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32

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Oh

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bugger of a high gas key

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you

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I am

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welcome to this edition of NASA images

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I'm Lynn Bondurant during this show will

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be focusing on historic NASA footage of

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airplane work will see many tests

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including crash tests let's go back to

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nineteen seventy-four to the NASA

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Langley Research Center in Virginia for

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although the safety record of light

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aircraft continues to improve there

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still were 700 crashes in the US last

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year resulting in more than 1,300

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fatalities up till now there has been no

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reliable method of predicting the

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behavior of general aviation planes when

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they do crash in a joint project with

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the FAA NASA is beginning a light

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aircraft crash safety program at the

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langley research center in Virginia this

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is one of 20 flood-damaged planes that

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will be tested the actual facility was

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originally used by Apollo astronauts to

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practice landing on the moon the

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240-foot high by 400 foot long lunar

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landing practice area is now laced with

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cables which are attached to the highly

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instrumented aircraft before it comes

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crashing to the ground dummies riding in

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the passenger seats are instrumented to

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measure g-forces engineers hope to learn

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what happens to an airframe structure

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when it impacts and to develop an

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analytical design tool that can be

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turned over to the designers and

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builders of general aviation planes for

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this first check out test the plane is

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complete except for tail section and

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engines comparable weights take the

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place of missing parts and the fuel

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tanks are filled with water for weight

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and balance this first crash was made at

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an impact speed of 30 miles per hour

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future drops will be at speeds up to 60

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here you can see some of the resulting

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damage most of which was confined to the

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nose and underside of the aircraft

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describing the program that will follow

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this series of Christ tests Langley

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engineer Bob Thompson or in the future

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what we hope to learn is to to integrate

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some energy absorption concepts into

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airframe design technology this gives

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the aircraft designer some means of

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putting together the energy absorption

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concepts with the airframe

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crashworthiness tests like these may one

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day lead to the design of lightweight

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aircraft that can absorb much of the

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impact energy of a crash and hopefully

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in 1975 NASA Langley engineers are crash

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testing helicopters they're dropping

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things on purpose at NASA's Langley

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Research Center in Virginia in this case

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a 22,000 pound army helicopter the big

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ch-47 helicopter had earlier been

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damaged by fire at the plant where it

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was manufactured making it a good

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candidate for the crashworthiness test

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watch again this time in slow motion as

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the helicopter is dropped 50 feet to the

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concrete below the highly instrumented

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craft is being used in a cooperative

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test experiment with the US Army to

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improve design and safety features of

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future helicopters crashworthiness tests

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giving aircraft designers important

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structural information before they go to

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the drawing boards one of the possible

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problems with which pilots must deal

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when landing planes is wake turbulence

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ah

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these model airplanes have something in

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they are all part of a NASA research

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program to learn more about vortices

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tornado-like patterns of air the trail

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behind the wings of airplanes causing

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varying degrees of turbulence Dave Scott

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acting director of NASA's Flight

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Research Center in California explains

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the vortices are dangerous because these

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bundles of energy as they follow behind

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the aircraft leaving a wake have the

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capability of turning over smaller

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aircraft as they approach a landing and

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because of this we have a great deal of

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concern that many accidents can be

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caused by the vortices are these bundles

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of energies that they attempt to turn

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over an aircraft while all aircraft

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cause vortices large heavy Jets such as

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the 747 and dc-10 create the more

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serious problems air traffic density

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around major airports adds to the

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severity of the problem because of the

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many aircraft coming in for a landing in

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the need to sequence one plane behind

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the other aircraft are routinely

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separated it's safe distances to avoid

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the trailing vortex problem however this

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often results in increased fuel use and

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traffic delays smoke generators mounted

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on the wings of these flames by nasa

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researchers make it possible to see and

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investigate the whirling air patterns

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the research has shown that by adjusting

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wing flaps at different angles and by

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making various design changes the

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intensity of the vortices can be

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substantially reduced this kind of

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aeronautical research today may very

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well result in even safer more

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for our next clip made in 1974 let's go

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to California where aerodynamic truck

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tests were made in an effort to reduce

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fuel use they come in all sizes these

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movers of everything from lettuce to

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Steve their box like shapes allow the

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packing of high-volume loads it's

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believed that both trucks and

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recreational vehicles like this can be

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made more economical to operate in the

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past as trucks were manufactured larger

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and larger engine size was increased to

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handle the heavier loads now with the

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continuing fuel problems engineers are

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attempting to make the big trucks more

