the M2-F2 and the HL-10, both built by the Northrop Corporation, and the U.S. Air Force's X-24 program. The Lifting Body program also heavily influenced the Space Shuttle program. The M2-F1 program demonstrated the feasibility of the lifting body concept for horizontal landings of atmospheric entry vehicles. It also demonstrated a procurement and management concept for prototype flight test vehicles that produced rapid results at very low cost (approximately $50,000, excluding salaries of government employees assigned to the project). |
| Date |
01.01.1964 |
|
NACA Aircraft on Lakebed-X-3
…
| Title |
NACA Aircraft on Lakebed-X-3, D-558-1, XF4D, D-558-2 |
| Description |
A group picture of Douglas Airplanes, taken for a photographic promotion in 1954, at what is now known as the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The photo includes the X-3 (in front--Air Force serial number 49-2892) then clockwise D-558-1, XF4D-1 (a Navy jet fighter prototype not flown by the NACA), and the first D-558-2 (NACA tail number 143, Navy serial number 37973), which was flown only once by the NACA. The Dryden Flight Research Center, NASA's premier installation for aeronautical flight research, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1996. Dryden is the "Center of Excellence" for atmospheric flight operations. The Center's charter is to research, develop, verify, and transfer advanced aeronautics, space, and related technologies. It is located at Edwards, Calif., on the western edge of the Mojave Desert, 80 miles north of Los Angeles. Dryden's history dates back to the early fall of 1946, when a group of five aeronautical engineers arrived at what is now Edwards from the NACA's Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, Hampton, Va. Their goal was to prepare for the X-l supersonic research flights in a joint NACA-U.S. Army Air Forces-Bell Aircraft Corp. program. NACA--the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics--was the predecessor of today's NASA. Since the days of the X-l, the first aircraft to fly faster than the speed of sound, the installation has grown in size and significance and is associated with many important developments in aviation -- supersonic and hypersonic flight, wingless lifting bodies, digital fly-by-wire, supercritical and forward-swept wings, and the space shuttles. Its name has changed many times over the years. From 14 November 1949 to 1 July 1954 it bore the name NACA High-Speed Flight Research Station. From 1 July 1954 until 1 October 1958 it was called the NACA High-Speed Flight Station, with Research removed from its name but not its mission. |
| Date |
01.01.1954 |
|
NACA Research Aircraft-Bell
…
| Title |
NACA Research Aircraft-Bell X-1A, D-558-1, XF-92A, X-5, D-558-2, X-4, and X-3 |
| Description |
A 1953 photo of some of the research aircraft at the NACA High-Speed Flight Research Station (now known as the the Dryden Flight Research Center). The photo shows the X-3 (center) and, clockwise from left: X-1A (Air Force serial number 48-1384), the third D-558-1 (NACA tail number 142), XF-92A, X-5, D-558-2, and X-4. The Dryden Flight Research Center, NASA's premier installation for aeronautical flight research, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1996. Dryden is the "Center of Excellence" for atmospheric flight operations. The Center's charter is to research, develop, verify, and transfer advanced aeronautics, space, and related technologies. It is located at Edwards, Calif., on the western edge of the Mojave Desert, 80 miles north of Los Angeles. Dryden's history dates back to the early fall of 1946, when a group of five aeronautical engineers arrived at what is now Edwards from the NACA's Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, Hampton, Va. Their goal was to prepare for the X-l supersonic research flights in a joint NACA-U.S. Army Air Forces-Bell Aircraft Corp. program. NACA--the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics--was the predecessor of today's NASA. Since the days of the X-l, the first aircraft to fly faster than the speed of sound, the installation has grown in size and significance and is associated with many important developments in aviation -- supersonic and hypersonic flight, wingless lifting bodies, digital fly-by-wire, supercritical and forward-swept wings, and the space shuttles. Its name has changed many times over the years. From 14 November 1949 to 1 July 1954 it bore the name NACA High-Speed Flight Research Station. |
| Date |
01.01.1953 |
|
DFRC F-16 fleet 1995 - F-16A
…
| Title |
DFRC F-16 fleet 1995 - F-16A, F-16XL, AFTI F-16 |
| Description |
Photographed outside their hangar at the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, part of Dryden's F-16 fleet is, left to right, an F-16A, the F-16XL no. 1, and the F-16 AFTI. The F-16A (NASA 516), the only civil registered F-16 in existence, was transferred to Dryden from Langley, and is primarily used in engine tests and for parts. Although it is flight-worthy, it is not currently flown at Dryden. The single-seat F-16XL no. 1 (NASA 849) was most recently used in the Cranked-Arrow Wing Aerodynamics Project (CAWAP) to test boundary layer pressures and distribution. Previously it had been used in a program to investigate the characteristics of sonic booms for NASA's High Speed Research Program. Data from the program will be used in the development of a high speed civilian transport. During the series of sonic boom research flights, the F-16XL was used to probe the shock waves being generated by a NASA SR-71 and record their shape and intensity. The Advanced Fighter Technology Integration (AFTI) F-16 was used to develop and demonstrate technologies to improve navigation and a pilot's ability to find and destroy enemy ground targets day or night, including adverse weather. Earlier research in the joint NASA-Air Force AFTI F-16 program demonstrated voice actuated controls, helmet-mounted sighting and integration of forward-mounted canards with the standard flight control system to achieve uncoupled flight. |
| Date |
01.01.1995 |
|
F-18 HARV research pilot Jim
…
| Title |
F-18 HARV research pilot Jim Smolka |
| Description |
James W. "Smoke" Smolka, a research pilot at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, since 1985, was co-project pilot on the F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) aircraft. Before joining NASA, Smolka was an F-16 experimental test pilot with General Dynamics Corporation for two years at Edwards. He was also a project pilot with the Advanced Fighter Technology Integration (AFTI) F-16 Joint Test Force located at Dryden. In addition to his work with the F-18 program, Smolka also flies as a pilot on the NASA B-52 launch aircraft, and as a co-project pilot on the F-16XL Supersonic Laminar Flow aircraft. He also participated in F-15 HIDEC flight and engine control system programs, and the AFTI F-111 Mission Adaptive Wing, and F-104 Aeronautical Research Aircraft programs. Smolka has accumulated 5000 hours of flight time since he became a pilot in 1973. NASA used an F-18 Hornet fighter aircraft as its High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV). The aircraft is on loan from the U.S. Navy. The high angle of attack technology program is a joint effort of NASA's Dryden, Ames, Langley, and Lewis Research Centers. Its flight operations were based at Dryden. |
| Date |
01.01.1994 |
|
Preparing for the Journey Ho
…
Space shuttle Atlantis is sh
…
5/28/09
| Description |
Space shuttle Atlantis is shown suspended from a sling in the Mate-DeMate Device at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center during preparations for its ferry... |
| Date |
5/28/09 |
|
M2-F1 ejection seat test at
…
| Photo Description |
The M2-F1 was fitted with an ejection seat before the airtow flights began. The project selected the seat used in the T-37 as modified by the Weber Company to use a rocket rather than a ballistic charge for ejection. To test the ejection seat, the Flight Research Center's Dick Klein constructed a plywood mockup of the M2-F1's top deck and canopy. On the first firings, the test was unsuccessful, but on the final test the dummy in the seat landed safely. The M2-F1 ejection seat was later used in the two Lunar Landing Research Vehicles and the three Lunar Landing Training Vehicles. Three of them crashed, but in each case the pilot ejected from the vehicle successfully. |
| Project Description |
The wingless, lifting body aircraft design was initially conceived as a means of landing an aircraft horizontally after atmospheric reentry. The absence of wings would make the extreme heat of re-entry less damaging to the vehicle. In 1962, Dryden management approved a program to build a lightweight, unpowered lifting body as a prototype to flight test the wingless concept. It would look like a "flying bathtub," and was designated the M2-F1, the "M" referring to "manned" and "F" referring to "flight" version. It featured a plywood shell placed over a tubular steel frame crafted at Dryden. Construction was completed in 1963. The first flight tests of the M2-F1 were over Rogers Dry Lake at the end of a tow rope attached to a hopped-up Pontiac convertible driven at speeds up to about 120 mph. This vehicle needed to be able to tow the M2-F1 on the Rogers Dry Lakebed adjacent to NASA's Flight Research Center (FRC) at a minimum speed of 100 miles per hour. To do that, it had to handle the 400-pound pull of the M2-F1. Walter "Whitey" Whiteside, who was a retired Air Force maintenance officer working in the FRC's Flight Operations Division, was a dirt-bike rider and hot-rodder. Together with Boyden "Bud" Bearce in the Procurement and Supply Branch of the FRC, Whitey acquired a Pontiac Catalina convertible with the largest engine available. He took the car to Bill Straup's renowned hot-rod shop near Long Beach for modification. With a special gearbox and racing slicks, the Pontiac could tow the 1,000-pound M2-F1 110 miles per hour in 30 seconds. It proved adequate for the roughly 400 car tows that got the M2-F1 airborne to prove it could fly safely and to train pilots before they were towed behind a C-47 aircraft and released. These initial car-tow tests produced enough flight data about the M2-F1 to proceed with flights behind the C-47 tow plane at greater altitudes. The C-47 took the craft to an altitude of 12,000 where free flights back to Rogers Dry Lake began. Pilot for the first series of flights of the M2-F1 was NASA research pilot Milt Thompson. Typical glide flights with the M2-F1 lasted about two minutes and reached speeds of 110 to 120 mph. A small solid landing rocket, referred to as the "instant L/D rocket," was installed in the rear base of the M2-F1. This rocket, which could be ignited by the pilot, provided about 250 pounds of thrust for about 10 seconds. The rocket could be used to extend the flight time near landing if needed. More than 400 ground tows and 77 aircraft tow flights were carried out with the M2-F1. The success of Dryden's M2-F1 program led to NASA's development and construction of two heavyweight lifting bodies based on studies at NASA's Ames and Langley research centers--the M2-F2 and the HL-10, both built by the Northrop Corporation, and the U.S. Air Force's X-24 program, with an X-24A and -B built by Martin. The Lifting Body program also heavily influenced the Space Shuttle program. The M2-F1 program demonstrated, the feasibility of the lifting body concept for horizontal landings of atmospheric entry vehicles. It also demonstrated a procurement and management concept for prototype flight test vehicles that produced rapid results at very low cost (approximately $50,000, excluding salaries of government employees assigned to the project). |
