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National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA)
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Members of NACA
| Title |
Members of NACA |
| Full Description |
NASA was formed in 1958 from the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, or NACA. The members of the Main Committee of NACA which met in Washington, D.C. on April 18, 1929 include from left to right: John F. Victory, Secretary Dr. William F.Durand Dr. Orville Wright Dr. George K. Burgess Brig. Gen. William E. Gillmore Maj. Gen. James E. Fechet Dr. Joesph S. Ames, Chairman Rear Adm. David W. Taylor, USN (Ret.), Vice Chairman Capt. Emory S. Land Rear Adm. William A. Moffet Dr. Samual W. Stratton Dr George W. Lewis, Director of Aeronautical Research Dr. Charles F. Marvin Dr. Charles G. Abbot was absent |
| Date |
04/18/1929 |
| NASA Center |
Headquarters |
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NACA Ames 16 Foot High Speed
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| Title |
NACA Ames 16 Foot High Speed Wind Tunnel |
| Full Description |
View of the 16 Foot High Speed Wind Tunnel at the NACA Ames Aeronautical Laboratory, Moffett Field, California. |
| Date |
04/01/1948 |
| NASA Center |
Ames Research Center |
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NACA Ames 7x10 Wind Tunnel
| Title |
NACA Ames 7x10 Wind Tunnel |
| Full Description |
A scale model is being prepared for study in one of the 7 x 10 Foot Wind Tunnels at the NACA Ames Aeronautical Laboratory. |
| Date |
04/01/1942 |
| NASA Center |
Ames Research Center |
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NACA Cowling #10
| Title |
NACA Cowling #10 |
| Full Description |
Drag can present a major problem for aircraft and many of Langley's early research was focused upon reducing aircraft drag. One method was to place a cowling or covering over the engine cylinder heads, much like the hood over the engine of a car. By the end of September 1928, tests of cowling #10 in the PRT showed a dramatic reduction in drag. |
| Date |
09/01/1928 |
| NASA Center |
Langley Research Center |
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NACA Drafting Room
| Title |
NACA Drafting Room |
| Full Description |
A drafting room at the NACA Airplane Engine Research Laboratory (AERL), now known as the NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. |
| Date |
01/01/1961 |
| NASA Center |
Headquarters |
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NACA Langley Administrative
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| Title |
NACA Langley Administrative Office |
| Full Description |
Langley administrative office in 1927. Note the blueprints on the table at right lower corner, and rubber stamp tree on the man's desk in left foreground. |
| Date |
01/01/1927 |
| NASA Center |
Langley Research Center |
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NACA Langley High Speed Tunn
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| Title |
NACA Langley High Speed Tunnel |
| Full Description |
The 8 Foot High Speed Wind Tunnel at the NACA Langley Aeronautical Laboratory provided the means for testing large models and some full scale components at a simulated speed of 500 miles per hour. |
| Date |
01/01/1936 |
| NASA Center |
Langley Research Center |
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NACA Lewis Softball Team 195
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| Title |
NACA Lewis Softball Team 1952 |
| Full Description |
The NACA Lewis Research Center Softball Team of 1952. |
| Date |
01/01/1961 |
| NASA Center |
Headquarters |
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NACA Model of Ramjet with Ab
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| Title |
NACA Model of Ramjet with Abe Silverstein |
| Full Description |
Mr. Abe Silverstein, Chief of the Wind Tunnel and Flight Research Division at the Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, Cleveland, Ohio, now known as John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field, demonstrates the operation of a model ramjet aircraft engine. |
| Date |
06/26/1945 |
| NASA Center |
Glenn Research Center |
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NACA Physicist Studying Alph
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| Title |
NACA Physicist Studying Alpha Rays |
| Full Description |
NACA Physicits studying Alpha Rays in a continuous cloud chamber. A cloud chamber is used by Lewis scientists to obtain information aimed at minimizing undesirable effects of radiation on nuclear-powered aircraft components. Here, alpha particles from a polonium source emit in a flower-like pattern at the cloud chamber's center. The particles are made visible by means of alcohol vapor diffusing from an area at room temperature to an area at minus -78 deg. Centigrade. Nuclear-powered aircraft were never developed and aircraft nuclear propulsion systems were canceled in the early 1960s. |
| Date |
09/12/1957 |
| NASA Center |