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efficient in a joint effort NASA and the

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Department of Transportation are in the

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midst of a research program to do just

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that the tests are being done at NASA's

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Flight Research Center near the Mohave

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Desert in California on an auxiliary

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runway project engineer ed Saltzman

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explains the experience and background

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that we have here at the NASA flight

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research center that bears on the tests

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such as this goes back to the

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aerodynamics experiments that we've done

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on various aircraft and really the means

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of achieving aerodynamic efficiency on

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aircraft that different than it is on

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automobiles and trucks accepting of

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course they're on trucks and automobiles

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you're working at lower speed

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starting with a small delivery van ed

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Saltzman and his team of engineers

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reshaped the vehicle with sheet metal

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the test truck has evolved from a square

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box to its present shape with rounded

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corners the major emphasis has been on

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the elimination of drag wind resistance

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that forces the engine to work harder

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the method used to define drag is known

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as the coast down method after

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accelerating the truck to 65 miles per

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hour the gears are disengaged and the

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the deceleration is monitored closely

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because the time it takes to slow down

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can be directly converted into drag so

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far aerodynamic drag has been decreased

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a little over fifty percent the thing

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that we're all interested in of course

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is the savings in fuel the miles per

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gallon that we can achieve rather than

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the aerodynamic drag per se and the

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aerodynamic improvements that we've

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experienced so far are translatable into

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fuel savings at cruise conditions when

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you're going down the highway at highway

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speeds somewhere in the neighborhood of

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all fifteen percent perhaps twenty

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percent savings and fuel other secondary

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benefits include less pollution and

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increased engine light this big tractor

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trailer typical of many on US highways

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is also being studied

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here engineers attach one of many add-on

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devices that will modify airflow around

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the truck and hopefully reduce drag to

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help them visualize the flow of air

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patterns six inch long strings or Tufts

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are attached and photographed these have

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been used in aeronautical research for

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years another method involves pumping a

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powder like substance over the truck as

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the large tractor-trailer program has

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just begun and it's too soon to predict

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how much fuel might be saved as a result

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of the truck modifications a fuel

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savings of as little as five percent

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however would save thousands of barrels

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of fuel every day the researchers are

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hopeful as they continue to apply

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aerodynamic techniques to help solve a

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ground transportation problem let's go

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back into the air for our next clip from

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1976 the clip explains at the first day

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in NASA is for Aeronautics the clip ties

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together several of the ideas from other

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films used in the show for 60 years nASA

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has been pioneering in aeronautical

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research during World War two the need

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was for real-time problem-solving and

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responding to a variety of crises

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associated with American bomber and

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today research is aimed at making planes

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fly higher faster farther quieter and

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with greater safety consider the problem

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of wake vortices invisible tornado like

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patterns of air that trail behind large

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Jets causing dangerously turbulent

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conditions for smaller planes following

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in their wake the turbulence is so

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severe that flight controllers must

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carefully space takeoffs and landings to

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avoid them research on wake vortices has

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ranged from studies like these at NASA's

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Flight Research Center in California

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where different combinations of gear and

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flaps are used to break up the vortex to

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an experimental laser system at the

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Marshall Space Flight Center in

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Huntsville Alabama working with the FAA

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the experimental laser program is an

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effort to develop an accurate wake

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vortex detection and monitoring system

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they would permit tracking the path of

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the vortices produced by large aircraft

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field tested at the John F Kennedy

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International Airport in New York the

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laser research may one day help make

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commercial air traffic safer information

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gained by flights of the two thousand

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mile per hour why f12 will help the

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designers of new aircraft and spacecraft

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heating stability and control aircraft

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loads these are just a few of the many

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tests under way using the high-speed

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planes as flying research tools the

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rocket-powered x24 be has completed 36

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missions over the California desert near

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the flight research center bringing to a

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close experimental rocket powered flight

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tests that began with the excess one in

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1946 these unique planes have proved

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extremely valuable in advanced

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aeronautical research using the same

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aeronautical Noel used to design sleep

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high-speed jet planes NASA engineers are

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cooperating with the Department of

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Transportation

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test a variety of fuel saving

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modifications for large trucks even the

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simple changes have provided a forty

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percent reduction in aerodynamic drag

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wind resistance that forces the truck

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engine to work harder this translates

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directly into a highway crews fuel

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reduction of 20 to 25 percent an

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interesting ground transportation

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problem being aided by aeronautical

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research techniques at the Langley

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Research Center in Hampton Virginia

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engineers hope that these crash

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worthiness tests will help designers