| Photo Date |
15 Mar 1963 |
|
Radio controlled mothership,
…
| Title |
Radio controlled mothership, Hyper III, and M2-F2 models on lakebed with research staff |
| Description |
"Flying the Hyper III from a ground cockpit was just as dramatic as an actual flight in any of the other vehicles....responsibility rather than fear of personal safety is the real emotional driver. I have never come out of a simulator emtionally and physically tired as is often the case after a test flight in a research aircraft. I was emotionally and physically tired after a 3-minute flight of the Hyper III."", left to right: Richard C. Eldredge, Dale Reed, James O. Newman, Bob McDonald with the mothership (top) and other models. Over the years, the Dryden Flight Research Center and its predecessors has flown various models to gather data for various purposes. The mothership has been used to launch the models. The Flight Research Center (FRC--as Dryden was named from 1959 until 1976) already had experience with testing small-scale aircraft using model-airplane techniques, but the first true remotely piloted research vehicle was the full-sized Hyper III, which flew only once in December 1969. At that time, the Center was engaged in flight research with a variety of reentry shapes called lifting bodies, and there was a desire both to expand the flight research experience with maneuverable reentry vehicles, including a high-performance, variable-geometry craft, and to investigate a remotely piloted flight research technique that made maximum use of a research pilot's skill and experience by placing him "in the loop" as if he were in the cockpit. (There have been, as yet, no female research pilots assigned to Dryden.) The Hyper III as originally conceived was a stiletto-shaped lifting body that had resulted from a study at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. It was one of a number of hypersonic, cross-range reentry vehicles studied at Langley. (Hypersonic means Mach 5--five times the speed of sound--or faster, cross-range means able to fly a considerable distance to the left or right of the initial reentry path.) The FRC added a small, deployable, skewed wing to compensate for the shape's extremely low glide ratio. Shop personnel built the 32-foot-long Hyper III and covered its tubular frame with dacron, aluminum, and fiberglass, for about $6,500. Hyper III employed the same "8-ball" attitude indicator developed for control-room use when flying the X-15, two model-airplane receivers to command the vehicle's hydraulic controls, and a telemetry system (surplus from the X-15 program) to transmit 12 channels of data to the ground not only for display and control but for data analysis. Dropped from a helicopter at 10,000 feet, Hyper III flew under the control of research pilot Milt Thompson to a near landing using instruments for control. When the vehicle was close to the ground, he handed the vehicle off to experienced model pilot Dick Fischer for a visual landing using standard controls. The flight demonstrated the feasibility of remotely piloting research vehicles and, among other things, that control of the vehicle in roll was much better than predicted and that the vehicle had a much lower lift-to-drag ratio than predicted (a maximum of 4.0 rather than 5.0). Pilot Milt Thompson exhibited some suprising reactions during the Hyper III flight, he behaved as if he were in the cockpit of an actual research aircraft.""I was really stimulated emotionally and physically in exactly the same manner that I have been during actual first flights." |
| Date |
01.01.1968 |
|
Hyper III on ramp, front vie
…
| Title |
Hyper III on ramp, front view |
| Description |
The Hyper III was a low-cost test vehicle for an advanced lifting-body shape. Like the earlier M2-F1, it was a "homebuilt" research aircraft, i.e., built at the Flight Research Center (FRC), later redesignated the Dryden Flight Research Center. It had a steel-tube frame covered with Dacron, a fiberglass nose, sheet aluminum fins, and a wing from an HP-11 sailplane. Construction was by volunteers at the FRC. Although the Hyper III was to be flown remotely in its initial tests, it was fitted with a cockpit for a pilot. On the Hyper III's only flight, it was towed aloft attached to a Navy SH-3 helicopter by a 400-foot cable. NASA research pilot Bruce Peterson flew the SH-3. After he released the Hyper III from the cable, NASA research pilot Milt Thompson flew the vehicle by radio control until the final approach when Dick Fischer took over control using a model-airplane radio-control box. The Hyper III flared, then landed and slid to a stop on Rogers Dry Lakebed. The Flight Research Center (FRC--as Dryden was named from 1959 until 1976) already had experience with testing small-scale aircraft using model-airplane techniques, but the first true remotely piloted research vehicle was the Hyper III, which flew only once in December 1969. At that time, the Center was engaged in flight research with a variety of reentry shapes called lifting bodies, and there was a desire both to expand the flight research experience with maneuverable reentry vehicles, including a high-performance, variable-geometry craft, and to investigate a remotely piloted flight research technique that made maximum use of a research pilot's skill and experience by placing him "in the loop" as if he were in the cockpit. (There have been, as yet, no female research pilots assigned to Dryden.) The Hyper III as originally conceived was a stiletto-shaped lifting body that had resulted from a study at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. It was one of a number of hypersonic, cross-range reentry vehicles studied at Langley. (Hypersonic means Mach 5--five times the speed of sound--or faster, cross-range means able to fly a considerable distance to the left or right of the initial reentry path.) The FRC added a small, deployable, skewed wing to compensate for the shape's extremely low glide ratio. Shop personnel built the 32-foot-long Hyper III and covered its tubular frame with dacron, aluminum, and fiberglass, for about $6,500. Hyper III employed the same "8-ball" attitude indicator developed for control-room use when flying the X-15, two model-airplane receivers to command the vehicle's hydraulic controls, and a telemetry system (surplus from the X-15 program) to transmit 12 channels of data to the ground not only for display and control but for data analysis. Dropped from a helicopter at 10,000 feet, Hyper III flew under the control of research pilot Milt Thompson to a near landing using instruments for control. When the vehicle was close to the ground, he handed the, vehicle off to experienced model pilot Dick Fischer for a visual landing using standard controls. The flight demonstrated the feasibility of remotely piloting research vehicles and, among other things, that control of the vehicle in roll was much better than predicted and that the vehicle had a much lower lift-to-drag ratio than predicted (a maximum of 4.0 rather than 5.0). Pilot Milt Thompson exhibited some suprising reactions during the Hyper III flight, he behaved as if he were in the cockpit of an actual research aircraft.""I was really stimulated emotionally and physically in exactly the same manner that I have been during actual first flights.""Flying the Hyper III from a ground cockpit was just as dramatic as an actual flight in any of the other vehicles....responsibility rather than fear of personal safety is the real emotional driver. I have never come out of a simulator emtionally and physically tired as is often the case after a test flight in a research aircraft. I was emotionally and physically tired after a 3-minute flight of the Hyper III."" |
| Date |
01.01.1969 |
|
Lifting Body Aircraft
A fleet of lifting-body rese
…
1/5/09
| Description |
A fleet of lifting-body research vehicles were flown at Dryden from 1963 to 1975 to validate the concept of flying a wingless craft back to Earth from space and landing it like a conventional aircraft at a pre-determined site. Aerodynamic lift - essential to flight in the atmosphere - was obtained from the shape of the vehicles rather than from wings, as on a normal aircraft. In 1962, Flight Research Center director Paul Bikle approved a program to build a lightweight, unpowered lifting body as a prototype to test the wingless concept. The M2-F1's half-cone shape looked like a "flying bathtub" and featured a plywood shell over a tubular steel frame. Initially towed aloft by a Pontiac convertible driven at speeds up to 120 mph across Rogers Dry Lake, the vehicle was later towed behind a C-47 and released for glide flights from greater altitudes. More than 400 ground tows and 77 aircraft tow flights were carried out with the M2-F1 before it was retired. A historical artifact now owned by the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum, the M2-F1 is on long-term loan to Dryden for display purposes. The success of the M2-F1 program led to development and construction of two heavyweight lifting bodies, the M2-F2 and the HL-10, that were carried to launch altitude beneath the wing of a modified B-52 and launched to complete rocket-powered flight profiles followed by a glide landing on the dry lakebed. The first flight of the M2-F2 (which looked much like the M2-F1) took place on July 12, 1966. On May 10, 1967, during the 16th flight, a landing accident severely damaged the vehicle and seriously injured NASA research pilot Bruce Peterson. It was subsequently rebuilt with modifications for improved control characteristics and re-designated M2-F3. During more than two-dozen flights, the M2-F3 reached a top speed of 1,064 mph (Mach 1.6) and a maximum altitude of 71,500 feet. It is now on display in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The HL-10 had a more streamlined aerodynamic shape than did the M2-series vehicles. It featured a longitudinally curved bottom and a laterally rounded top and had a delta planform. Following its maiden flight on Dec. 22, 1966, it set several program records, including the fastest speed reached by any of the lifting bodies - 1,228 mph (Mach 1.86) - and highest lifting body flight - 90,303 feet. Data from these flights contributed substantially to development of the space shuttles. The HL-10 is now on public display at the entrance to Dryden. In 1969 another shape, the bulbous X-24A, was introduced. It was flown 28 times, providing data that helped engineers to design a prototype Crew Return Vehicle some three decades later. The X-24A was later modified into a new configuration, the X-24B - nicknamed the "flying flatiron" - with a rounded top, flat bottom and a double-delta planform that ended in a pointed nose. To reduce the costs of constructing a new research vehicle, the new shape was built as a shell around the original X-24A vehicle. Significantly, it was used for two landings on the main concrete runway at Edwards Air Force Base, demonstrating that accurate unpowered re-entry vehicle landings were operationally feasible. Following its retirement in 1975, the X-24B was placed on display in the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Photo Description The X-24B is seen in flight over the high desert. NASA Photo |
