RES N A SD~R YDENF LIGHT FLIGHTS DISCOVERY by Lane E. Wallace SO YEARS AT THE NASA DRYDEN FLIGHT RESEARCH CENTER The NASA History Series NASA SP-4309 National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA History Office Washington, D.C. 1996 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wallace, Lane E., 1961- Flights of discovery : 50 years at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center / by Lane E. Wallace. p. cm. - (The NASA history series) (NASA SP ; 4309) Includes bibliographical references and index. I. NASA Dryden Flight Research Center-History. I. Title. 11. Series. 111. Series: NASA SP ; 4309. TL521.312.W354 1996 629.1' 0720794' 88-dc20 96- 15797 CIP For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328 To my friend Jim For believing Contents Foreword vi Chapter Qne: A Place for Discovery 1 The Role of Flight Research 4 Supporting National Priorities 9 Dryden Contributions 13 Conclusion 15 Chapter Two: The Right Stuff 19 The Place 2 1 A Unique Approach 28 The People 30 The Partnerships 35 Conclusion 38 Chapter Tbree: Higher, Faster Breaking the Sound Barrier The X-Planes The X-15 The Lifting Bodies Jet-Powered Speed Research High Flight Revisited Conclusion Chapter Four: Improving Efficiency, Maneuverability & Systems Efficiency The Supercritical Wingmission Adaptive Wing Winglets The AD- 1 Oblique Wing Laminar Flow Research Maneuverability HiMAT The X-29 The F/A- 18 HARV The X-3 1 This volume adds another dimension to "technical agility" of researchers at Dryden-a Early members of the Dryden Teanz, although the the existing literature about the history of the quality that has been an enomousl~im portant organiraiion that became th Hugh L. Dryden Flight Research Center ingredient in the process of discovery through Dryden Flight Research Center was then called the (DFRC). While previous accounts-most flight here in the Mojave Desert. She has also NACA High Speed notably Dick Hallion's superb On the Frontier: captured the spirit of the role flight research Research Station. Lt$ to right, szanding: Beverly Flight Research at Dryden, 1946-1981-cover plays in the aeronautics research and develop- Smith, ill^ Ann B ~ ~ ~ ~ , part of Dryden's history from one perspective merit chain- unidentified, John Cardon, John Rodgers, unident@ed, or another, this is the first book to provide an Lane Wallace has included some "be- Huben ,yake,, Drake, Waiter overview of the entire 50 years of the Center7~ hind-the-scenes" events that provide additional C. Wlliams; seated and - kneeling: Mary Little, Harry history from several perspectives. insight into the human side of ths highly Claggert, Ed Nollenzan, Angel In this book, Lane Wallace also provides technical discipline. Dryden frequently puts the Dunn, Roxanah Yancey, De E. Beeler (early 1950s) insights into the process of research engineer- imovations and ideas of others to the ultimate ( Npho~to E9~6 434~03-1 2) ing. She differentiates between flight testing test of real flight conditions. The products of and flight research, and she describes the theory, wind-tunnel testing, and computational Aviation Safety 149 Conclusion 151 Chapter Six: Future Directions 155 Current Projects 158 Future Directions 161 The Role of Flight Research 163 A Unique Flight Research Resource 165 Dryden Contributions 167 Conclusion 169 Chapter Notes 173 Bibliographic Essay 179 Glossary of Acronyms 180 Appendix: Concepts and Innovations 181 Photo Credits 188 Acknowledgments 189 Index 190 About the Author 198