Glenn Research Center |
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NACA Physics Laboratory
| Title |
NACA Physics Laboratory |
| Full Description |
A Physics Laboratory at the NACA Airplane Engine Research Laboratory (AERL), now known as the NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. |
| Date |
01/01/1961 |
| NASA Center |
Headquarters |
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NACA Seal
| Title |
NACA Seal |
| Full Description |
This is the official seal for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) which was established by an act of Congress in March 1915. The seal depicts the first human-controlled, powered flight made by the Wright brothers in December 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. NACA was later incorporated into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958. |
| Date |
01/01/1961 |
| NASA Center |
Headquarters |
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NACA Standard Insignia
| Title |
NACA Standard Insignia |
| Full Description |
On April 24, 1941, at the semi-annual meeting of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the official NACA Standard Seal was approved to be used on buildings under construction. The insignia portrayed a shield with a wing on either side and the letters "NACA" inscribed across it. |
| Date |
04/24/1941 |
| NASA Center |
Headquarters |
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NACA Tunnel #1
| Title |
NACA Tunnel #1 |
| Full Description |
Test section and balance for Atmospheric Wind Tunnel (AWT) #1. The 5 foot diameter circular test section and control room of NACA Tunnel No. 1. A Curtiss "Jenny" model can be seen mounted in the test section. Both a real JN4H and a highly accurate model were put through identical tests. The NACA engineers used this data to make the necessary corrections to the wind tunnel. |
| Date |
5/22/1921 |
| NASA Center |
Langley Research Center |
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NACA's 9th Annual Aircraft E
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| Title |
NACA's 9th Annual Aircraft Engineering Research Conference |
| Full Description |
Eight of the twelve members of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics attending the 9th Annual Aircraft Engineering Research Conference posed for this photograph at Langley Field, Virginia, on May 23, 1934. Those pictured are (left to right): Brig. Gen. Charles A. Lindbergh, USAFR Vice Admiral Arthur B. Cook, USN Charles G. Abbot, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Dr. Joseph S. Ames, Committee Chairman Orville Wright Edward P. Warner Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, USN Eugene L. Vidal, Director, Bureau of Air Commerce. |
| Date |
05/23/1934 |
| NASA Center |
Headquarters |
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Original NACA Hangars
| Title |
Original NACA Hangars |
| Full Description |
The original NACA hangars, 1931. The aircraft parked to the right is the Fairchild owned by the NACA. Just outside the hangar door is a modified Ford Model A that was used to start aircraft propellers. |
| Date |
01/01/1931 |
| NASA Center |
Langley Research Center |
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P-80 Model Mounted on Wing o
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| Title |
P-80 Model Mounted on Wing of a NACA P-51B |
| Full Description |
A technician mounts a model of a P-80 aircraft on the wing of a NACA North American P-51B. In high speed dives of the P-51B, the instrumented model returns aerodynamic data on transonic flight. |
| Date |
06/01/1948 |
| NASA Center |
Ames Research Center |
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Curtiss AT-5a NACA Cowling
| Title |
Curtiss AT-5a NACA Cowling |
| Full Description |
The NACA cowling as applied to a Curtiss AT-5A at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, October 1928. |
| Date |
10/12/1928 |
| NASA Center |
Langley Research Center |
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Curtiss Hawk with NACA Cowli
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| Title |
Curtiss Hawk with NACA Cowling |
| Full Description |
Curtiss Hawk with NACA Cowling in 1928. |
| Date |
01/01/1928 |
| NASA Center |
Langley Research Center |
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Final Meeting of NACA
| Title |
Final Meeting of NACA |
| Full Description |
Final meeting of National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, August 21, 1958. After the launch of the Soviet Union's Sputnik I satellite in October 1957, the United States realized that it needed a space program to keep up with the technological advancements made by the Soviets. On July 29, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Public Law 85-568 and established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). T. Keith Glennan was sworn in as the first Administrator of NASA on August 19, 1958, and by October 1, the official effective date of the new agency, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was absorbed by NASA. Left to right: T. Keith Glennan, NASA Administrator, Mr. Preston R. Bassett, member of the NACA Committee on Aerodynamics, Mr. Charles J. McCarthy, Chairman of the Board, Chance Vought Aircraft, Inc. |