| Date |
1/5/09 |
|
Controlled Impact Demonstrat
…
| Title |
Controlled Impact Demonstration instrumented test dummies installed in plane |
| Description |
In this photograph are seen some of dummies in the passenger cabin of the B-720 aircraft. NASA Langley Research Center instrumented a large portion of the aircraft and the dummies for loads in a crashworthiness research program. In 1984 NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility and the Federal Aviation Adimistration (FAA) teamed-up in a unique flight experiment called the Controlled Impact Demonstration (CID). The test involved crashing a Boeing 720 aircraft with four JT3C-7 engines burning a mixture of standard fuel with an additive called Anti-misting Kerosene (AMK) designed to supress fire. In a typical aircraft crash, fuel spilled from ruptured fuel tanks forms a fine mist that can be ignited by a number of sources at the crash site. In 1984 the NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility (after 1994 a full-fledged Center again) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) teamed-up in a unique flight experiment called the Controlled Impact Demonstration (CID), to test crash a Boeing 720 aircraft using standard fuel with an additive designed to supress fire. The additive, FM-9, a high-molecular-weight long-chain polymer, when blended with Jet-A fuel had demonstrated the capability to inhibit ignition and flame propagation of the released fuel in simulated crash tests. This anti-misting kerosene (AMK) cannot be introduced directly into a gas turbine engine due to several possible problems such as clogging of filters. The AMK must be restored to almost Jet-A before being introduced into the engine for burning. This restoration is called "degradation" and was accomplished on the B-720 using a device called a "degrader." Each of the four Pratt & Whitney JT3C-7 engines had a "degrader" built and installed by General Electric (GE) to break down and return the AMK to near Jet-A quality. In addition to the AMK research the NASA Langley Research Center was involved in a structural loads measurement experiment, which included having instrumented dummies filling the seats in the passenger compartment. Before the final flight on December 1, 1984, more than four years of effort passed trying to set-up final impact conditions considered survivable by the FAA. During those years while 14 flights with crews were flown the following major efforts were underway: NASA Dryden developed the remote piloting techniques necessary for the B-720 to fly as a drone aircraft, General Electric installed and tested four degraders (one on each engine), and the FAA refined AMK (blending, testing, and fueling a full-size aircraft). The 15 flights had 15 takeoffs, 14 landings and a larger number of approaches to about 150 feet above the prepared crash site under remote control. These flight were used to introduce AMK one step at a time into some of the fuel tanks and engines while monitoring the performance of the engines. On the final flight (No. 15) with no crew, all fuel tanks were filled with a total of 76,000 pounds of AMK and the remotely-piloted aircraft landed on Rogers Dry, Lakebed in an area prepared with posts to test the effectiveness of the AMK in a controlled impact. The CID, which some wags called the Crash in the Desert, was spectacular with a large fireball enveloping and burning the B-720 aircraft. From the standpoint of AMK the test was a major set-back, but for NASA Langley, the data collected on crashworthiness was deemed successful and just as important. |
| Date |
01.01.1984 |
|
F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire
The Digital Fly-By-Wire proj
…
1/5/09
| Description |
The Digital Fly-By-Wire project pioneered the use of an electronic flight-control system coupled with a digital computer to replace conventional mechanical flight controls. A modified F-8 DFBW Crusader was the first to be used to validate the concept in 1972 at the Flight Research Center (now Dryden). It was the forerunner of the fly-by-wire flight control systems now used on the space shuttles and on today's military and civil aircraft to make them safer, more maneuverable and more efficient. The system is safer because of its redundancies and because, for military aircraft, wires are less vulnerable to battle damage than the hydraulic lines previously used. The aircraft was more maneuverable because computers could command more frequent adjustments than a human pilot and designers could eliminate features that made the plane more stable and less maneuverable. A fly-by-wire aircraft also is much more responsive to pilot control inputs. For airliners, computerized flight control ensured a smoother ride than a human pilot alone could provide. Finally, digital fly-by-wire was more efficient because it was lighter and took up less volume than hydraulic controls and thus either reduced the fuel required to fly with the extra weight of the hydraulics and/or permitted aircraft to carry more passengers or cargo. It also required less maintenance than the systems it replaced. In addition to pioneering the space shuttle's fly-by-wire flight-control system, the F-8 DFBW testbed was used to explore pilot-induced oscillations and validated methods needed to suppress them. PIOs occur when a pilot over-controls an aircraft and a sustained oscillation results. In 1977, on the last of five free flights of Enterprise during approach and landing tests, a PIO developed as the vehicle settled onto the runway. The problem was duplicated with the F-8 DFBW and a PIO suppression filter was developed and tested on the aircraft for use in the orbiter. Photo Description F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire (DFBW) Aircraft NASA Photo |
| Date |
1/5/09 |
|
X-43A
NASA made aviation history w
…
1/5/09
| Description |
NASA made aviation history with the first and second successful flights of an X-43A scramjet-powered airplane at hypersonic speeds - speeds greater than Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound. Compared to a rocket-powered vehicle like the space shuttle, vehicles powered by scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) engines promise more airplane-like operations for increased affordability, flexibility and safety on ultra-high-speed flights within the atmosphere and into Earth orbit. Because they do not have to contain their own oxidizer, as rockets must, vehicles powered by air-breathing scramjets can be smaller and lighter - or be the same size but carry a larger payload. No vehicle powered by an air-breathing engine had ever flown at hypersonic speeds before the successful March 2004 X-43A flight that collected the first data from a scramjet engine in flight. In addition, the rocket boost and subsequent separation from the rocket to get to the scramjet test condition had complex components that had to work properly if the mission was to succeed. Careful analyses and design were applied to reduce risks to acceptable levels though some level of residual risk was inherent to the program. Three unpiloted X-43A research aircraft were built. Each of the 12-foot-long, 5-foot-wide vehicles was designed to fly once and not be recovered. They were identical in appearance, but engineered with differences relating to their designed Mach speed. The first and second vehicles were designed to fly at Mach 7 and the third at Mach 10. At these speeds, the shape of the vehicle forebody compresses the air entering the scramjet. Fuel is then injected for combustion. Gaseous hydrogen fueled the X-43A. After the first flight attempt, in June of 2001, failed when the booster rocket went out of control, the second and third attempts resulted in highly successful, record-breaking flights. Mach 6.8 was reached in March of 2004, and Mach 9.6 was reached in the final flight in November of 2004. Both flights began with the combined test vehicle/rocket "stack" being carried by a B-52B aircraft from Dryden to a predetermined point over the Pacific Ocean, 50 miles west of the Southern California coast. Release altitude from the B-52B was 40,000 feet for both successful flights. At that point, each stack was dropped from the B-52B, and the booster lifted each research vehicle to its test altitude and speed. Guinness World Records has recognized both the Mach 6.8 and Mach 9.6 accomplishments. Photo Description A modified Pegasus rocket ignites moments after release from the NB-52B, beginning the acceleration of the X-43A over the Pacific Ocean on March 27, 2004. NASA Photo by Jim Ross |
| Date |
1/5/09 |
|
NB-52B
Two Boeing B-52 Stratofortre
…
1/5/09
| Description |
Two Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers were modified as motherships to launch the X-15 rocket planes. On each aircraft, the bombardier's station was replaced with a console for a launch panel operator, a slot was cut in the right wing to accommodate the X-15's tail fin, and the wing was fitted with a special pylon for carrying the research vehicle. The NB-52A, Air Force serial 52-0003, was named "The High and Mighty One," and the NB-52B (Air Force serial 52-0008) was called "The Challenger." Both, however, were better known by nicknames based on their serial numbers - "Balls Three" and "Balls Eight." In the 1960s, both served as motherships for the X-15 and lifting bodies but "Balls Eight" remained at Dryden until 2004, becoming a true workhorse of aeronautical research. The NB-52B was first used to launch an X-15 on Jan. 23, 1960, the fifth X-15 flight. It served as launch aircraft for 106 of the 199 X-15 research missions and several captive flights. It was also used as mothership for the lifting bodies (HL-10, M2-F2, M2-F3, X-24A, X-24B), F-15 Spin Research Vehicle, Highly Maneuverable Aircraft Technology, or HiMAT remotely piloted research vehicle, drones for aerodynamic and structural testing, as a space shuttle solid rocket booster parachute system drop test vehicle, F-111 crew escape capsule recovery system parachute test vehicle, Pegasus expendable launch vehicle, X-38 Crew Return Vehicle technology demonstrator, and X-43A hypersonic research vehicle. It was used in numerous other programs, including Inertial Flight Data System pod tests, space shuttle drag chute tests, supersonic cruise emissions environmental studies, F-16 radar target studies, Air Force strategic studies of laser propagation through aircraft wake vortices, and tests of a prototype interphone system. The airplane's fuselage was decorated with mission markings denoting its history and accomplishments. The NB-52B made a total of 1,051 flights and logged 2,443.8 flight hours. It was retired by NASA and returned to the Air Force on Dec. 17, 2004. Photo Description The NB-52B carries the M2-F2. NASA Photo |
| Date |
1/5/09 |
|
HL-10 on lakebed with pilot
…
| Title |
HL-10 on lakebed with pilot Bill Dana |
| Description |
