One can get a proper insight into the practice of flying only by actual flying experiments.
[1] Flight research has been an integral and essential part of the missions of, first, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and, later, its successor, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 1 The imperative of flight research was recognized from the outset in the NACA's charter: "[T]o supervise and direct the scientific study of the problems of flight with a view to their practical solution..." The NACA's Ames Aeronautical Laboratory was established at Moffett Field, California, in 1939. Moffett Field was chosen as the site of the new laboratory for several reasons, including its predominantly good flying weather, moderate temperatures, and low air traffic density. The first building of the new laboratory, completed in August 1940, provided hangar and office space for flight research, as well as space for the management and administrative staff of the new laboratory (fig.1). Appropriately, the first research conducted at Ames was a flight experiment. That first study was completed in 1940.
In its role as an aeronautical research laboratory, Ames, from its inception, made the most of the linkage between exploratory and developmental testing in its wind tunnels and in flight. In most respects, early research benefited from and was .....
[2] .....stimulated by a strong association between the activities carried out in the 7- by 10-foot and the 40- by 80-foot low-speed and in the 16-foot high subsonic speed wind tunnels. Later on, the desire to broaden the base of flight research and to generalize the results of control and guidance investigations would lead to the development of Ames' flight simulators and to their equally strong interplay with flight. These interactions between the key aeronautical facilities and their research groups were a strength of the laboratory and made it exceptional among the world's aeronautical research establishments.
The research carried out in flight had numerous technical areas of emphasis over the years, and most of the individual experiments can be categorized accordingly. Individual aircraft may have served several purposes and thus may appear connected with more than one area of research. These areas are identified in the narrative to follow as icing research; transonic model testing; aerodynamics research; flying qualities, stability and control, and performance evaluation; variable stability aircraft; gunsight tracking and guidance and control displays; in-flight thrust reversing and steep approach research; boundary-layer control research; short takeoff and landing (STOL) and vertical and short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) aircraft research; and rotorcraft research.
From the earliest days of Ames Aeronautical Laboratory until the creation of NASA, the focus of flight research was on military aircraft and their operations. Icing research and the earliest efforts in aerodynamics and flying qualities research occurred during World War II and were intended to aid in the design and operation of aircraft for the Army Air Corps and the Navy. From the war's end until the late 1950s, motivation for research came from the need to achieve ever higher performance and to advance the technology in wing aerodynamics. However, impediments associated with controllability had to be overcome to realize these performance gains. Further, improvements in performance and controllability at low speed were required for the approach and landing inasmuch as low-speed characteristics typically were adversely affected by high-speed enhancements. Variable stability aircraft were created as in-flight research facilities in order to expand upon the characteristics of a single configuration to acquire data for the development of flying qualities design criteria for individual categories of aircraft. The work in aerodynamics; flying qualities, stability and control, and performance; gunsight tracking and guidance and control; and in-flight thrust reversing was directed accordingly by the NACA, with advice and encouragement from the military services and the aircraft industry. Throughout this era, strong guidance was provided to the program through the NACA subcommittees, whose membership was drawn from the industry and military services.
Upon the transition from the NACA to NASA, these areas of research came to an abrupt halt. In mid-1959, Ames was directed by NASA headquarters to transfer all flight research to the Flight Research Center located at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California. Within 2 years, all Ames high-performance aircraft were moved to their new home in the high desert. However, headquarters assigned Ames the responsibility for powered-lift research, including flight research with STOL and V/STOL aircraft. This decision was influenced by Ames' broad technical background [3] with this category of aircraft in aerodynamics, performance, stability and control, flying qualities, and operations and because of the presence of the 40- by 80-foot wind tunnel and its experienced aerodynamics staff that had developed considerable expertise in powered-lift technology. Another influence on this decision was the interest the U.S. Army had expressed in this area of technology and the beginnings of what would become a cooperative program in aeronautical research with Ames. Thus, powered-lift research grew into a major effort that has lasted to the present day, supporting military along with newly emerging civil needs. It included the development and flight of several proof-of-concept aircraft, particularly the XV-15 tilt rotor, which stands as one of Ames' most important contributions to aeronautical technology. Further, it was soon to be augmented with rotorcraft flight research when NASA chose to consolidate rotary-wing technology efforts at Ames in the late 1970s. This research was supported and strongly influenced by the Army through its research laboratory, which had been established and collocated at Ames in the late 1960s. This collaborative program continues to this day.
Throughout most of the period of flight research at Ames Aeronautical Laboratory until its transition to Ames Research Center under NASA, a few select individuals provided top leadership. John Parsons served initially as chief of the Full-Scale and Flight Research Division, primarily to oversee its establishment as a working research unit. Lawrence (Larry) Clousing headed up the Flight Research Section under Parsons and provided technical guidance for flight research during the war effort. Lewis A. (Lew) Rodert was in charge of the Flight Engineering Section. At the end of World War II, Parsons was succeeded as division chief by Harry Goett. Goett, along with Steven (Steve) Belsley, the chief of the Flight Research Branch, and William H. (Bill) McAvoy and George Cooper, successively chiefs of the Flight Operations Branch, provided crucial leadership for over a decade. They established a working atmosphere of individual excellence and dedication that was leavened with considerable irreverence for authority. Goett set the tone with his weekly meetings with the staff, which included intense attention to technical objectives and results, with a minimum of administrative encumbrances. He was also known for his low tolerance of high-level administrative interference in the work. An illustrative example was his abrupt termination of a telephone conversation with an official in the Washington office of the NACA (he hung up) while debating the advisability of a particular flight experiment. As division chief, he was in a position to encourage the interaction between the flight and wind tunnel testing noted earlier. Belsley, like Goett, demanded technical competency and integrity, and was never known for his diplomatic approach in discussing issues of consequence. Otherwise, his sonorous voice eliminated the need for an intercom in the hangar. McAvoy was well regarded for his contributions to hazardous test flights, and for his oversight of a highly capable staff of pilots, all of whom went on to distinguish themselves throughout their careers. Cooper, a soft-spoken person and gentleman through and through, led by example and showed considerable insight into a wide range of aeronautical technologies. To this day, he continues to be revered by his colleagues throughout the profession for his accomplishments and personal character, not to mention for his second career as an enologist and vintner. The NACA quality standards set by these men persisted in the [4] organization through its subsequent evolutions of structure and leadership and influenced the content and conduct of the research. It has also been a source of pride to the individuals involved throughout the ensuing years.
