1943: Flutter/buffet testing

1944: Remotely guided bomb

1945: Bomb and fuse aerodynamics

1946: Aft and forward swept wings

1947: Advanced controls

1952: Free-to-roll models

1954: • Tethered free-flight model • Pulsejet

1955: H2O2 hot jet testing

1957: • Guided missiles • Ballistic rockets

1960: Nuclear powered bomber

1962: • Supersonic transport • Nuclear reentry vehicles

1963: J85 turbojet tip-turbine fan

1965: Wing end plates (winglets)

1965: High-pressure air-jet testing

1968: Supercritical wing

1980: • LO technology • LDV flow-field measurements

1998: • Joined wing • Pressure-sensitive paint

Was the “A” bomb tested here?At least two publications indicate that the original atomic bomb shapes were tested in the 16’ HST. Unfortunately, the tunnel logs from this time period have not been found and no photographs from the 16’ TT files were found to support this claim.

Advanced Technologies and Test Techniques 1941 - 2004Additional advanced technologies and test techniques developed or used in the 16'TT.

Engine Cooling, Exhaust, and Propeller Design 1941 - 1953

Propulsion/Airframe Integration 1941 - 2004

Variable Sweep Wing 1959 - 1962

Inlet Development 1995 - 2004

Nonaxisymmetric (2-D) Nozzle/Thrust Vectoring 1974 - 1994

Slotted Wall Transonic Tunnel Development 1947 - 1951

1951: The 16’ TT with the newly installed slotted wall test section. The installed

model is the 120” drop body, which was the first model tested in the new test section. This model was used to compare with flight data (from drop tests) to check for tunnel blockage/wall interference effects at transonic speeds near Mach 1.

1959: A British “Swallow” bomber propulsion model

installed in the 16’ TT. This con-figuration was designed by Barnes Wallis from England (of bouncing “dam buster” bomb fame) and not only had variable sweep wings but also utilized multiaxis thrust vec-toring nozzles for aircraft control (the design had no conventional aerodynamic control surfaces).

1981: A generic high-pressure-air twin-engine

propulsion/airframe integration model mounted in the 16’ TT on a bifurcated support system. In-house research programs like this provided design guidelines to industry on tail placement, nozzle and interfairing design, engine/nozzle spacing, jet effects, and other design issues.

1980: An F-15 S/MTD (STOL and

Maneuvering Technology Demonstrator) propulsion model installed in the 16' TT. This configuration is an F-15 modified with 2-D thrust vectoring nozzles and a canard.

1943: Unlike the other wall panels that emphasize

models installed in the wind tunnel, this photograph shows a Curtiss XSC-1 Seahawk engine mounted outside on a ground stand for static tests (also tested in the HST). This is a reminder that the 16’ TT always had an associated static test facility for engine, propeller and nozzle performance tests.

2001: The Smart Aircraft and Marine System Projects

Demonstration (SAMPSON) Smart Inlet installed in the 16' TT. This model was a full-scale F-15 inlet modified with shape memory alloy actuators to vary cowl lip angle and bluntness during a joint NASA, DARPA and Boeing program.

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1987: In his 1986 State of the Union speech, President

Ronald Reagan announced plans for a new vehicle, called the “Orient Ex-press” (later designated the X-30), that would be able to fly to Tokyo in 2 hours. The photograph shows one of the early National Aerospace Plane (NASP) configurations mount-ed in the 16’ TT. The program was terminated in 1993.

1984: The Space Shuttle ascent configuration (shut-

tle and solid rocket booster motors firing) installed in the 16’ TT. Solid wood plumes are used to simulate rocket exhaust plumes from both vehicles. The Space Shuttle was the American spacecraft operated by NASA for human orbital spaceflight missions from 1982 to 2011.

1960: A sting-mounted aerodynamic model of the

Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar installed in the 16-Foot Transonic Tunnel (16’ TT). This was the first space vehicle tested in the 16’ TT and was smaller than most models tested in the facility. It was appar-ently built so that the same model could also be tested in smaller su-personic wind tunnels.

1962/1963: The Saturn rocket hinge-moment

model (left) and the Apollo command module/service mod-ule separation model (right) in the 16’ TT. These vehicles were instrumental in success-fully landing the first humans on the moon in 1969. Both models used hydrogen peroxide hot jets to simulate rocket exhausts.