NASA research pilot Bill Dana stands in front of the HL-10 Lifting Body following his first glide flight on April 25, 1969. Dana later retired Chief Engineer at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, which was called only the NASA Flight Research Center in 1969. Prior to his lifting body assignment, Dana flew the famed X-15 research airplane. He flew the rocket-powered aircraft 16 times, reaching a top speed of 3,897 miles per hour and a peak altitude of 310,000 feet (almost 59 miles high). The HL-10 was one of five heavyweight lifting-body designs flown at NASA's Flight Research Center (FRC--later Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, from July 1966 to November 1975 to study and validate the concept of safely maneuvering and landing a low lift-over-drag vehicle designed for reentry from space. Northrop Corporation built the HL-10 and M2-F2, the first two of the fleet of "heavy" lifting bodies flown by the NASA Flight Research Center. The contract for construction of the HL-10 and the M2-F2 was $1.8 million. "HL" stands for horizontal landing, and "10" refers to the tenth design studied by engineers at NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. After delivery to NASA in January 1966, the HL-10 made its first flight on Dec. 22, 1966, with research pilot Bruce Peterson in the cockpit. Although an XLR-11 rocket engine was installed in the vehicle, the first 11 drop flights from the B-52 launch aircraft were powerless glide flights to assess handling qualities, stability, and control. In the end, the HL-10 was judged to be the best handling of the three original heavy-weight lifting bodies (M2-F2/F3, HL-10, X-24A). The HL-10 was flown 37 times during the lifting body research program and logged the highest altitude and fastest speed in the Lifting Body program. On Feb. 18, 1970, Air Force test pilot Peter Hoag piloted the HL-10 to Mach 1.86 (1,228 mph). Nine days later, NASA pilot Bill Dana flew the vehicle to 90,030 feet, which became the highest altitude reached in the program. Some new and different lessons were learned through the successful flight testing of the HL-10. These lessons, when combined with information from it's sister ship, the M2-F2/F3, provided an excellent starting point for designers of future entry vehicles, including the Space Shuttle. |
| Date |
01.01.1966 |
|
F-8 SCW on ramp with test pi
…
| Title |
F-8 SCW on ramp with test pilot Tom McMurtry |
| Description |
A Vought F-8A Crusader was selected by NASA as the testbed aircraft (designated TF-8A) to install an experimental Supercritical Wing (SCW) in place of the conventional wing. The unique design of the Supercritical Wing reduces the effect of shock waves on the upper surface near Mach 1, which in turn reduces drag. In this photograph the TF-8A Crusader with Supercritical Wing is shown on the ramp with project pilot Tom McMurtry standing beside it. McMurtry received NASA's Exceptional Service Medal for his work on the F-8 SCW aircraft. He also flew the AD-1, F-15 Digital Electronic Engine Control, the KC-130 winglets, the F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire and other flight research aircraft including the remotely piloted 720 Controlled Impact Demonstration and sub-scale F-15 research projects. In addition, McMurtry was the 747 co-pilot for the Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests and made the last glide flight in the X-24B. McMurtry was Dryden's Director for Flight Operations from 1986 to 1998, when he became Associate Director for Operations at NASA Dryden. In 1982, McMurtry received the Iven C. Kincheloe Award from the Society of Experimental Test Pilots for his contributions as project pilot on the AD-1 Oblique Wing program. In 1998 he was named as one of the honorees at the Lancaster, Calif., ninth Aerospace Walk of Honor ceremonies. In 1999 he was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. He retired in 1999 after a distinguished career as pilot and manager at Dryden that began in 1967. The F-8 Supercritical Wing was a flight research project designed to test a new wing concept designed by Dr. Richard Whitcomb, chief of the Transonic Aerodynamics Branch, Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. Compared to a conventional wing, the supercritical wing (SCW) is flatter on the top and rounder on the bottom with a downward curve at the trailing edge. The Supercritical Wing was designed to delay the formation of and reduce the shock wave over the wing just below and above the speed of sound (transonic region of flight). Delaying the shock wave at these speeds results in less drag. Results of the NASA flight research at the Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, (later renamed the Dryden Flight Research Center) demonstrated that aircraft using the supercritical wing concept would have increased cruising speed, improved fuel efficiency, and greater flight range than those using conventional wings. As a result, supercritical wings are now commonplace on virtually every modern subsonic commercial transport. Results of the NASA project showed the SCW had increased the transonic efficiency of the F-8 as much as 15 percent and proved that passenger transports with supercritical wings, versus conventional wings, could save $78 million (in 1974 dollars) per year for a fleet of 280 200-passenger airliners. The F-8 Supercritical Wing (SCW) project flew from 1970 to 1973. Dryden engineer John McTigue was the first SCW program manager and Tom McMurtry was the lead, project pilot. The first SCW flight took place on March 9, 1971. The last flight of the Supercritical wing was on May 23, 1973, with Ron Gerdes at the controls. Original wingspan of the F-8 is 35 feet, 2 inches while the wingspan with the supercritical wing was 43 feet, 1 inch. F-8 aircraft were powered by Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet engines. The TF-8A Crusader was made available to the NASA Flight Research Center by the U.S. Navy. F-8 jet aircraft were built, originally, by LTV Aerospace, Dallas, Texas. Rockwell International's North American Aircraft Division received a $1.8 million contract to fabricate the supercritical wing, which was delivered to NASA in December 1969. |
| Date |
01.01.1972 |
|
CID Aircraft pre-impact lake
…
| Title |
CID Aircraft pre-impact lakebed skid |
| Description |
The B-720 is seen viewed moments after impact and just before hitting the wing openers. In a typical aircraft crash, fuel spilled from ruptured fuel tanks forms a fine mist that can be ignited by a number of sources at the crash site. In 1984 the NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility (after 1994 a full-fledged Center again) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) teamed-up in a unique flight experiment called the Controlled Impact Demonstration (CID), to test crash a Boeing 720 aircraft using standard fuel with an additive designed to supress fire. The additive, FM-9, a high-molecular-weight long-chain polymer, when blended with Jet-A fuel had demonstrated the capability to inhibit ignition and flame propagation of the released fuel in simulated crash tests. This anti-misting kerosene (AMK) cannot be introduced directly into a gas turbine engine due to several possible problems such as clogging of filters. The AMK must be restored to almost Jet-A before being introduced into the engine for burning. This restoration is called "degradation" and was accomplished on the B-720 using a device called a "degrader." Each of the four Pratt & Whitney JT3C-7 engines had a "degrader" built and installed by General Electric (GE) to break down and return the AMK to near Jet-A quality. In addition to the AMK research the NASA Langley Research Center was involved in a structural loads measurement experiment, which included having instrumented dummies filling the seats in the passenger compartment. Before the final flight on December 1, 1984, more than four years of effort passed trying to set-up final impact conditions considered survivable by the FAA. During those years while 14 flights with crews were flown the following major efforts were underway: NASA Dryden developed the remote piloting techniques necessary for the B-720 to fly as a drone aircraft, General Electric installed and tested four degraders (one on each engine), and the FAA refined AMK (blending, testing, and fueling a full-size aircraft). The 15 flights had 15 takeoffs, 14 landings and a larger number of approaches to about 150 feet above the prepared crash site under remote control. These flight were used to introduce AMK one step at a time into some of the fuel tanks and engines while monitoring the performance of the engines. On the final flight (No. 15) with no crew, all fuel tanks were filled with a total of 76,000 pounds of AMK and the remotely-piloted aircraft landed on Rogers Dry Lakebed in an area prepared with posts to test the effectiveness of the AMK in a controlled impact. The CID, which some wags called the Crash in the Desert, was spectacular with a large fireball enveloping and burning the B-720 aircraft. From the standpoint of AMK the test was a major set-back, but for NASA Langley, the data collected on crashworthiness was deemed successful and just as important. |
| Date |
12.01.1984 |
|
Unveiling of sign for Walter
…
| Title |
Unveiling of sign for Walter C. Williams Research Aircraft Integration Facility |
| Description |
In a brief ceremony following a memorial service for the late Walter C. Williams on November 17, 1995, the Integrated Test Facility (ITF) at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, California, was formally renamed the Walter C. Williams Research Aircraft Integration Facility. Shown is the family of Walt Williams: Helen, his widow, sons Charles and Howard, daughter Elizabeth Williams Powell, their spouses and children unveiling the new sign redesignating the Facility. The test facility provides state-of-the-art capabilities for thorough ground testing of advanced research aircraft. It allows researchers and technicians to integrate and test aircraft systems before each research flight, which greatly enhances the safety of each mission. In September 1946 Williams became engineer-in-charge of a team of five engineers who arrived at Muroc Army Air Base (now Edwards AFB) from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics's Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, Hampton, Virginia (now NASA's Langley Research Center), to prepare for supersonic research flights in a joint NACA-Army Air Forces program involving the rocket-powered X-1. This established the first permanent NACA presence at the Mojave Desert site although initially the five engineers and others who followed them were on temporary assignment. Over time, Walt continued to be in charge during the many name changes for the NACA-NASA organization, with Williams ending his stay as Chief of the NASA Flight Research Center in September 1959 (today NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center). |
| Date |
01.01.1995 |
|
Pegasus Rocket Model
| Title |
Pegasus Rocket Model |
| Description |
