Conducting Research in Flight

A Unique NACA Contribution to Aerospace

Robert E. Curry

Presentation for the NACA CentennialMarch 3-4, 2015

Flight Test & Demonstration

• Provides confidence in airworthiness

• Evaluates new designs

• Matures technology

One can get a proper insight into the practice of flying only by actual flying experiments. . . .

— Otto Lilienthal, 1896

Flight as an element of

Fundamental Aeronautics Research

• Objectives: - Advance basic understanding- Validation of theory and tools

• Characterized by:- High investment risk- Science driven experiments

The X-1 as an example of:Fundamental Flight Research

• ContextPart of a broad aeronautic research effort

• Motivation for flight Known deficiencies in ground laboratory (wind tunnel)

X-1 ExampleConfigured for Research

• Rocket – boost

• Air-launch

• Straight wing

• Payload: 100% instrumentation

X-1 ExampleFar-Reaching Results

'the meat of the research airplane program, and its very reason for existence, has been the obtaining of research information . . .

- Walter Williams, 1957

X-1 Flight Results• Aero performance• Buffet boundaries• Hinge moments• Pressure distributions• Stability and control• Flying qualities

Decades of subsequent flight research projects –

XS-1

X-1A,BX-1E

X-2

X-3X-4

X-5

X-7

X-13

X-14

X-15

X-17

X-18

X-19X-21A

X-22

X-23

X-24A X-24B X-29

X-31

X-36

D-558-1

D-558-2

AD-1

HL-10

M2-F2

YF-12 cold wall10 deg cone

PHSYX

F-18 HARVHiMAT

F-16 XL SLFCF-8 SCW

FIRE

F-5E SSBD

XB-70

JetStar LFC

SR-71 LASRE

F-14 VSTFE

F-111 NLF

F-111TACT

F-111 MAWF-18 AAW

G-III ACTEB757 HLFC

Reentry-F

X-43

X-51

IRVE

QSRA

Mach

1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

100

10

1

0.1

Free-flight

Natural atmosphere

Full-scale

Physical aspects of aeronautical science that are not fully replicated in ground facilities

Free-Flight• Unsteady, non-uniform flows• Aero/inertial coupling• No walls or model supports

Physical aspects of aeronautical science that are not fully replicated in ground facilities

Free-Flight• Unsteady, non-uniform flows• Aero/inertial coupling• No walls or model supports

NaturalAtmosphere

• Quiet background• Extent

Physical aspects of aeronautical science that are not fully replicated in ground facilities

Free-Flight• Unsteady, non-uniform flows• Aero/inertial coupling• No walls or model supports

NaturalAtmosphere

• Quiet background• Extent

Full-scale• Geometric detail• Viscous flow similarity• High enthalpy effects

Physical aspects of aeronautical science that are not fully replicated in ground facilities

Free-Flight• Unsteady, non-uniform flows• Aero/inertial coupling• No walls or model supports

NaturalAtmosphere

• Quiet background• Extent

Full-scale• Geometric detail• Viscous flow similarity• High enthalpy effects

Ultra-efficient air transportation

OutlookAdvanced space transportation

High performance aircraft as testbeds for fundamental research

Versatility of air launch

B-29 carrier

B-52 carrier

Aero-Tow

Recent towing investigations

F-106 demonstration

Transonicresearch vehicles

Hypersonic research

vehicle carrier

Summary

Conducting Research in Flight

• Unique capability to address certain aeronautic problems

• Important NACA/NASA contribution

• Needed to pursue revolutionary configurations and unexplored flight regimes

Notes to Slides and Oral DiscussionAll photos not cited below are available from the NASA Armstrong Photo Gallery:http://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/multimedia/imagegallery/index.html