| Date |
08/21/1958 |
| NASA Center |
Headquarters |
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First Meeting of the NACA 19
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| Title |
First Meeting of the NACA 1915 |
| Full Description |
The first meeting of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA.) in the Office of The Secretary Of War April 23, 1915. Brig. Gen. George P. Scriven was elected as the temporary Chairman of the NACA and Dr. Charles D. Walcott (not pictured), Secretary of the Smithsonian, was elected Chairman of the NACA Executive Committee. After the Wright Brothers historic first flight in 1903, the United States began to fall behind in aeronautical research. With the beginning of World War I the nation realized it needed a center for aeronautical research as a means of catching up technologically with Europe. On March 3, 1915 the legislation creating the NACA passed and the NACA was born. For 43 years the NACA worked to advance aviation research until it was eventually absorbed into the new space agency, NASA, in 1958. Seated from Left to Right: Dr. William Durand, Stanford University, California. Dr. S.W. Stratton, Director, Bureau of Standards. Brig.Gen. George P. Scriven, Chief Signal Officer, War Dept. Dr. C.F. Marvin, Chief, United States Weather Bureau Dr. Michael I Pupin, Columbia University, New York. Standing: Holden C. Richardson, Naval Instructor. Dr. John F. Hayford, Northwestern University, Illinois. Capt. Mark L. Bristol, Director of Naval Aeronautics. Lt. Col. Samuel Reber, Signal Corps. Charge, Aviation Section Also present at the First Meeting: Dr. Joseph S. Ames, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. Hon. B. R. Newton, Asst. Secretary of Treasury. |
| Date |
04/23/1915 |
| NASA Center |
Ames Research Center |
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Submarine in Full Scale Tunn
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| Title |
Submarine in Full Scale Tunnel at NACA Langley |
| Full Description |
In 1950 Langley tested the drag characteristics of what was then the world's fastest submarine, the Albacore, in the 30 x 60 Full Scale Tunnel. Water and air are both essentially fluids of different densities. Air traveling at high speed can simulate water traveling at lower speed for many purposes. |
| Date |
1/1/1958 |
| NASA Center |
Langley Research Center |
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The NACA Test Force
| Title |
The NACA Test Force |
| Full Description |
The fleet of NACA test aircraft are assembled in front of the hangar at the High Speed Flight Station, (later renamed the Dryden Flight Research Center) in Edwards, California. The white aircraft in the foreground is a Douglas Aircraft D-558-2 Skyrocket. To its left and right are North American F-86 Sabre chase aircraft. Directly behind the D-558-2 is the P2B-1 Superfortress, (the Navy version of the Air Force B-29). Also known as the "mothership," the P2B-1 carried aloft the D-558-2 Skyrocket under its fuselage. Once reaching altitude, the D-558-2 was released from the "mothership" after which the pilot ignited its onboard rocket engine. |
| Date |
01/01/1952 |
| NASA Center |
Dryden Flight Research Center |
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NACA High Speed Flight Resea
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NACA Aircraft Fleet on lakeb
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| Photo Date |
October 26, 1954 |
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NACA X-3 supersonic research
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NACA "Century Series" Fleet
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The NACA Exceptional Service
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| Photo Date |
November 26, 1956 |
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Complete NACA Muroc Staff of
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Complete NACA Muroc Staff of
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NACA Aircraft on ramp - X-Pl
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| Photo Date |
March 30, 1952 |
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NACA Groundbreaking Ceremony
| Photo Date |
January 27, 1953 |
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NACA Dryden test pilot Howar
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NACA X-Planes on ramp - X-4,
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| Photo Date |
August 4, 1953 |
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NACA Muroc Staff of 1949 at
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Early NACA human computers a
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NACA X-Planes on ramp - X-4,
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| Photo Date |
August 4, 1953 |