A small, desk-top model of Orbital Sciences Corporation's Pegasus winged rocket booster. Pegasus is an air-launched space booster produced by Orbital Sciences Corporation and Hercules Aerospace Company (initially, later, Alliant Tech Systems) to provide small satellite users with a cost-effective, flexible, and reliable method for placing payloads into low earth orbit. Pegasus has been used to launch a number of satellites and the PHYSX experiment. That experiment consisted of a smooth glove installed on the first-stage delta wing of the Pegasus. The glove was used to gather data at speeds of up to Mach 8 and at altitudes approaching 200,000 feet. The flight took place on October 22, 1998. The PHYSX experiment focused on determining where boundary-layer transition occurs on the glove and on identifying the flow mechanism causing transition over the glove. Data from this flight-research effort included temperature, heat transfer, pressure measurements, airflow, and trajectory reconstruction. Hypersonic flight-research programs are an approach to validate design methods for hypersonic vehicles (those that fly more than five times the speed of sound, or Mach 5). Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, provided overall management of the glove experiment, glove design, and buildup. Dryden also was responsible for conducting the flight tests. Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, was responsible for the design of the aerodynamic glove as well as development of sensor and instrumentation systems for the glove. Other participating NASA centers included Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, and Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, Virginia, is the manufacturer of the Pegasus vehicle, while Vandenberg Air Force Base served as a pre-launch assembly facility for the launch that included the PHYSX experiment. NASA used data from Pegasus launches to obtain considerable data on aerodynamics. By conducting experiments in a piggyback mode on Pegasus, some critical and secondary design and development issues were addressed at hypersonic speeds. The vehicle was also used to develop hypersonic flight instrumentation and test techniques. NASA's B-52 carrier-launch vehicle was used to get the Pegasus airborne during six launches from 1990 to 1994. Thereafter, an Orbital Sciences L-1011 aircraft launched the Pegasus. The Pegasus launch vehicle itself has a 400- to 600-pound payload capacity in a 61-cubic-foot payload space at the front of the vehicle. The vehicle is capable of placing a payload into low earth orbit. This vehicle is 49 feet long and 50 inches in diameter. It has a wing span of 22 feet. (There is also a Pegasus XL vehicle that was introduced in 1994. Dryden has never launched one of these vehicles, but they have greater thrust and are 56 feet long.) |
| Date |
01.01.1996 |
|
F-8 Digital Fly-by-Wire in f
…
| Title |
F-8 Digital Fly-by-Wire in flight |
| Description |
This photo shows the F-8 Digital-Fly-By Wire aircraft in flight. The project involving this aircraft contributed significantly to the flight control system on the space shuttles by testing and getting the bugs out of the IBM AP-101 used on the shuttles and by helping the Dryden Flight Research Center to develop a pilot-induced oscillation (PIO) suppression filter that reduced the likelihood of pilots overcontrolling the shuttles on landings and thereby creating excursions from the intended landing path. The F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire (DFBW) flight research project validated the principal concepts of all-electric flight control systems now used on nearly all modern high-performance aircraft and on military and civilian transports. The first flight of the 13-year project was on May 25, 1972, with research pilot Gary E. Krier at the controls of a modified F-8C Crusader that served as the testbed for the fly-by-wire technologies. The project was a joint effort between the NASA Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, (now the Dryden Flight Research Center) and Langley Research Center. It included a total of 211 flights. The last flight was December 16, 1985, with Dryden research pilot Ed Schneider at the controls. The F-8 DFBW system was the forerunner of current fly-by-wire systems used in the space shuttles and on today's military and civil aircraft to make them safer, more maneuverable, and more efficient. Electronic fly-by-wire systems replaced older hydraulic control systems, freeing designers to design aircraft with reduced in-flight stability. Fly-by-wire systems are safer because of their redundancies. They are more maneuverable because computers can command more frequent adjustments than a human pilot can. For airliners, computerized control ensures a smoother ride than a human pilot alone can provide. Digital-fly-by-wire is more efficient because it is lighter and takes up less space than the hydraulic systems it replaced. This either reduces the fuel required to fly or increases the number of passengers or pounds of cargo the aircraft can carry. Digital fly-by-wire is currently used in a variety of aircraft ranging from F/A-18 fighters to the Boeing 777. The DFBW research program is considered one of the most significant and most successful NASA aeronautical programs since the inception of the agency. F-8 aircraft were built originally for the U.S. Navy by LTV Aerospace of Dallas, Texas. The aircraft had a wingspan of 35 feet, 2 inches, was 54 feet, 6 inches long, and was powered by a Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet engine. |
| Date |
01.01.1977 |
|
X-Wing RSRA - 80 Knot Taxi T
…
| Title |
X-Wing RSRA - 80 Knot Taxi Test |
| Description |
The Rotor Systems Research Aircraft/X-Wing, a vehicle that was used to demonstrate an advanced rotor/fixed wing concept called X-Wing, is shown here during high-speed taxi tests at NASA's Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility (later redesignated Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, on 4 November 1987. During these tests, the vehicle made three taxi tests at speeds of up to 138 knots. On the third run, the RSRA/X-Wing lifted off the runway to a 25-foot height for about 16 seconds. This liftoff maneuver was pre-planned as an aid to evaluations for first flight. At the controls were NASA pilot G. Warren Hall and Sikorsky pilot W. Faull. The unusual aircraft that resulted from the Ames Research Center/Army X-Wing Project was flown at the Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility (now Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, beginning in the spring of 1984, with a follow-on program beginning in 1986. The program, was conceived to provide an efficient combination of the vertical lift characteristic of conventional helicopters and the high cruise speed of fixed-wing aircraft. It consisted of a hybrid vehicle called the NASA/Army Rotor Systems Research Aircraft (RSRA), which was equipped with advanced X-wing rotor systems. The program began in the early 1970s to investigate ways to increase the speed of rotor aircraft, as well as their performance, reliability, and safety . It also sought to reduce the noise, vibration, and maintenance costs of helicopters. Sikorsky Aircraft Division of United Technologies Laboratories built two RSRA aircraft. NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, did some initial testing and transferred the program to Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California, for an extensive flight research program conducted by Ames and the Army. The purpose of the 1984 tests was to demonstrate the fixed-wing capability of the helicopter/airplane hybrid research vehicle and explore its flight envelope and flying qualities. These tests, flown by Ames pilot G. Warren Hall and Army Maj (soon promoted to Lt. Col.) Patrick Morris, began in May and continued until October 1984, when the RSRA vehicle returned to Ames. The project manager at Dryden for the flights was Wen Painter. These early tests were preparatory for a future X-Wing rotor flight test project to be sponsored by NASA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and Sikorsky Aircraft. A later derivative X-Wing flew in 1987. The modified RSRA was developed to provide a vehicle for in-flight investigation and verification of new helicopter rotor-system concepts and supporting technology. The RSRA could be configured to fly as an airplane with fixed wings, as a helicopter, or as a compound vehicle that could transition between the two configurations. NASA and DARPA selected Sikorsky in 1984 to convert one of the original RSRAs to the new demonstrator aircraft for the X-Wing concept. Developers of X-Wing technology did not view the X-Wing as a, replacement for either helicopters (rotor aircraft) or fixed-wing aircraft. Instead, they envisioned it as an aircraft with special enhanced capabilities to perform missions that call for the low-speed efficiency and maneuverability of helicopters combined with the high cruise speed of fixed-wing aircraft. Some such missions include air-to-air and air-to-ground tactical operations, airborne early warning, electronic intelligence, antisubmarine warfare, and search and rescue. The follow-on X-Wing project was managed by James W. Lane, chief of the RSRA/X-Wing Project Office, Ames Research Center. Coordinating the Ames-Dryden flight effort in 1987 was Jack Kolf. The X-Wing project was a joint effort of NASA-Ames, DARPA, the U.S. Army, and Sikorsky Aircraft, Stratford, Connecticut. The modified X-Wing aircraft was delivered to Ames-Dryden by Sikorsky Aircraft on September 25, 1986. Following taxi tests, initial flights in the aircraft mode without main rotors attached took place at Dryden in December 1997. Ames research pilot G. Warren Hall and Sikorsky's W. Richard Faull were the pilots. The contract with Sikorsky ended that month, and the program ended in January 1988. |
| Date |
11.01.1987 |
|
HL-10 on lakebed
| Title |
HL-10 on lakebed |
| Description |
The HL-10 Lifting Body is seen here parked on Rogers Dry Lake, the unique location where it landed after research flights. This 1968 photo shows the vehicle after the fins were modified to remove instabilities encountered on the first flight. It involved a change to the shape of the leading edge of the fins to eliminate flow separation. It required extensive wind-tunnel testing at Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. NASA Flight Research Center (FRC) engineer Bob Kempel than plotted thousands of data points by hand to come up with the modification, which involved a fiberglass glove backed with a metal structure on each fin's leading edge. This transformed the vehicle from a craft that was difficult to control into the best handling of the original group of lifting bodies at the FRC. The HL-10 was one of five heavyweight lifting-body designs flown at NASA's Flight Research Center (FRC--later Dryden Flight Research Center), Edwards, California, from July 1966 to November 1975 to study and validate the concept of safely maneuvering and landing a low lift-over-drag vehicle designed for reentry from space. Northrop Corporation built the HL-10 and M2-F2, the first two of the fleet of "heavy" lifting bodies flown by the NASA Flight Research Center. The contract for construction of the HL-10 and the M2-F2 was $1.8 million. "HL" stands for horizontal landing, and "10" refers to the tenth design studied by engineers at NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. After delivery to NASA in January 1966, the HL-10 made its first flight on Dec. 22, 1966, with research pilot Bruce Peterson in the cockpit. Although an XLR-11 rocket engine was installed in the vehicle, the first 11 drop flights from the B-52 launch aircraft were powerless glide flights to assess handling qualities, stability, and control. In the end, the HL-10 was judged to be the best handling of the three original heavy-weight lifting bodies (M2-F2/F3, HL-10, X-24A). The HL-10 was flown 37 times during the lifting body research program and logged the highest altitude and fastest speed in the Lifting Body program. On Feb. 18, 1970, Air Force test pilot Peter Hoag piloted the HL-10 to Mach 1.86 (1,228 mph). Nine days later, NASA pilot Bill Dana flew the vehicle to 90,030 feet, which became the highest altitude reached in the program. Some new and different lessons were learned through the successful flight testing of the HL-10. These lessons, when combined with information from it's sister ship, the M2-F2/F3, provided an excellent starting point for designers of future entry vehicles, including the Space Shuttle. |
