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nasa the national aeronautics and space

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administration presents aeronautics and

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space report since nineteen seventeen

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NASA's Langley Research Center Hampton

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Virginia has been serving this country's

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needs both in aeronautics and

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recalling some of the early history

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senior historian and curator for the

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Smithsonian's National Air and Space

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Museum mr. Paul Garber welcome to the

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Smithsonian Institution National Air and

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Space Museum the third head of this

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institution was Samuel Pierpont Langley

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for whom the laboratory at Hampton

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Virginia was named and his successor

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Charles Doolittle Wolcott as early as

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1912 realized that we should have here

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in America a laboratory where scientific

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investigations could be made of the

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basic facts of aeronautics so that our

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aircraft could be developed further this

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is probably the most famous award in the

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history of flight it was donated in 1912

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by Robert J Collier who was then head of

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the Aero Club of America it is awarded

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annually for the greatest accomplishment

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in aeronautics or astronautics the value

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of which has been proven by a previous

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year of practical use eight times those

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awards have been either directly to naca

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or na sa that is the national advisory

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committee for aeronautics or the

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National Aeronautics and Space

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Administration either directly or in

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connection with some development with

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which they were associated the award for

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1929 was the first one to naca and that

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was for the engine cowling on the front

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of an airplane or on the engines of an

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airplane this cowling was a cylindrical

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sleeve that fits over the cylinders of

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the engine now on the spirit of st.

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Louis those cylinders protrude and by

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protruding cause so much friction of the

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air that they are a serious dragged to

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the speed of the aircraft but by

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development of the NACA cowling that

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engine could be so enshrouded so is

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smooth so streamlined

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while at the same time the engine itself

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was better cooled that the performance

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of aircraft was increased greatly in

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fact the application of that cowling to

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such aircraft as the Lockheed Air

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Express and to the win he may increase

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the speed appreciably it was during the

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years following World War one that

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Captain Charles a Lindbergh made the

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first solo flight across the Atlantic

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drawing worldwide attention to the

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potential of the airplane dr. robert h

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goddard successfully developed and fired

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liquid-fueled rocket motors events which

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would influence later history these were

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the post-war years at Langley wind

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tunnels were being constructed wind

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tunnels able to test models in free

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flight making accurate measurements and

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corrections before a plane was built

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pointing the way to improved airplane

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design concepts to help determine the

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spin characteristics of aircraft a spin

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tunnel was so designed that models could

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be spun simulating full-scale free

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flight this same facility was used also

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to test out models of all of the man's

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spacecraft Mercury Gemini and Apollo

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during the second decade at Langley 1927

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to 1937 the dirigible plagued by a

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series of tragic accidents and the

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you

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in their place the all metal single

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wincraft predecessors of our commercial

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airlines planes with two rather than

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three air-cooled engines and retractable

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landing gear the NACA was asked to

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determine the conditions which caused

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ice formation on aircraft and develop

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means of preventing it these studies

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grew into a major effort that did in

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fact find a solution with the 1946

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awarding of the collier trophy for the

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pioneering research to serve the needs

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of the seaplane and amphibious airplane

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designers the first of Langley's

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hydrodynamic test tanks were made ready

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for operation towing a model Hall

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through the water up to the point of a

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simulated takeoff speed engineers could

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suggest improvements in the basic design

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in later years Mercury Gemini and Apollo

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water landing techniques would be

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checked out using the same tank World

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War 2 dominated Langley's third decade

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the urgency of the war dictated the

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programs of this period programs aimed

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many times at curing the immediate ills

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of already flying combat aircraft

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typical of these were the ditching

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studies here a highly instrumented be 24

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research aimed at giving over the water

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combat crews a better chance of survival

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other work during the war time period

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included studies of airplane stalling

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characteristics aircraft loads in

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maneuvering flight and problems

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associated with diving and braking near

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the end of the war Langley scientists

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were working on the idea of wings

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Sweetback an idea for attaining higher

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flight speeds one method of

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experimentation was with

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rocket-propelled models these early

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studies can be seen in present flying

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airplanes high speed presented some

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problems of ejecting from an airplane

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this test pilot was subjected to wind

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tunnel blasts at speeds up to 400 miles

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per hour to check human tolerance

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October 1947 Captain Charles E Yeager

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piloting the bell x-1 flew through the

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speed of sound for the first time and

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pioneered the way to supersonic flight

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speeds made possible by the long