Not long after the creation of NASA in 1958, Charles W. (Bill) Harper, another spirited sort who had learned the business under Harry Goett, succeeded Goett as division chief. Harper's first duty when he assumed this position was to deal with the headquarters directive to move Ames' research aircraft to the Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base. His quick response in developing research in powered-lift technology provided the basis for establishing Ames' flight research role in this area. At about that same time, Seth Anderson took over as the research branch chief from Steve Belsley and held that position for another 10 years. During that time, he became widely known for his expertise and leadership in V/STOL dynamics and control. Starting in the early 1970s, the organization evolved into a much broader entity, with participation from two branches in the original division and from the Aircraft Projects Office set up within the Aeronautics Directorate. Additionally, flight operations became a much larger organization with the creation of a division structure within aeronautics. Key leadership at the research division level came from Bradford (Brad) Wick, then successively from C. Thomas (Tom) Snyder and Gregory Condon. The projects office was established and led initially by Woodrow (Woody) Cook. After Cook's retirement in the late 1970s, the direction of this organization, now a full division, came from Wallace (Wally) Deckert and David (Dave) Few. Research branch leadership in flight dynamics and control was provided by a succession of individuals who followed Seth Anderson in that position, first Maurice (Maurie) White, then James (Jack) Franklin, Victor Lebacqz, Edwin Aiken, and William (Bill) Hindson. Navigation and guidance was led first by Brent Creer and later by Dallas Denery. With the creation of the Flight Operations Division in the mid-1970s, which occurred after the retirement of George Cooper, division chiefs in succession were David Reese, Fred Drinkwater, and James (Jim) Martin. Flight operations branch leadership following Cooper came from Robert (Bob) Innis, Jim Martin, Warren Hall, and George Tucker. Other organizations supported this effort throughout, particularly those groups associated with aircraft maintenance, development of advanced systems, and data acquisition. In particular, the Aircraft Services and Inspection Branches, the Metal Fabrication Branch, the Flight Systems Branch, and the Instrument and Avionics Research Branches were essential to the success of the programs over the years. Ray Braig, superintendent of aircraft, who headed up aircraft maintenance at the outset, was particularly esteemed by his colleagues for his competence and hard work.
A variety of sources, both formal and informal, written and oral, have been used in preparing this history. For the first quarter century of flight research, Edwin Hartman's history of Ames (ref. 1) provides extensive material concerning the areas of icing research; transonic model testing; aerodynamics research; flying qualities, stability and control, and performance evaluation; variable stability aircraft; gunsight tracking and guidance and control; in-flight thrust reversing; and boundary-layer control. During the subsequent 30-plus years, further information on research in [5] boundary-layer control, and on STOL and V/STOL aircraft and rotorcraft comes from the authors' personal experiences and recollections. We have drawn considerable information as well from several of our colleagues and from Ames alumni. The Ames technical library has also been a valuable source of formal NACA and NASA reports. The aircraft identifications that are applicable to research at Ames are generally taken from a list of NACA and NASA aircraft compiled by Robert L. Burns at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. A set of notebooks kept by Donovan (Don) Heinle, a test pilot at Ames in the 1950s and early 1960s, listed all the aircraft that appeared at Ames and the projects in which they were involved. His notes also included a list of Ames research pilots and the dates of their first flights. In some cases, this is the only documentation available on the activities of the early aircraft. Unfortunately, Heinle's records ended when he lost his life while flying an F-101 Voodoo at Edwards Air Force Base. Additional information came from an inventory of photographs collected by the Flight Research Branch. These photographs cover the period from the first flights at Ames to the mid-1950s. All of these photographs had been stapled to cards, on which the subject of the photograph, the name of the project, and the date of the photograph were listed. Although they are not a complete history, many of the photographs offer insights into the nature of the flight experiments at the Center, the modifications that were made to the aircraft, the actual appearance of some of the rarer types of aircraft, the individuals involved, and the dates during which some of the flying took place.
The rationale for the various research areas is described in the narrative that follows, along with a brief accounting of some of the more prominent flight programs. No attempt is made to cover every aircraft tested at Ames. Rather, highlights of the programs are indicated, along with anecdotal descriptions of the individuals involved and some interesting results of the programs. Tables that provide identifying information about the aircraft flown in the various research programs and relevant photographs appear in each section. Electronic versions of the photographs are available and can be downloaded from the Ames Imaging Library located at http://ails.arc.nasa.gov.
1 In
1958, when the NACA was superseded by the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory's name was
changed to Ames Research Center.