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build lightweight aircraft that can

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absorb much of the impact energy of a

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this is a pilot's I've you coming in for

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a landing but there's an easier less

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expensive way to fly it's called the

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flight simulator for advanced aircraft

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what the pilot sees and hears in this

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simulator at NASA's Ames Research Center

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is like the real thing another advanced

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research tool for designing and

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evaluating aircraft performance without

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ever leaving the ground that first a in

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NASA stands for Aeronautics research

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aimed at improving the quality and

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safety of flying our next clip from 1976

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shows an unusual scissor-like plane

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design the singing is an arid lake bed

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at nasa's dryden flight research center

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near the Mojave Desert in California

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it's early morning engineers and

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technicians have been here since before

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sunup check out in preparations for the

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upcoming flight test our painstaking and

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delivered this is not an ordinary plane

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it has a scissor like design that could

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prove to be the shape of aircraft to

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come studies indicate that if the design

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features of the oblique wing as this

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25-foot model is called were applied to

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full-size jets it would allow them to

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travel faster than sound without leaving

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the usual sonic boom in their wake and

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before the oblique wing plane takes off

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a television equipped aircraft sweeps

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over and scans the flight path what the

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camera sees will aid this man the pilot

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of the oblique wing model he actually

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flies the plane from inside to this van

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another television camera mounted in the

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nose of the test aircraft lets him see

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where the planes going watch now as the

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ground crew start the engine and launch

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during the flight researchers carefully

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record how the aircraft responds to a

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variety of maneuvers they compare these

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responses with wind tunnel predictions

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to better understand what the aircraft

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as you can see the the wing on the

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aircraft is at an angle to the fuselage

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such that the left wing points forward

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of the of the aircraft a normal airplane

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the wings are at right angles to the

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fuselage on this aircraft the wing is at

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an oblique angle such that the left wing

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points forward and the right wing points

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f and this this feature allows the

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aircraft to have much lower transonic

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drag than a conventional aircraft and

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for a transonic airplane designed to use

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this wing you would fly at 100 to 200

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miles an hour with the wing at zero

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degrees of y'all as the speed increases

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research has shown that oblique trimmed

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aircraft compared to fixed-wing planes

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use less fuel and can reduce sonic boom

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levels the planes designer Artie Jones

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says that using the oblique wing takes

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maximum advantage of wings sweep in a

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way that fools the wind by making it

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think you're going slower than you

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actually are the next phase of research

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could include a 1,500 pound plane with

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the 30 foot wingspan powered by jet

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engines it would have a pilot on board

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these artists concepts show how the

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oblique wing design might be applied to

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transport type aircraft the wing of

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course would swing back to a more

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conventional position for landing the

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oblique wing a unique design that may

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one day allow planes to fly faster

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NASA engineers have even tested plane

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designs underwater as we see in this

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1977 report from the NASA Dryden Flight

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Center California ever see a jet plane

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fly underwater for this model of a 747

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almost does just that but consider first

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what led to these interesting underwater

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studies NASA researchers are trying to

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solve the problem of wake vortices those

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funnel-like patterns of air that swirl

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off the wings of planes as they speed

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along the larger the plane the larger

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the vortex and resulting problem

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vortices can't be seen a less smoke or

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die pods are attached to the wings here

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the second test plane intentionally

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follows much closer than normal this

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allows engineers to visually observe and

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right now air traffic controllers avoid

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the problem altogether by carefully

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spacing takeoffs and landings if the

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vortices can be reduced or eliminated

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however it will cut down air traffic

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this is Hydra nautic sin Laurel Maryland

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it was here that NASA recently completed

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a series of tests to look at the vortex

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problem from a different angle

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underwater the tank used is 425 feet

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long 25 feet wide and 12 feet deep

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testing an aircraft in water may seem

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like a strange idea but water and air

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are both fluid medium and the advantage

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of using water in this case is that you

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can simulate a reynolds number much

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closer to the reynolds number that you

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use in flight and reynolds number is one

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of the correlations that you do with one

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of the ways that you get the scale

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effects from model testing to flight

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testing the vortex generating model is

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mounted on the carriage and this motor

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driven carriage moves the model through

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the water channel the following models

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the small business jet is mounted on a

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separate carriage downstream of the

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generating aircraft and the to the test

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last approximately 25 seconds and you

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get maybe 15 seconds of data from this

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test run where the two miles are moving

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on separate carriages through the water

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telling facilities as the test

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progresses dye is let out of the wing