1997: A X-34 aerodynamics model sting-mounted in the

16' TT. This model was one of a series of “X” space planes (includ-ing the X-33, X-34, X-38, X-40, X-43, and the Orbital Space Plane) tested in the facility. These proj-ects were primarily devoted to the development of the next reusable space plane.

Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar 1960 Apollo 1962 - 1968 • Saturn 1962 Space Shuttle 1976 - 1984 National Aerospace Plane 1984 - 1993 “X” Space Planes 1996 - 2004

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Douglas A - 26 Invader 1941 - 1942

Convair B-36 Peacemaker 1944

Bell X-1 1951 Hawker P.1127 1960 - 1961 General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark 1963 - 1968

McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle 1970 - 1972

Northrop-Grumman B-2 Spirit 1980 - 1983

NASA F-18 HARV 1991 Boeing X-45 1999 - 2003 Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy 2001

eronautics

1970: A 0.047-scale propulsion model of the McDon-nell Douglas F-15 Eagle mounted on a “hockey stick”

support system. The F-15 is considered one of the most suc-cessful modern air superiority fighters ever produced. The ventral fins on the afterbody were removed from the final aircraft design as a result of tests in the 16' TT.

1991: The NASA F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) configuration mounted in the 16' TT at an angle

of attack of 70 degrees. This vehicle was a modified McDon-nell Douglas/ Northrop F/A-18 Hornet used by NASA for flight research at high angles of attack using thrust vectoring in the early 1990s.

1941: The first test in the 16-Foot High Speed Tunnel (HST) was conducted on the Douglas XA-26 Invader

configuration. The first head of the 16’ HST, Mr. Dave Bierman, is shown standing next to the XA-26 full-scale engine/nacelle/propeller mounted in the tunnel. The purpose of the test was to evaluate engine cooling/exhaust performance.

1944: A model of the Convair B-36 Peacemaker con-figuration mounted upside down in the 16-Foot High

Speed Tunnel (HST) test section. This was the first “aerody-namic” force and moment test conducted in the facility. Ex-cept for a few flutter tests, all prior testing in the 16’ HST had been propulsion related.

1951: A sting-mounted aerodynamic model of the Bell X-1 in the new slotted test section of the renamed

16-Foot Tunnel. The Bell X-1 was the first of the so-called X-planes designated for testing new technologies and was the first aircraft to exceed the speed of sound during controlled level flight.

1960: A model of the Hawker P.1127 sting-mounted in the 16-Foot Tunnel. The P.1127 was the developmen-

tal aircraft that led to the first VTOL jet fighter-bomber. This model was tested with both inlet flow and hot exhaust flow simulated. The 16-Foot Tunnel staff pioneered the technique of hot exhaust testing utilizing hydrogen peroxide jets.

1963: A General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark propulsion model mounted in the 16’ TT. This airplane was the first

production variable-sweep-wing aircraft. The model, with aerodynamically controlled nozzle flaps, a hot hydrogen per-oxide primary exhaust, a high-pressure-air secondary nozzle flow, and a low-pressure-air nozzle boundary layer bleed, was one of the most complex ever tested in the facility.

1980: The photograph shows the Northrop-Grumman B-2 Spirit aircraft in flight. Because of ultra tight secu-

rity at the time, all photos of the models tested in the 16’ TT were removed from the facility and none exist in the NASA photo files. The B-2 was the first strategic heavy bomber with “low observable” stealth technology.

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2001: A model of the Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy sting-mounted in the 16’ TT for tests to determine the

aerodynamic impact of new larger engines and redesigned engine pylons on aircraft performance. The C-5 Galaxy is one of the largest aircraft in the world. The engines are simulated with flow-through nacelles.

2002: A Boeing X-45A Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) aerodynamic model with a flow-thru

inlet, sting-mounted in the 16' TT. The X-45 UCAV was a concept demonstrator for future combat aircraft that would be able to complete combat missions, including weapons delivery, not only unmanned but completely autonomously.

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The 16-ft Transonic Tunnel 60 years of ground breaking research and test ing