| Date |
01.01.1968 |
|
Proposed Ames M2-F1, M1-L ha
…
| Title |
Proposed Ames M2-F1, M1-L half-cone, and Langley lenticular bodies. |
| Description |
Dale Reed, who inaugurated the lifting-body flight research at NASA's Flight Research Center (later, Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA), originally proposed that three wooden outer shells be built. These would then be attached to the single internal steel structure. The three shapes were (viewer's left to right) the M2-F1, the M1-L, and a lenticular shape. Milt Thompson, who supported Reed's advocacy for a lifting-body research project, recommended that only the M2-F1 shell be built, believing that the M1-L shape was "too radical," while the lenticular one was "too exotic." Although the lenticular shape was often likened to that of a flying saucer, Reed's wife Donna called it the "powder puff." The wingless, lifting body aircraft design was initially conceived as a means of landing an aircraft horizontally after atmospheric reentry. The absence of wings would make the extreme heat of re-entry less damaging to the vehicle. In 1962, Dryden management approved a program to build a lightweight, unpowered lifting body as a prototype to flight test the wingless concept. It would look like a "flying bathtub," and was designated the M2-F1, the "M" referring to "manned" and "F" referring to "flight" version. It featured a plywood shell placed over a tubular steel frame crafted at Dryden. Construction was completed in 1963. The first flight tests of the M2-F1 were over Rogers Dry Lake at the end of a tow rope attached to a hopped-up Pontiac convertible driven at speeds up to about 120 mph. This vehicle needed to be able to tow the M2-F1 on the Rogers Dry Lakebed adjacent to NASA's Flight Research Center (FRC) at a minimum speed of 100 miles per hour. To do that, it had to handle the 400-pound pull of the M2-F1. Walter "Whitey" Whiteside, who was a retired Air Force maintenance officer working in the FRC's Flight Operations Division, was a dirt-bike rider and hot-rodder. Together with Boyden "Bud" Bearce in the Procurement and Supply Branch of the FRC, Whitey acquired a Pontiac Catalina convertible with the largest engine available. He took the car to Bill Straup's renowned hot-rod shop near Long Beach for modification. With a special gearbox and racing slicks, the Pontiac could tow the 1,000-pound M2-F1 110 miles per hour in 30 seconds. It proved adequate for the roughly 400 car tows that got the M2-F1 airborne to prove it could fly safely and to train pilots before they were towed behind a C-47 aircraft and released. These initial car-tow tests produced enough flight data about the M2-F1 to proceed with flights behind the C-47 tow plane at greater altitudes. The C-47 took the craft to an altitude of 12,000 where free flights back to Rogers Dry Lake began. Pilot for the first series of flights of the M2-F1 was NASA research pilot Milt Thompson. Typical glide flights with the M2-F1 lasted about two minutes and reached speeds of 110 to l20 mph. A small solid landing rocket, referred to as the "instant L/D rocket," was installed in the rear base of, the M2-F1. This rocket, which could be ignited by the pilot, provided about 250 pounds of thrust for about 10 seconds. The rocket could be used to extend the flight time near landing if needed. More than 400 ground tows and 77 aircraft tow flights were carried out with the M2-F1. The success of Dryden's M2-F1 program led to NASA's development and construction of two heavyweight lifting bodies based on studies at NASA's Ames and Langley research centers--the M2-F2 and the HL-10, both built by the Northrop Corporation, and the U.S. Air Force's X-24 program, with an X-24A and -B built by Martin. The Lifting Body program also heavily influenced the Space Shuttle program. The M2-F1 program demonstrated the feasibility of the lifting body concept for horizontal landings of atmospheric entry vehicles. It also demonstrated a procurement and management concept for prototype flight test vehicles that produced rapid results at very low cost (approximately $50,000, excluding salaries of government employees assigned to the project). |
| Date |
10.12.1962 |
|
F-16XL Airplane Research Pai
…
| Title |
F-16XL Airplane Research Paint Scheme Aerials |
| Description |
The NASA F-16XL research airplane is shown in flight over Eastern Shore of Virginia During the Cranked-Arrow Wing Aerodynamics Project (CAWAP). The aircraft is shown in the research paint scheme utilized for on-surface flow visualization. During CAWAP, tufts, oil, and liquid crystals were used to document the flow patterns on the upper surfaces of the wings. The images were recorded by onboard video cameras and hand-held video and still cameras in a chase aircraft. The visual images are being correlated with on board measurements of surface pressures, boundary-layer velocity profiles, and skin friction. Ultimately, the in-flight data will be combined with wind-tunnel results and computational-fluid-dynamics solutions to document the aerodynamics of cranked-arrow wings. CAWAP is a cooperative venture of the Langley Research Center and the Dryden Flight Research Center. |
| Date |
10.05.1993 |
|
DAST Being Calibrated for Fl
…
| Title |
DAST Being Calibrated for Flight in Hangar |
| Description |
DAST-2, a modified BQM-34 Firebee II drone, undergoes calibration in a hangar at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. After the crash of the first DAST vehicle, project personnel fitted a second Firebee II (serial # 72-1558) with the rebuilt ARW-1 (ARW-1R) wing. The DAST-2 made a captive flight aboard the B-52 on October 29, 1982, followed by a free flight on November 3, 1982. During January and February of 1983, three launch attempts from the B-52 had to be aborted due to various problems. Following this, the project changed the launch aircraft to a DC-130A. Two captive flights occurred in May 1983. The first launch attempt from the DC-130 took place on June 1, 1983. The mothership released the DAST-2, but the recovery system immediately fired without being commanded. The parachute then disconnected from the vehicle, and the DAST-2 crashed into a farm field near Harper Dry Lake. Wags called this the "Alfalfa Field Impact Test." These are the image contact sheets for each image resolution of the NASA Dryden Drones for Aerodynamic and Structural Testing (DAST) Photo Gallery. From 1977 to 1983, the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, (under two different names) conducted the DAST Program as a high-risk flight experiment using a ground-controlled, pilotless aircraft. Described by NASA engineers as a "wind tunnel in the sky," the DAST was a specially modified Teledyne-Ryan BQM-34E/F Firebee II supersonic target drone that was flown to validate theoretical predictions under actual flight conditions in a joint project with the Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. The DAST Program merged advances in electronic remote control systems with advances in airplane design. Drones (remotely controlled, missile-like vehicles initially developed to serve as gunnery targets) had been deployed successfully during the Vietnamese conflict as reconnaissance aircraft. After the war, the energy crisis of the 1970s led NASA to seek new ways to cut fuel use and improve airplane efficiency. The DAST Program's drones provided an economical, fuel-conscious method for conducting in-flight experiments from a remote ground site. DAST explored the technology required to build wing structures with less than normal stiffness. This was done because stiffness requires structural weight but ensures freedom from flutter-an uncontrolled, divergent oscillation of the structure, driven by aerodynamic forces and resulting in structural failure. The program used refined theoretical tools to predict at what speed flutter would occur. It then designed a high-response control system to counteract the motion and permit a much lighter wing structure. The wing had, in effect, "electronic stiffness." Flight research with this concept was extremely hazardous because an error in either the flutter prediction or control system implementation would result in wing structural failure and the loss of the vehicle. Because of this, flight demonstration of a sub-scale vehicle made, sense from the standpoint of both safety and cost. The program anticipated structural failure during the course of the flight research. The Firebee II was a supersonic drone selected as the DAST testbed because its wing could be easily replaced, it used only tail-mounted control surfaces, and it was available as surplus from the U. S. Air Force. It was capable of 5-g turns (that is, turns producing acceleration equal to 5 times that of gravity). Langley outfitted a drone with an aeroelastic, supercritical research wing suitable for a Mach 0.98 cruise transport with a predicted flutter speed of Mach 0.95 at an altitude of 25,000 feet. Dryden and Langley, in conjunction with Boeing, designed and fabricated a digital flutter suppression system (FSS). Dryden developed an RPRV (remotely piloted research vehicle) flight control system, integrated the wing, FSS, and vehicle systems, and conducted the flight program. In addition to a digital flight control system and aeroelastic wings, each DAST drone had research equipment mounted in its nose and a mid-air retrieval system in its tail. The drones were originally launched from the NASA B-52 bomber and later from a DC-130. The DAST vehicle's flight was monitored from the sky by an F-104 chase plane. When the DAST's mission ended, it deployed a parachute and then a specially equipped Air Force helicopter recovered the drone in mid-air. On the ground, a pilot controlled the DAST vehicle from a remote cockpit while researchers in another room monitored flight data transmitted via telemetry. They made decisions on the conduct of the flight while the DAST was in the air. In case of failure in any of the ground systems, the DAST vehicle could also be flown to a recovery site using a backup control system in the F-104. The DAST Program experienced numerous problems. Only eighteen flights were achieved, eight of them captive (in which the aircraft flew only while still attached to the launch aircraft). Four of the flights were aborted and two resulted in crashes--one on June 12, 1980, and the second on June 1, 1983. Meanwhile, flight experiments with higher profiles, better funded remotely piloted research vehicles took priority over DAST missions. After the 1983 crash, which was caused by a malfunction that disconnected the landing parachute from the drone, the program was disbanded. Because DAST drones were considered expendable, certain losses were anticipated. Managers and researchers involved in other high-risk flight projects gained insights from the DAST program that could be applied to their own flight research programs. The DAST aircraft had a wingspan of 14 feet, four inches and a nose-to-tail length of 28 feet, 4 inches. The fuselage had a radius of about 2.07 feet. The aircraft's maximum loaded weight was about 2,200 pounds. It derived its power from a Continental YJ69-T-406 engine. |
| Date |
01.01.1982 |
|
DAST Mated to B-52 in Flight
…
| Title |
DAST Mated to B-52 in Flight - Close-up from Below |
| Description |