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NACA High Speed Flight Stati
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NACA Early 1950s Fleet: NACA
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NACA Aircraft on Lakebed - D
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| Photo Description |
Early NACA research aircraft on the lakebed at the High Speed Research Station in 1955: Left to right: X-1E, D-558-2, X-1B |
| Project Description |
There were four versions of the original Bell X-1 rocket-powered research aircraft that flew at the NACA High-Speed Flight Research Station, Edwards, California. The bullet-shaped X-1 aircraft were built by Bell Aircraft Corporation, Buffalo, N.Y. for the U.S. Army Air Forces (after 1947, U.S. Air Force) and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The X-1 Program was originally designated the XS-1 for EXperimental Supersonic. The X-1's mission was to investigate the transonic speed range (speeds from just below to just above the speed of sound) and, if possible, to break the "sound barrier." Three different X-1s were built and designated: X-1-1, X-1-2 (later modified to become the X-1E), and X-1-3. The basic X-1 aircraft were flown by a large number of different pilots from 1946 to 1951. The X-1 Program not only proved that humans could go beyond the speed of sound, it reinforced the understanding that technological barriers could be overcome. The X-1s pioneered many structural and aerodynamic advances including extremely thin, yet extremely strong wing sections, supersonic fuselage configurations, control system requirements, powerplant compatibility, and cockpit environments. The X-1 aircraft were the first transonic-capable aircraft to use an all-moving stabilizer. The flights of the X-1s opened up a new era in aviation. The first X-1 was air-launched unpowered from a Boeing B-29 Superfortress on January 25, 1946. Powered flights began in December 1946. On October 14, 1947, the X-1-1, piloted by Air Force Captain Charles "Chuck" Yeager, became the first aircraft to exceed the speed of sound, reaching about 700 miles per hour (Mach 1.06) and an altitude of 43,000 feet. The number 2 X-1 was modified and redesignated the X-1E. The modifications included adding a conventional canopy, an ejection seat, a low-pressure fuel system of increased capacity, and a thinner high-speed wing. The X-1E was used to obtain in-flight data at twice the speed of sound, with particular emphasis placed on investigating the improvements achieved with the high-speed wing. These wings, made by Stanley Aircraft, were only 3-3/8-inches thick at the root and had 343 gauges installed in them to measure structural loads and aerodynamic heating. The X-1E used its rocket engine to power it up to a speed of 1,471 miles per hour (Mach 2.24) and to an altitude of 73,000 feet. Like the X-1 it was air-launched. The X-1 aircraft were almost 31 feet long and had a wingspan of 28 feet. The X-1 was built of conventional aluminum stressed-skin construction to extremely high structural standards. The X-1E was also 31 feet long but had a wingspan of only 22 feet, 10 inches. It was powered by a Reaction Motors, Inc., XLR-8-RM-5, four-chamber rocket engine. As did all X-1 rocket engines, the LR-8-RM-5 engine did not have throttle capability, but instead, depended on ignition of any one chamber or group of chambers to vary speed. The X-1A, X-1B, and the X-1D were, growth versions of the X-1. They were almost five feet longer, almost 2,500 pounds heavier and had conventional canopies. The X-1A and X-1B were modified to have ejection seats. Their mission was to continue the X-1 studies at higher speeds and altitudes. The X-1A began this research after the X-1D was destroyed in an explosion on a captive flight before it made any research flights. On December 12, 1953, Major Charles Yeager flew the X-1A up to a speed of 1,612 miles per hour (almost two-and-a-half times the speed of sound). Then on August 26, 1954, Major Arthur Murray took the X-1A up to an altitude of 90,440 feet. Those two performances were the records for the X-1 program. Later the X-1A was also destroyed after being jettisoned from the carrier aircraft because of an explosion. The X-1B was fitted with 300 thermocouples for exploratory aerodynamic heating tests. It also was the first aircraft to fly with a reaction control system, a prototype of the system used on the X-15. The X-1C was cancelled before production. Three D-558-2 "Skyrockets" were built by Douglas Aircraft, Inc. for NACA and the Navy. The mission of the D-558-2 program was to investigate the flight characteristics of a swept-wing aircraft at high supersonic speeds. Particular attention was given to the problem of "pitch-up," a phenomenon often encountered with swept-wing configured aircraft. The D-558-2 was a single-place, 35-degree swept-wing aircraft measuring 42 feet in length. It was 12 feet, 8 inches in height and had a wingspan of 25 feet. Fully fueled it weighed from about 10,572 pounds to 15,787 pounds depending on configuration. The