Wind Tunnels Of The Naca And Nasa

"This book provides a rigorous study of NASA's wind tunnels, which have been key to much of the Agency's aeronautical successes. Utilizing a convenient format to convey the special characteristics, technical specifications, and research highlights of over 100 individual wind tunnels, entries are organized by NASA Center with a narrative essay describing each Center's role in wind tunnel research and then delving into the details of its wind tunnels, with an eye towards historic preservation"--

Radical Wings and Wind Tunnels presents a behind-the-scenes look at how the NACA, and today's NASA, have used wind tunnels and flight-testing in past and current projects to advance aeronautical science. NASA's Langley Research Center, located in Hampton, Virginia, was established on July 17, 1917, and has played a key role in the research and development of civil and military aviation since its infancy. For over 90 years, Langley's staff has wind-tunnel tested or test flown a wide range of leading-edge aircraft designs including vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, advanced fighters, civil transports, and high-speed supersonic and hypersonic vehicles. Results from the legacy of Langley's pioneering basic and applied aeronautical research have been incorporated into virtually all U.S. civil transports and military aircraft. This book describes the very unique testing capabilities of several historic Langley wind tunnels, such as the gigantic 30 x 60 ft Full Scale Tunnel, the Vertical Spin Tunnel, and the Free-Flight Tunnel. The major focus of the book is a discussion of the roles these wind tunnels and the NACA and NASA organizations played in R&D activities for more than 60 radical aerospace vehicles that did not, or have not yet entered production. The contents present an illuminating perspective on how the government's research agencies interacted beneficially with the military and civil communities for many of this nation's innovative aeronautical undertakings. Coverage begins in the 1920s with research on the earliest innovations for monoplanes and extends to current research on tomorrow's aircraft including hypersonic vehicles and aircraft designed to explore the Martian environment. Topics also include previously unpublished details of NACA activities in development of U.S. military aircraft in WWII, Langley's work on parawing vehicles, key activities for V/STOL aircraft, challenges for lifting bodies and reentry vehicles, ongoing research to remove the barriers for economically viable supersonic commercial transport, the latest technology for highly maneuverable fighters, and a look at the future. The photos in this edition are in black and white.

This book provides comprehensive coverage of the history and accomplishments of wind tunnels, featuring a reproduction of the NASA history document, Wind Tunnels of NASA, along with a special section outlining some current NASA wind tunnel capabilities. The foreword of this important volume states: Although wind tunnels are among the most important tools of aeronautical research, these facilities have remained the least understood. Some say this is partly because the instrumentation and calibration are complicated and difficult to understand and partly because the researchers that use wind tunnels too often speak in language intended for their peers and invented for their particular disciplines. Whatever the reason, this book goes a long way toward bridging the gap between engineer and layman. Wind Tunnels of NASA is both factual and readable. By no means an inventory of wind tunnels, the book does not even contain a complete listing of current facilities-that being one element in its readability. The purpose of the book is to describe the contribution of these remarkable research facilities to the science of flight. What the text deals with are topics such as these. Why are wind tunnels useful? What do they do superbly well, and how? What have they done that is so great? How did they develop, and what forms did this development take? What are their typical problems and limitations? What are the pitfalls in scaling, calibration, and instrumentation ? Are there unexpected surprises when one goes from tunnels to full-size aircraft? Where are we now in wind tunnel research? Wind Tunnels answers these questions very well. NASA's wind tunnels form the basis for the book, but Air Force, university, and industry facilities are also considered and the wind tunnels of other countries are assessed to some extent. Wind tunnels are truly individual and unique in function and suggests the quality of service they have given to the nation's technological advances in aerospace. Wind Tunnels of NASA is co-authored by an aeronautical engineer with more than 40 years of NASA wind tunnel expertise and by a highly respected engineering and science writer. Donald D. Baals has been with NASA and its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), since 1939 and has continued to serve the agency as a senior research associate since retirement. Among his many honors have been the NASA Medal for Exceptional Service (1971) and the NASA Public Service Award (1976) for his role in planning the National Transonic Facility. Mr. Baals lives in Newport News, Virginia. William R. Corliss, a science publisher and freelance author, has written a number of publications for NASA, including The Interplanetary Pioneers and NASA Sounding Rockets. He lives in Glen Arm, Maryland.

"A massive, but little-known, facility in Cleveland, Ohio, played a vital role in the U.S. development of jets, in the training of NASA's first astronauts, and in making NASA's first missions beyond Earth orbit possible. Revolutionary Atmosphere tells the story of this obscure giant. Starting life in 1944 as the Altitude Wind Tunnel, it was the first wind tunnel that could study aircraft engines under realistic flight conditions; and it was enormous-in its original configuration, it could even accommodate full-size aircraft. The tunnel could not only simulate the high speeds of jet aircraft, like other wind tunnels, but could simulate the pressures and temperatures of higher elevation flight."--Publisher description.