This photo shows a BQM-34 Firebee II drone being carried aloft under the wing of NASA's B-52 mothership during a 1977 research flight. The Firebee/DAST research program ran from 1977 to 1983 at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. This is the original Firebee II wing. Firebee 72-1564 made three captive flights--on November 25, 1975, May 17, 1976, and June 22, 1977--in preparation for the DAST project with modified wings. These were for checkout of the Firebee's systems and the prelaunch procedures. The first two used a DC-130A aircraft as the launch vehicle, while the third used the B-52. A single free flight using this drone occurred on July 28, 1977. The remote (ground) pilot was NASA research pilot Bill Dana. The launch and flight were successful, and the drone was caught in midair by an HH-53 helicopter. These are the image contact sheets for each image resolution of the NASA Dryden Drones for Aerodynamic and Structural Testing (DAST) Photo Gallery. From 1977 to 1983, the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, (under two different names) conducted the DAST Program as a high-risk flight experiment using a ground-controlled, pilotless aircraft. Described by NASA engineers as a "wind tunnel in the sky," the DAST was a specially modified Teledyne-Ryan BQM-34E/F Firebee II supersonic target drone that was flown to validate theoretical predictions under actual flight conditions in a joint project with the Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. The DAST Program merged advances in electronic remote control systems with advances in airplane design. Drones (remotely controlled, missile-like vehicles initially developed to serve as gunnery targets) had been deployed successfully during the Vietnamese conflict as reconnaissance aircraft. After the war, the energy crisis of the 1970s led NASA to seek new ways to cut fuel use and improve airplane efficiency. The DAST Program's drones provided an economical, fuel-conscious method for conducting in-flight experiments from a remote ground site. DAST explored the technology required to build wing structures with less than normal stiffness. This was done because stiffness requires structural weight but ensures freedom from flutter-an uncontrolled, divergent oscillation of the structure, driven by aerodynamic forces and resulting in structural failure. The program used refined theoretical tools to predict at what speed flutter would occur. It then designed a high-response control system to counteract the motion and permit a much lighter wing structure. The wing had, in effect, "electronic stiffness." Flight research with this concept was extremely hazardous because an error in either the flutter prediction or control system implementation would result in wing structural failure and the loss of the vehicle. Because of this, flight demonstration of a sub-scale vehicle made sense from the standpoint of both safety and cost. The program anticipated structural failure during, the course of the flight research. The Firebee II was a supersonic drone selected as the DAST testbed because its wing could be easily replaced, it used only tail-mounted control surfaces, and it was available as surplus from the U. S. Air Force. It was capable of 5-g turns (that is, turns producing acceleration equal to 5 times that of gravity). Langley outfitted a drone with an aeroelastic, supercritical research wing suitable for a Mach 0.98 cruise transport with a predicted flutter speed of Mach 0.95 at an altitude of 25,000 feet. Dryden and Langley, in conjunction with Boeing, designed and fabricated a digital flutter suppression system (FSS). Dryden developed an RPRV (remotely piloted research vehicle) flight control system, integrated the wing, FSS, and vehicle systems, and conducted the flight program. In addition to a digital flight control system and aeroelastic wings, each DAST drone had research equipment mounted in its nose and a mid-air retrieval system in its tail. The drones were originally launched from the NASA B-52 bomber and later from a DC-130. The DAST vehicle's flight was monitored from the sky by an F-104 chase plane. When the DAST's mission ended, it deployed a parachute and then a specially equipped Air Force helicopter recovered the drone in mid-air. On the ground, a pilot controlled the DAST vehicle from a remote cockpit while researchers in another room monitored flight data transmitted via telemetry. They made decisions on the conduct of the flight while the DAST was in the air. In case of failure in any of the ground systems, the DAST vehicle could also be flown to a recovery site using a backup control system in the F-104. The DAST Program experienced numerous problems. Only eighteen flights were achieved, eight of them captive (in which the aircraft flew only while still attached to the launch aircraft). Four of the flights were aborted and two resulted in crashes--one on June 12, 1980, and the second on June 1, 1983. Meanwhile, flight experiments with higher profiles, better funded remotely piloted research vehicles took priority over DAST missions. After the 1983 crash, which was caused by a malfunction that disconnected the landing parachute from the drone, the program was disbanded. Because DAST drones were considered expendable, certain losses were anticipated. Managers and researchers involved in other high-risk flight projects gained insights from the DAST program that could be applied to their own flight research programs. The DAST aircraft had a wingspan of 14 feet, four inches and a nose-to-tail length of 28 feet, 4 inches. The fuselage had a radius of about 2.07 feet. The aircraft's maximum loaded weight was about 2,200 pounds. It derived its power from a Continental YJ69-T-406 engine. |
| Date |
01.01.1977 |
|
Dryden F-8 Research Aircraft
…
| Title |
Dryden F-8 Research Aircraft Fleet 1973 in flight, DFBW and SCW |
| Description |
(SCW) is flatter on the top and rounder on the bottom with a downward curve at the trailing edge. The Supercritical Wing was designed to delay the formation of and reduce the shock wave over the wing just below and above the speed of sound (transonic region of flight). Delaying the shock wave at these speeds results in less drag. Results of the NASA flight research at the Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, (later renamed the Dryden Flight Research Center) demonstrated that aircraft using the supercritical wing concept would have increased cruising speed, improved fuel efficiency, and greater flight range than those using conventional wings. As a result, supercritical wings are now commonplace on virtually every modern subsonic commercial transport. Results of the NASA project showed the SCW had increased the transonic efficiency of the F-8 as much as 15 percent and proved that passenger transports with supercritical wings, versus conventional wings, could save $78 million (in 1974 dollars) per year for a fleet of 280 200-passenger airliners. The F-8 Supercritical Wing (SCW) project flew from 1970 to 1973. Dryden engineer John McTigue was the first SCW program manager and Tom McMurtry was the lead project pilot. The first SCW flight took place on March 9, 1971. The last flight of the Supercritical wing was on May 23, 1973, with Ron Gerdes at the controls. Original wingspan of the F-8 is 35 feet, 2 inches while the wingspan with the supercritical wing was 43 feet, 1 inch. F-8 aircraft were powered by Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet engines. The TF-8A Crusader was made available to the NASA Flight Research Center by the U.S. Navy. F-8 jet aircraft were built, originally, by LTV Aerospace, Dallas, Texas. Rockwell International's North American Aircraft Division received a $1.8 million contract to fabricate the supercritical wing, which was delivered to NASA in December 1969., F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire (left) and F-8 Supercritical Wing in flight. These two aircraft fundamentally changed the nature of aircraft design. The F-8 DFBW pioneered digital flight controls and led to such computer-controlled airacrft as the F-117A, X-29, and X-31. Airliners such as the Boeing 777 and Airbus A320 also use digital fly-by-wire systems. The other aircraft is a highly modified F-8A fitted with a supercritical wing. Dr. Richard T. Whitcomb of Langley Research Center originated the supercritical wing concept in the late 1960s. (Dr. Whitcomb also developed the concept of the "area rule" in the early 1950s. It singificantly reduced transonic drag.) The F-8 Digital Fly-By-Wire (DFBW) flight research project validated the principal concepts of all-electric flight control systems now used on nearly all modern high-performance aircraft and on military and civilian transports. The first flight of the 13-year project was on May 25, 1972, with research pilot Gary E. Krier at the controls of a modified F-8C Crusader that served as the testbed for the fly-by-wire technologies. The project was a joint effort between the NASA Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, (now the Dryden Flight Research Center) and Langley Research Center. It included a total of 211 flights. The last flight was December 16, 1985, with Dryden research pilot Ed Schneider at the controls. The F-8 DFBW system was the forerunner of current fly-by-wire systems used in the space shuttles and on today's military and civil aircraft to make them safer, more maneuverable, and more efficient. Electronic fly-by-wire systems replaced older hydraulic control systems, freeing designers to design aircraft with reduced in-flight stability. Fly-by-wire systems are safer because of their redundancies. They are more maneuverable because computers can command more frequent adjustments than a human pilot can. For airliners, computerized control ensures a smoother ride than a human pilot alone can provide. Digital-fly-by-wire is more efficient because it is lighter and takes up less space than the hydraulic systems it replaced. This either reduces the fuel required to fly or increases the number of passengers or pounds of cargo the aircraft can carry. Digital fly-by-wire is currently used in a variety of aircraft ranging from F/A-18 fighters to the Boeing 777. The DFBW research program is considered one of the most significant and most successful NASA aeronautical programs since the inception of the agency. F-8 aircraft were built originally for the U.S. Navy by LTV Aerospace of Dallas, Texas. The aircraft had a wingspan of 35 feet, 2 inches, was 54 feet, 6 inches long, and was powered by a Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet engine. The F-8 Supercritical Wing was a flight research project designed to test a new wing concept designed by Dr. Richard Whitcomb, chief of the Transonic Aerodynamics Branch, Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. Compared to a conventional wing, the supercritical wing |
| Date |
01.01.1973 |
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Experiment Configurations fo
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Experiment Configurations for the DAST |
| Description |