first of the three D-558-IIs had a Westinghouse J34-40 jet engine and took off under its own power. The second was equipped with a turbojet engine replaced in 1950 with a Reaction Motors Inc. LR8-RM-6 rocket engine. This aircraft was modified so it could be air-launched from a P2B-1S (Navy designation for the B-29) carrier aircraft. The third Skyrocket had the jet engine and the rocket engine but was also modified so it could be air-launched. The jet engine was for takeoff and climbing to altitude and the four-chambered rocket engine was for reaching supersonic speeds. The rocket engine was rated at 6,000 pounds of thrust. The D-558-2 was first flown on Feb. 4, 1948, by John Martin, a Douglas test pilot. A NACA pilot, Scott Crossfield, became the first person to fly faster than twice the speed of sound when he piloted the D-558-II to its maximum speed of 1,291 miles per hour on Nov. 20, 1953. Its peak altitude, 83,235 feet, a record in its day, was reached with USMC Lt. Col. Marion Carl behind the controls. |
| Photo Date |
August 12, 1955 |
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Some NACA Muroc personnel wi
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| Photo Description |
The late 1940s saw increased flight activity, and more women computers were needed at the NACA Muroc Flight Test Unit than the ones who had originally arrived in 1946. A call went out to the NACA Langley, Lewis, and Ames laboratories for more women computers. Pictured in this photograph with the Snowman are some of the women computers who responded to the call for help in 1948 along with Roxanah, Emily, Dorothy, who were already here. Standing left to right: Mary (Tut) Hedgepeth, from Langley, Lilly Ann Bajus, Lewis, Roxanah Yancey, Emily Stephens, Jane Collons (Procurement), Leona Corbett (Personnel), Angel Dunn, Langley. Kneeling left to right: Dorothy (Dottie) Crawford Roth, Lewis, Dorothy Clift Hughes, and Gertrude (Trudy) Wilken Valentine, Lewis. |
| Project Description |
In National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) terminology of 1946, computers were employees who performed laborious and time-consuming mathematical calculations and data reduction from long strips of records generated by onboard aircraft instrumentation. Virtually without exception, computers were female, at least part of the rationale seems to have been the notion that the work was long and tedious, and men were not thought to have the patience to do it. Though equipment changed over the years and most computers eventually found themselves programming and operating electronic computers, as well as doing other data processing tasks, being a computer initially meant long hours with a slide rule, hunched over illuminated light boxes measuring line traces from grainy and obscure strips of oscillograph film. Computers suffered terrible eyestrain, and those who didn't begin by wearing glasses did so after a few years. But they were initially essential employees at the Muroc Flight Test Unit and NACA High-Speed Flight Research Station, taking the oscillograph flight records and "reducing" the data on them to make them useful to research engineers, who analyzed the data. |
| Photo Date |
15 Nov 1949 |
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NACA Aircraft in hangar 1953
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| Project Description |
The Dryden Flight Research Center, NASA's premier installation for aeronautical flight research, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1996. Dryden is the "Center of Excellence" for atmospheric flight operations. The Center's charter is to research, develop, verify, and transfer advanced aeronautics, space, and related technologies. It is located at Edwards, Calif., on the western edge of the Mojave Desert, 80 miles north of Los Angeles. Dryden's history dates back to the early fall of 1946, when a group of five aeronautical engineers arrived at what is now Edwards from the NACA's Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, Hampton, Va. Their goal was to prepare for the X-l supersonic research flights in a joint NACA-U.S. Army Air Forces-Bell Aircraft Corp. program. NACA--the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics--was the predecessor of today's NASA. Since the days of the X-l, the first aircraft to fly faster than the speed of sound, the installation has grown in size and significance and is associated with many important developments in aviation -- supersonic and hypersonic flight, wingless lifting bodies, digital fly-by-wire, supercritical and forward-swept wings, and the space shuttles. Its name has changed many times over the years. From 14 November 1949 to 1 July 1954 it bore the name NACA High-Speed Flight Research Station. |
| Photo Date |
April 27, 1953 |
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NACA Aircraft Fleet on ramp
| Photo Date |
March 30, 1952 |
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NACA/NASA test pilot Stanley
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