Crafting Flight: Aircraft Pioneers And The Contributions Of The Men And Women Of Nasa Langley Research Center (nasa History)

Langley’s first wind tunnel, a replica of a 10-year-old British design, became operational in June 1920. NASA Langley photo no. EL-1996-00142 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Schultz, James, 1956– Crafting flight : Aircraft pioneers and the contributions of the men and women of NASA Langley Research Center / by James Schultz. p. cm. -- (NASA history series) “SP-2003-4316.” Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Langley Research Center. 2. Aeronautical engineering--United States--History. 3. Aeronautical engineers--United States. I. Title. II. Series. TL862.L35 S38 2003 629.13’00973--dc21 2002026358 For sale by U.S. Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328 ISBN 0-00-000000-0 Front cover shows the Wright Brothers’ historic flight an artist’s concept of a future aircraft. Pearl Young at work in Instrument and Research Division, c. 1929 (on facing page). NASA Langley photo no. EL-2000-00347 C RAFTING F LIGHT BY JAMES SCHULTZ A IRCRAFT P IONEERS AND THE C ONTRIBUTIONS OF THE M EN AND W OMEN OF NASA L ANGLEY R ESEARCH C ENTER SP-2003-4316 7- by 10-Foot Atmospheric Wind Tunnel in 1931. NASA Langley photo no. EL-1999-00418 CONTENTS PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . V FOREWORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VII INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IX CHAPTER 1—CRAVING FLIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 CHAPTER 2—A LABORATORY FOR FLIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 CHAPTER 3—REFINING THE AIRPLANE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 CHAPTER 4—SWORDS AND PLOWSHARES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 CHAPTER 5—BEYOND THE HOME PLANET. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 CHAPTER 6—EXPERTISE APPLIED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 CHAPTER 7—REDEFINING ROLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 CHAPTER 8—BEYOND THE FIRST ONE HUNDRED YEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 FOOTNOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 NASA HISTORY SERIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Crafting Flight III Lunar Landing Research Vehicle outside Langley hanger, later shipped to Houston to train Apollo astronauts. GRIN photo no. GPN-2000-001821 PREFACE While this is a self-contained history of NASA Langley Research Center’s contributions to flight, many other organizations around the country played a vital role in the work described in this book. Within the Agency, Langley for decades has worked closely with other NASA Centers, particularly Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California; Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio; and Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. These are NASA’s “aero” centers, wher