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tips of the generator aircraft and this

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dye will swirl up in in the vortex the

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axial velocity so that you can actually

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see the vortex in the films that we take

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results of the wake vortices research

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are encouraging while NASA is having

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success in changing airflow over the

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wings using flaps and deflectors to

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break up the vortices the FAA is working

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to develop instruments to detect and

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thus avoid them all part of a continuing

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effort to improve the safety and comfort

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our final historic clip is called from

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today sports enthusiasts around the

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00:24:51,380 --> 00:24:49,370
this is the man responsible for Co

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00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:51,390
inventing the specially designed wing

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00:24:56,690 --> 00:24:53,610
that is making hang gliding a rapidly

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00:25:00,080 --> 00:24:56,700
growing sport 63 year old aeronautical

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00:25:02,150 --> 00:25:00,090
engineer Francis M regalo now retired

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00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:02,160
from NASA's Langley Research Center in

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Hampton Virginia he and his wife

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00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:06,810
Gertrude hukou invented the wing live in

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00:25:11,780 --> 00:25:09,810
Kitty Hawk North Carolina regalo enjoys

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00:25:13,910 --> 00:25:11,790
flying a couple of times a week from

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00:25:21,789 --> 00:25:13,920
what's been called the highest sand dune

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00:25:33,489 --> 00:25:29,430
turn to the left and come down four up

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00:25:36,759 --> 00:25:33,499
and land and what's it like to hang

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00:25:41,590 --> 00:25:36,769
glide with a hang glider as with other

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00:25:45,570 --> 00:25:41,600
aircraft you have a freedom of up and

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00:25:48,909 --> 00:25:45,580
down direction as well as the others and

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just getting your feet off the ground

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00:25:56,950 --> 00:25:53,570
and being lifted by by the air it is a

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new experience for regalo the renewed

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00:26:02,139 --> 00:25:59,149
interest is represented by hang gliding

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00:26:04,629 --> 00:26:02,149
takes on particular significance the big

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00:26:07,499 --> 00:26:04,639
kites represent more than two decades of

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00:26:10,869 --> 00:26:07,509
research much of it on his own time in

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00:26:13,570 --> 00:26:10,879
1963 he and his wife Gertrude received

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00:26:16,149 --> 00:26:13,580
from NASA one of the highest cash awards

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ever given for an invention the

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00:26:25,090 --> 00:26:20,720
invention was not an accident at all it

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00:26:29,259 --> 00:26:25,100
was a purposeful search for a kind of

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wing that would be less expensive more

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00:26:37,379 --> 00:26:32,419
rugged more practical than the

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00:26:40,659 --> 00:26:37,389
conventional kind of wing and we studied

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everything along that line that there

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00:26:49,210 --> 00:26:44,649
had already been like boat sails

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00:26:53,759 --> 00:26:49,220
windmills parachutes and and airplane

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00:26:55,749 --> 00:26:53,769
wings before coming up with this design

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00:26:58,210 --> 00:26:55,759
experimenting with small gliders and

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00:27:01,509 --> 00:26:58,220
kites a good performing completely

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00:27:04,419 --> 00:27:01,519
flexible wing finally evolved in 1948

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00:27:06,460 --> 00:27:04,429
ten years later NASA was searching for

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devices that could be used to bring

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00:27:11,950 --> 00:27:08,840
astronauts in their spacecraft to a safe

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00:27:15,009 --> 00:27:11,960
landing on earth early versions had many

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00:27:18,430 --> 00:27:15,019
names paraglider para wing gliding

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00:27:21,129 --> 00:27:18,440
parachute and flexible wings the basic

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00:27:22,370 --> 00:27:21,139
design seen in all these can be seen in

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most hang glider

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00:27:27,410 --> 00:27:25,410
flying today intensive testing ranged

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00:27:29,690 --> 00:27:27,420
all the way from small wind tunnel

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00:27:31,700 --> 00:27:29,700
models to full-scale flight tests

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00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:31,710
complete with man and spacecraft

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00:27:40,790 --> 00:27:39,090
attached while the regalo wing as it is

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00:27:43,190 --> 00:27:40,800
known by many as had limited

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00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:43,200
applications regalo himself is

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00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:45,210
optimistic that the new interest

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00:27:50,690 --> 00:27:47,610
generated by some 20,000 Flyers

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00:27:55,700 --> 00:27:50,700
worldwide will produce other uses in the

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that's it for this edition of NASA

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00:28:02,820 --> 00:28:01,060
images until next time this is Lynn