Full-Scale Tunnel, Brewster XF2A-1 Buffalo, 1938
The US Navy Brewster XF2A-1 Buffalo in the full scale wind tunnel at the NACA Langley Research Center, May 2, 1938. NACA Langley's drag-cleanup studies of the Brewster F2A in 1938 were so productive that the US Army and Navy sent most of their prototype and production aircraft to the NACA laboratory for similar examination afterwards. For eight decades the Full-Scale Tunnel stood as a fixture of NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia, its 30 by 60 foot test section was used to try out every imaginable aircraft design, the Mercury spacecraft and even a submarine. Constructed in 1930 by the NACA - NASA's predecessor - the wind tunnel was 434 feet long, 222 feet wide and 97 feet tall at its highest. Twin four-bladed wood propellers could move air through the entire volume at speeds up to 125 mph with the help of a 4,000 horsepower electric motor. The wind tunnel was in use through the 2000s, modified to allow new testing procedures, such as free-flight and high angle of attack. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1985, but despite this designation and the efforts of some aviation historians, demolition of the tunnel began in 2010.
Size: 4200px × 3350px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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