Slide 3National Research Council of the National Academies, Recapturing NASA's Aeronautics Flight Research Capabilities. The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2012. ISBN 978-0-309-25538-7.National Research Council of the National Academies, Decadal Survey of Civil Aeronautics: Foundation for the Future. The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2006. ISBN 0-309-65895-2NSF. Definitions of Research and Development: An Annotated Compilation of Official Sources. Available at: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/randdef/fedgov.cfm. Accessed January 20, 2015National Science Foundation, Third Annual Report, Section 6 "What is Basic Research?". Available at http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1953/annualreports/ar_1953_sec6.pdf. Accessed on Feburary 6, 2015Slide 4Hallion, Richard P., Supersonic Flight, Breaking the Sound Barrier and Beyond. The Story of the Bell X-1 and Douglas D-558. Brassey'sInc. London Washington. 1997. Slide 5NASA From Engineering Science to Big Science, The NACA and NASA Collier Trophy Research Project Winners, Edited by Pamela E. Mack, NASA SP-4219, 1998.Hansen, James R. Engineer in Charge. NASA SP 4305 , 1987.Slide 6Williams, Walter C. and Drake, Hubert M., "The Research Airplane, Past, Present, and Future." Aeronautical Engineering Review, January 1958.NACA, A Compilation of Papers Presented at the Air Force - NACA Conference on XS-1 Flight Research, Muroc Air Force Base, Muroc, CA, May 19, 1948. Available at: http://history.nasa.gov/x1/x.html. Accessed on February 7, 2015.Graphic from http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4219/4219-095.jpgSlide 7Data set not expected to be comprehensive, but includes representative large flight research projects, typical of government sponsorship. Data depict max Mach number and the approximate date of the mid-point in the research phase.Hallion, Richard P. and Gorn, Michael H., On the Frontier, Experimental Flight at NASA Dryden, Smithsonian Books, Washington and London, 2003Saltzman, Edwin J. and Ayers Theodore G., Selected Examples of NACA/NASA Supersonic Flight Research, NASA SP-513, 1995.Ferguson, Robert G., NASA's First A, Aeronautics from 1958 to 2008,NASA SP-2012-4412, 2013.

Notes, cont. Slide 8photo from: Baals, Donald D. and William R. Corliss, Wind Tunnels of NASA, NASA SP-440, 1981.Slide 9photo from: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/airplane/Images/f18test1.jpgSlide 10Photo from: NASA’s Contributions to Aeronautics Vol. 1, p. 198Slide 12Discussion of wind tunnels, CFD and current state of the art:Baals, Donald D. and William R. Corliss, Wind Tunnels of NASA, NASA SP-440, 1981.Malik, Mujeeb R. and Dennis M. Bushnell, Role of Computational Fluid Dynamics and Wind Tunnels in Aeronautics R&D, NASA TP-2012-217602, 2012.Jameson, Antony, Computational Fluid Dynamics Past, Present and Future, Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Stanford University. Available at: http://aero-comlab.stanford.edu/Papers/NASA_Presentation_20121030.pdf. Accessed on January 23, 2015.Ambur, D. R., Kegelman, J. T., & Kilgore, W. A. (2009). Langley Ground Facilities and Testing in the 21st Century. AIAAKegelman, J. T., Harris, C. E., Antcliff, R. R., Bushnell, D. M., & Dwoyer, D. L. (2009). A Future State for NASA Laboratories-Working in the 21st Century. NASA/TM-2009-215780Slide 13Iliff, Kenneth W. and Curtis L. Peebles, From Runway to Orbit, Reflections of a NASA Engineer, NASA SP-2004-4109. 2004.NASA ARMD, Aeronautics Research Strategic Vision, A Blueprint for Transforming Global Air Mobility, Available at: http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov/pdf/armd_strategic_vision_2013.pdf. Accessed January 23, 2015.Wahls, Rich, N+3 Technologies and Concepts, Green Aviation Summit, NASA Ames Research Center, Sept 8-9, 2010. Available at: http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov/pdf/wahls_2_green_aviation_summit.pdf. Accessed on January 23, 2015.Chambers, Joe, Innovation in Flight: Research of the NASA Langley Research Center on Revolutionary Advanced Concepts for Aeronautics, NASA SP-2005-4539, 2005.Slide 15Photos: Nissen, James M., Burnett L. Gadeberg, and William T. Hamilton, Correlation of the Drag Characteristics of a Typical Pursuit Airplane Obtained from High-Speed Wind-Tunnel and Flight Tests, NASA TR-916, 1948. Slide 16Graphic from: NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Research, Technology, and Engineering Accomplishments, 2014. NASA/TM-2014-218336, 2014.