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research effort that had begun early in

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the war at Langley the next decade

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nineteen forty eight to nineteen

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fifty-seven research continued on the x

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series of aircraft these included the X

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3 X 5 and the most significant airplane

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design the x-15 hypersonic research

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aircraft shown here being proved out in

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a Langley wind tunnel today the x-15

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travels at speeds in excess of 4,000

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miles per hour and is returning

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information about high-speed

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high-altitude flight as it maneuvers

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research on flight tests of helicopters

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continued to take place to help

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determine future designs a landing loads

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track began operation during this period

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with it aircraft landing gear could be

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subjected to the same type of load

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stress encountered during landing later

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tests identified the problem of aircraft

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and automobile hydroplaning as a result

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of water drenched pavements a condition

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that can cause loss of control speaking

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about his years in aviation general

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james h Doolittle former chairman of the

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national advisory committee for

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this is my 50th year on aviation I

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started in nineteen seventeen in those

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days the aeroplane was very simple there

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was a stick and wire contraption covered

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with cloth and if somebody had drawn a

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picture of a modern-day airplane we

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would have thought him slightly mad

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what's the best way to explain what's

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happened in aviation is to say that in

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those days there was a fixed landing

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gear simple engine simple airframe since

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then came flats flaps flops retractable

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landing gears jet engine air

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conditioning pressurization and all of

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the multiple manifold communicational

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and navigational equipment all the

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military equipment that's gone in and

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the aeroplane from a very simple thing

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has become very complex the most modern

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airplanes today cost something over five

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million dollars or a thousand times more

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than they cost in 1917 this gives some

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indication of the increased complexity

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of aviation and of course the improved

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performance and utility of aircraft

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today but part of that the force is due

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to a reduction in the purchasing power

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of the dollar but most of it is due to

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the things that been put in the aircraft

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now if we look at this aeroplane over

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here we see a subsonic aeroplanes flying

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it around 600 miles an hour crossing the

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continent in about five hours I see in

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the future the supersonic airplane that

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will cross the continent in something

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over an hour and Fire prior to that

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there's a very large airplane the Boeing

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747 the lockheed c-5 a which will

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greatly reduce the cost of air travel

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and tremendously increase the amount of

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air travel it will have a profound

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effect

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on air cargo on the amount of our care

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cargo that's scary there will also be

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the VTOL the sto oil aircraft that will

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make it more convenient to fly and will

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save time over short distances all of

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to study the heating problems generated

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by reentry flight into the Earth's

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atmosphere arc jet facilities were put

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into use at Langley with the orbiting of

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the Russian Sputnik getting men into

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space and returning him safely through

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the searing heat of reentry became a

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high-priority problem now in the decade

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of the 60s the Langley Research Center

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is charged with a dual responsibility

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continued aeronautical research and

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contribute to the science of space

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flight a space task group originally

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formed at Langley went on to become the

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manned spacecraft Center by the end of

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the Mercury program there was no doubt

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at the White House President Kennedy

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awarded the collier trophy to the first

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seven astronauts and I'm particularly

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glad that the decision has made been

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made to award the trophy of this year to

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them I think it on is a extraordinary

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page in American history as well as in

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the history of flight and I hope that

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this award which in a sense closes out

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this particular phase of the space

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program will be a stimulus to them and

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to other astronauts who will carry our

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flag to the moon and perhaps even some

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day beyond so it's great pleasure I

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here are some of Langley's other

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projects echo an automatically inflating

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satellite grew out of a Langley concept

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and was developed their rendezvous and

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docking critical to the Apollo moon

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program was studied and determined

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feasible commercial supersonic transport

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the initial configuration was developed

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to meet the unique flight requirements

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lifting bodies this the so-called HL 10

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craft which may someday shuttle men and

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equipment through space then land like a

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conventional plane at an airport VTOL

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vertical takeoff or landing aircraft

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forerunners of intercity transports

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which fly forward at high speed and then

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set down like a helicopter the concept

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for this tilt wincraft evolved into the

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first operational VTOL transport lunar

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orbiter a series of moon mapping craft

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surveying safe landing sites for

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American astronauts conceived and

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managed by Langley scientists airport

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landing studies and the list could go on

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Langley Research Center in 50 short

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years it has risen from a few buildings

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and facilities testing out biplanes to

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join NASA's national effort in both

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but it's really 50 years of people

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people make the machines and design the

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this has been an Aeronautics and Space