This image shows three vehicle configurations considered for the Drones for Aerodynamic and Structural Testing (DAST) program, conducted at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center between 1977 and 1983. The DAST project planned for three wing configurations. These were the Instrumented Standard Wing (ISW), the Aeroelastic Research Wing-1 (ARW-1), and the ARW-2. After the DAST-1 crash, project personnel fitted a second Firebee II with a rebuilt ARW-1 wing. Due to the project's ending, it never flew the ARW-2 wing. These are the image contact sheets for each image resolution of the NASA Dryden Drones for Aerodynamic and Structural Testing (DAST) Photo Gallery. From 1977 to 1983, the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, (under two different names) conducted the DAST Program as a high-risk flight experiment using a ground-controlled, pilotless aircraft. Described by NASA engineers as a "wind tunnel in the sky," the DAST was a specially modified Teledyne-Ryan BQM-34E/F Firebee II supersonic target drone that was flown to validate theoretical predictions under actual flight conditions in a joint project with the Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. The DAST Program merged advances in electronic remote control systems with advances in airplane design. Drones (remotely controlled, missile-like vehicles initially developed to serve as gunnery targets) had been deployed successfully during the Vietnamese conflict as reconnaissance aircraft. After the war, the energy crisis of the 1970s led NASA to seek new ways to cut fuel use and improve airplane efficiency. The DAST Program's drones provided an economical, fuel-conscious method for conducting in-flight experiments from a remote ground site. DAST explored the technology required to build wing structures with less than normal stiffness. This was done because stiffness requires structural weight but ensures freedom from flutter-an uncontrolled, divergent oscillation of the structure, driven by aerodynamic forces and resulting in structural failure. The program used refined theoretical tools to predict at what speed flutter would occur. It then designed a high-response control system to counteract the motion and permit a much lighter wing structure. The wing had, in effect, "electronic stiffness." Flight research with this concept was extremely hazardous because an error in either the flutter prediction or control system implementation would result in wing structural failure and the loss of the vehicle. Because of this, flight demonstration of a sub-scale vehicle made sense from the standpoint of both safety and cost. The program anticipated structural failure during the course of the flight research. The Firebee II was a supersonic drone selected as the DAST testbed because its wing could be easily replaced, it used only tail-mounted control surfaces, and it was available as surplus from the U. S. Air Force. It was capable of 5-g turns (that is, turns producing acceleration equal to 5, times that of gravity). Langley outfitted a drone with an aeroelastic, supercritical research wing suitable for a Mach 0.98 cruise transport with a predicted flutter speed of Mach 0.95 at an altitude of 25,000 feet. Dryden and Langley, in conjunction with Boeing, designed and fabricated a digital flutter suppression system (FSS). Dryden developed an RPRV (remotely piloted research vehicle) flight control system, integrated the wing, FSS, and vehicle systems, and conducted the flight program. In addition to a digital flight control system and aeroelastic wings, each DAST drone had research equipment mounted in its nose and a mid-air retrieval system in its tail. The drones were originally launched from the NASA B-52 bomber and later from a DC-130. The DAST vehicle's flight was monitored from the sky by an F-104 chase plane. When the DAST's mission ended, it deployed a parachute and then a specially equipped Air Force helicopter recovered the drone in mid-air. On the ground, a pilot controlled the DAST vehicle from a remote cockpit while researchers in another room monitored flight data transmitted via telemetry. They made decisions on the conduct of the flight while the DAST was in the air. In case of failure in any of the ground systems, the DAST vehicle could also be flown to a recovery site using a backup control system in the F-104. The DAST Program experienced numerous problems. Only eighteen flights were achieved, eight of them captive (in which the aircraft flew only while still attached to the launch aircraft). Four of the flights were aborted and two resulted in crashes--one on June 12, 1980, and the second on June 1, 1983. Meanwhile, flight experiments with higher profiles, better funded remotely piloted research vehicles took priority over DAST missions. After the 1983 crash, which was caused by a malfunction that disconnected the landing parachute from the drone, the program was disbanded. Because DAST drones were considered expendable, certain losses were anticipated. Managers and researchers involved in other high-risk flight projects gained insights from the DAST program that could be applied to their own flight research programs. The DAST aircraft had a wingspan of 14 feet, four inches and a nose-to-tail length of 28 feet, 4 inches. The fuselage had a radius of about 2.07 feet. The aircraft's maximum loaded weight was about 2,200 pounds. It derived its power from a Continental YJ69-T-406 engine. |
| Date |
01.01.1978 |
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X-15
The X-15 program is widely c
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1/5/09
| Description |
The X-15 program is widely considered the most successful research aircraft program in U. S. history, leaving a legacy of scientific data and aeronautical firsts that remains unparalleled. Between June 8, 1959, and Oct. 24, 1968, a dozen pilots flew three rocket-powered X-15 research vehicles 199 times. The program contributed to numerous advances in aerospace technology, including those in materials, hypersonic aerodynamics, astronomy and spaceflight. Researchers generated more than 760 technical reports and earned numerous awards and honors for the X-15 team. Launched from beneath the wing of a modified B-52, the X-15 was the first piloted aircraft to exceed Mach 4, 5 and 6, and ultimately attained a maximum speed of Mach 6.7 (4,520 mph). Eight of the pilots earned astronaut wings for flight above 50 miles altitude. NASA research pilot Joseph A. Walker achieved the highest flight, with a maximum altitude of 354,200 feet (roughly 67 miles). The X-15 vehicles exceeded design specifications and yielded a treasure trove of data of great value to the design of future aerospace vehicles. They have also provided many lessons for future flight research, many of which could not have been anticipated at the time the project was initially approved and funded. Technological contributions of the program include experience afforded in the design, fabrication, and welding of titanium and Inconel X, a nickel-chromium alloy from which the X-15 was constructed to withstand extreme aerodynamic heating. Advanced titanium and nickel alloys and structures were subsequently employed throughout the aerospace industry in aircraft and spacecraft, including those used in the Apollo lunar exploration program. Lessons learned from X-15 turbulent heat-transfer studies contributed to the design of the Apollo capsule after designers found they could build lighter-weight vehicles with less thermal protection than was previously thought possible. The X-15 program also produced a wealth of biomedical data that paved the way for humans to travel in space and helped spacesuit designers refine protective garments. In addition, the project pioneered mission control techniques that are useful for coordinating successful spaceflight and aeronautical research missions. Photo Description The X-15 in flight. U.S. Air Force Photo |
| Date |
1/5/09 |
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Thrust Vectoring, High Alpha
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The center used an F-18 as t
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1/5/09
| Description |
The center used an F-18 as the High Angle-of-Attack Research Vehicle in a program from 1987 to 1996. Fresh from its reconstruction (it was assembled from many parts and affectionately dubbed "Silk Purse"), the aircraft was extensively instrumented both to record data at high angles of attack and as a means of developing flight research techniques in high-alpha flight. Researchers also conducted visual studies of the airflow over various parts of the aircraft at high alpha using tracer smoke, tufting and anti-freeze with dye. The potential of vectored thrust to achieve greater maneuverability and control at high angles of attack was also examined, while correlation of data gleaned through wind-tunnel tests and computational fluid dynamics continued. Three paddles were mounted around each engine's exhaust nozzle, providing both pitch and yaw forces to enhance maneuverability when aerodynamic controls were either unusable or less effective than desired because of the angle of attack. The thrust vectoring control system added 2,200 pounds to the aft of the aircraft, leading to the comment that the aircraft "had a ton of thrust vectoring." Thrust vectoring yielded dramatic results, demonstrated capabilities included stable flight at approximately 70 degrees angle of attack (the previous maximum being 55 degrees) and high roll rates at 65 degrees angle of attack. Controlled rolling would have been nearly impossible above 35 degrees without vectoring. The "Silk Purse" was then modified with an engine inlet pressure-measurement system, providing unprecedented understanding of engine airflow behavior during extreme maneuvers. The final step in the program was addition of moveable strakes on both sides of the aircraft's nose to provide yaw control at angles of attack high enough to render conventional rudders ineffective. This research informed two subsequent programs, those with the F-15B Advanced Control Technology for Integrated Vehicles and the X-31 aircraft, both of which incorporated types of thrust-vectoring technology. The X-31 proved itself not only stunningly maneuverable but it demonstrated a shocking kill ratio margin in mock combat. Thrust vectoring has been partially adopted by the U.S. military, appearing for the first time on the F-22, which flies with a single-axis exhaust vectoring system. The Russians have also embraced the concept, and thrust vectoring appears as an option on the MiG-29, the Su-30 and Su-37. Photo Description The F/A-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle in flight. NASA Photo |
| Date |
1/5/09 |
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Preparing for the Journey Ho
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Space shuttle Atlantis is sh
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5/28/09
| Description |
Space shuttle Atlantis is shown suspended from a sling in the Mate-DeMate Device at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center during preparations for its ferry... |
| Date |
5/28/09 |
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Preparing for Flight
Technicians carefully positi
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8/19/09
| Description |
Technicians carefully position an Orion flight test crew module to be airlifted from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center to the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The crew module will be used for the Orion Launch Abort System Pad Abort-1 flight test, the first of five planned Orion Launch Abort System Pad flight tests in NASA's Constellation program, which are scheduled for early 2010. Image Credit: NASA/Tony Landis |
| Date |
8/19/09 |
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